Ayaka Ono is not an Ainu but has long been fascinated by the indigenous inhabitants of Hokkaido. Last year, she even became a performer of one of their traditional dances.
The 18-year-old, currently a sophomore at a high school in Kushiro, eastern Hokkaido, is a member of the Akanko Ainu Theater Ikoro near Lake Akan.
At the theater, Ono performs the classical "futtarechui" dance of Ainu girls alongside other female dancers clad in traditional costumes embroidered with patterns said to ward off evil. Shaking her head up and down, she swings her hair wildly to portray a pine tree swayed by winds.