摘要：The purpose of the present article is to consider the educational value of the Yar-su(Pot made of the bark of trees)for formative art education. The present article will describe the process of collecting the material(tree bark)by children and discuss the significance of the experience for the children, while the next article will describe a lesson where Yar-su was used and discuss the outcome and problems. Yar-su means a pot made of the bark(skin)of the white birch(Shirakaba), and used as a handy pot Ainu people make when hunting in the mountains. Ainu people do not overuse natural material by saying words of gratitude to nature "I will take only a bit of bark to make Yar-su" and by not taking more than what they need at the moment so that the tree will not die. Such experience of a material collection process in the Ainu way, not only teaches children formative art skills, but also teaches children how human beings should interact with nature without destroying it. While there are some studies on Yar-su that describe how to make them or ones that show varieties of bark vessels, there is no study that deals with the educational value of Yar-su. The present study is based upon the instruction of Mr. Mitsuru Sugimura(currently living in Chikabumi, Asahikawa)who is Director of Cultural Preservation, Asahikawa Ainu Association. He is a skilled carpenter of traditional Ainu houses and an Ainu craft artist. This article points out three ways that the Yar-su lesson can contribute to formative art education. Firstly, the lesson was able to develop formative art skills that make the best use of natural material. Secondly, the lesson taught children the importance of respect towards nature. Thirdly, the lesson was meaningful in that children learned the importance of respecting other cultures. This study attempted to develop educational practice unique to Hokkaido.
其他摘要：The purpose of the present article is to consider the educational value of the Yar-su(Pot made of the bark of trees)for formative art education. The present article will describe the process of collecting the material(tree bark)by children and discuss the significance of the experience for the children, while the next article will describe a lesson where Yar-su was used and discuss the outcome and problems. Yar-su means a pot made of the bark(skin)of the white birch(Shirakaba), and used as a handy pot Ainu people make when hunting in the mountains. Ainu people do not overuse natural material by saying words of gratitude to nature "I will take only a bit of bark to make Yar-su" and by not taking more than what they need at the moment so that the tree will not die. Such experience of a material collection process in the Ainu way, not only teaches children formative art skills, but also teaches children how human beings should interact with nature without destroying it. While there are some studies on Yar-su that describe how to make them or ones that show varieties of bark vessels, there is no study that deals with the educational value of Yar-su. The present study is based upon the instruction of Mr. Mitsuru Sugimura(currently living in Chikabumi, Asahikawa)who is Director of Cultural Preservation, Asahikawa Ainu Association. He is a skilled carpenter of traditional Ainu houses and an Ainu craft artist. This article points out three ways that the Yar-su lesson can contribute to formative art education. Firstly, the lesson was able to develop formative art skills that make the best use of natural material. Secondly, the lesson taught children the importance of respect towards nature. Thirdly, the lesson was meaningful in that children learned the importance of respecting other cultures. This study attempted to develop educational practice unique to Hokkaido.
