On March 20th, I was also able to go to an Ainu instrument workshop at the Hokkaido Art Museum, where I learned to play the Makkuri and the Tonkori. The Makkuri, played by pulling a taut string attached to a piece of wood placed on your lips, was very difficult! But the Tonkori, a stringed instrument, felt very nice to play and perhaps because of my practice on the banjo, it came more naturally. I had found out about the workshop from a flyer at the museum, after going there the previous week to see the Ainu Contemporary Art exhibit. That exhibit, I should mention, was spectacular. There were incredible wood carvings and textiles, primarily.