A historical novel tracing the life of Takeshiro Matsuura, known for naming Hokkaido, through his recollections late in life. His surveys of Ezo, his attention to the Ainu, and the strains of the transition from the late Edo period to Meiji are portrayed through the intensity of one explorer's life.

The memories of a man who walked the northern land awaken the history behind the name Hokkaido.

A picture book about an Ainu boy and the bear cub Kimurun, raised almost as milk brothers, who face separation and reunion around the iomante ritual. Set against Hokkaido's natural world, it portrays intimacy, prayer, and the return of a bear to the realm of the gods.

The days shared by the boy and the bear lead toward a ritual of sending life onward.