Omusha

Omusha (オムシャ), also umusa^[1] or umsa,^[2] was an Ainu greeting ritual that, like the related uimamu (ウイマム), became a ceremonial—of trade—full of the political symbolism of subservience, to the Matsumae Domain.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Omusha ceremony (1876) by Hirasawa Byōzan (ja) (National Museums Scotland)

Name

The word is understood to derive from the Ainu u (ウ), referring to mutuality, and musa (ムシャ), translated and defined by John Batchelor as "to stroke the head in salutation".^[8][10]

Related images

• 
  Ainu celebrating Omsia (from Siebold's Nippon (1832–1851))
• 
  Omusha involving the Hidaka Ainu (C19), by Hirasawa Byōzan (Hakodate City Central Library)
• 
  Scenes of the Ezo Fishing Grounds (C18), by Kodama Teiryō (小玉貞良) (Art Gallery of South Australia)
• 
  Sketch for Scenes of the Ezo Fishing Grounds (C18), by Kodama Teiryō (Hakodate City Museum)

See also

• Invented tradition