Throat singing duo PIQSIQ celebrates Inuit culture at Japanese festival
Sisters Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik performed in Osaka in June as part of the World Expo.
"The culture is so generous and so respectful and open, and it just felt like we were able to talk about our culture and what it's like to be Inuk and living in the North, and a little bit about history in a way that was really celebrating," Ayalik said.
"Sometimes when we talk about culture here, there's just like a different context in Canada, and it's always about reconciliation and it can be really heavy."
The pair said that travelling to Japan is something they've dreamed of since childhood, and they got to share it with their family as well. Mackay's husband and sons travelled with PIQSIQ to perform demonstrations of Inuit games.
Mackay said that some audience members had visited the Arctic or read up on Inuit culture and had lots of questions for them about life in the North.
"So that was really cool to know that across the world, there were people who were really interested in culture," she said.
Mackay said there were lots of commonalities between Inuit and Japanese cultures too, like respect for elders and children and the value they both place on culture itself.
Beyond their performances, the sisters and their family spent time exploring a new country. They said visiting Nara, a city known in part for its temples and the deer that roam around, was one highlight. Ayalik says sharing that with family up North made her laugh.
"I sent videos to other family in Nunavut and they're just like 'this food is just walking around,'" she said.
The pair said the experience is one they won't soon forget. They hope one day to come back and travel to the north of Japan to collaborate with Ainu singers, a traditional Japanese music. And if it's up to her family, Mackay says that trip could happen before long.
"My sons are already trying to learn Japanese on Duolingo," she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
8 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Nara Smith Says She Is Not A Trad Wife
You know Nara Smith, the TikTok star and influencer who posts fashionable DIY cooking videos and lifestyle content. Often, she creates content alongside her husband, Lucky Blue Smith, mentioning their children with their pretty unique names. Their children's names are Rumble Honey, Slim Easy, and Whimsy Lou, and they're expecting a fourth child. If you've seen her content and thought she simply fell under the category of a traditional wife, aka a "tradwife," you'd actually be very wrong. Nara is officially pushing back on that label. On a July 10 episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Nara discussed her struggles with her "online presence" and people's projections as a content creator. "When people hear that I have three kids at 23, and I had my first a few weeks after I turned 19, they always freak out," she said. "They're projecting how they want their life to be onto me. That's one thing I struggled with in the beginning, doing social media." "People love projecting things onto me and kind of how I live my life just because I cook for my husband, because it's my love language and I love cooking," she said. "They project onto it that I'm in the kitchen and trapped and I'm just at home and [my husband] the breadwinner and all of these things," Nara added, "and I'm like, no, I work." In addition to being an influencer, wife, and mother, Nara has had a modeling career since she was 14 years old. She's not just a traditional stay-at-home mother. "I work. I'm very busy. I travel almost every week. I have kids that I raise," she said. "I love being in the kitchen because it's a passion of mine, not because I have to. And sometimes I feel like this is where social media gets tricky for me personally." "It doesn't matter how much I voice those things and try to make people understand that I am actually a full-time working mom that they just don't wanna get it," Nara continued. "They use me as this poster child of this like very traditional wife and I'm not. There's nothing truly traditional about us as a couple, apart from maybe that we chose to have kids young and get married young. But apart from that, we split towards 50/50." In the interview, Nara explained that even her husband wouldn't fall under the role of a traditional husband. "There's things that Lucky does that I guess, traditional men wouldn't do. Like do the dishes or get the kids dressed or do their hair, or whatever it may be that people don't associate with a traditional man," she said. "And there's things that I do like having a full-time career and having Lucky be home while I travel for two weeks. People see that side of my life, and I voice that side of my life but they still don't want to accept it." Nara discussed how people on the internet can be negative, and it's even led to her crying to Lucky about it. "Nowadays, society they love drama. They love negativity. They feed off of fights and opinions and online situations that cause conflict," she said. "I think that's what people love projecting onto me. They love that I'm so controversial, and they can kind of say whatever. And in the beginning, it really used to bother me. I used to cry at home and tell Lucky, like, 'I don't understand why they're saying all these things.'" When Nara challenged the negative comments and tried to defend herself, she explained that she would face more pushback. "Then all the comments would be like, 'She's lying, she's gaslighting us,'" she explained, "and I'm like, I literally cannot win. And I think that's what I've learned. People don't want to hear the truth. They don't care for the truth. They care about what they wanna hear and what serves them. So the less I say, kind of the better." "It preserves my energy," she concluded. "There's no point in me saying something that someone doesn't even wanna hear." Watch the full interview where Nara discusses balancing her career, building healthy boundaries, strengthening her relationship, and more:
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Gen Z men are still obsessed with Pokémon cards—using ‘boy math' to argue that they'll beat Nvidia stock and the S&P 500. But there's a catch
Pokémon and sports trading cards are outperforming the S&P 500 with upwards of 46% annual returns, and it's driving mania among Gen Z and Millennial men to collect top cards. While most fans aren't getting rich off a reselling side gig, there's no sign the boom is letting up—especially with big names like Logan Paul joining in on the frenzy. Gen Z and Millennials are in agreement: their obsession with Pokémon may never let up. Despite the Japanese franchise nearing its 30-year anniversary, young men in particular continue to be on a lifelong mission to 'catch 'em all'—and are spending hundreds, sometimes even millions of dollars, collecting trading cards. Part of the 'boy math' is that investing in cards could yield significant returns, and there might be some truth to the matter. Pokémon cards have seen the largest long-term increase in value among all card categories: up 3,261% over 20 years, according to data provided to Fortune from Card Ladder. Even looking at a one-year investment, the average Pokémon card is increasing at nearly 46%—a pace far exceeding hot stocks like Nvidia so far in 2025 or the S&P 500's average 12% annual return rate. While cards have to be rare and in pristine condition to make significant profit, the industry frenzy has left the shelves of retailers like Walmart and Target bare—and even caused some stores to enact limits or pauses on selling altogether. And online, it's pushing the resale market to new heights. Users on eBay searched for 'Pokemon' nearly 14,000 times per hour in 2024, according to Adam Ireland, VP and GM of global collectibles at eBay. And pairing the Pokémania with continued demand in the sports card world (thanks to athletes like Caitlin Clark and Michael Jordan), it's created a perfect storm of opportunity for the trading card industry. The total gross value of cards on eBay has increased for nine consecutive quarters. This embedded content is not available in your region. 'The trading card hobby has entered a new era, driven by technology, innovation, community, and a great balance of modern creativity–with new sets, storylines and characters–alongside good old nostalgia,' Ireland tells Fortune. No other influencer may have driven continued interest in Pokémon cards in particular than Logan Paul. The YouTuber, who is also known for his ventures into professional wrestling, boxing, and entrepreneurship, has spent millions of dollars purchasing cards—and then profiting off the millions of views generated from his content. 'Nostalgia + business = the new art,' he wrote on social media after spending $200,000 on cards. 'These things are appreciating like crazy as collectibles are becoming very low supply, high demand art pieces.' Logan Paul wearing a Charizard Pokemon card chain as he entered the ring for a 2021 boxing match against Floyd Mayweather. In 2022, he broke a Guinness World Record for the most expensive Pokémon trading card sold at a private sale with the purchase of a PSA Grade 10 (essentially perfect condition) Pikachu Illustrator card for $5.275 million. 'This card cost me more than my ranch. My 84-acre ranch,' Paul said at the time. Other social platforms, including TikTok, are full of content creators who have dedicated their lives to the purchasing, opening, and reselling of cards. But for some, the joy of collecting or making a profit doesn't work out as much as planned, with a recent call into Dave Ramsey's personal finance vodcast showing just how bad the obsession is gotten for some young men. 'I messed up big. I went behind my pregnant wife's back and racked up $26K in credit card debt in four months,' the caller said. 'What did you jack up $26K on?' Ramey asked. 'Pokemon cards—trying to buy a bunch and sell them online, but it didn't work out.' Like other collectables, trading cards can be considered a 'commodity' and even art, according to Jason Howarth, SVP of marketing and athlete relations at Panini America, a sports card company. But whether to consider it a true investment opportunity depends largely on your intentions. 'For some people, they (collect) because they view it as an investment. Others do it for the pure fun of it,' he says. By and large, most collectors are not going so off the deep end and being overly financially irresponsible, and instead see the hobby as a guilty pleasure. That includes Ryan Hoge, the president of PSA, one of the biggest companies that evaluates the condition and authenticity of trading cards. He said he personally has tens of thousands of cards, but like many, he enjoys collecting them, even if they are stored up in a closet. 'I think sometimes people want to break from the digital, and this is a good outlet for it,' Hoge tells Fortune. And not only do you get to hold something in your hand, but you also get to interact with a community of like minded people that have similar interests.' Last month, nearly 125,000 fans attended Fanatics' (which owns trading card company Topps) second annual convention centered around all things sports and collectibles. And the event notably saw influencer and former gymnast Livvy Dunne purchase a card of her professional baseball player boyfriend for $2,850. The National Sports Collectors Convention, which also brings over 100,000 fans, is set for later this summer outside of Chicago. While the trading card industry was on the brink of extinction following overproduction in the 1990s, it's since recovered and is booming. Sports cards bring in $1 billion in annual revenue for manufacturers and retailers, according to The Athletic. Pokémon alone brought in a similar number, and was the only toy to surpass $1 billion in sales last year, says Circana data. And even though over 75 billion Pokémon cards have been produced (enough to wrap around Earth end-to-end 165 times), demand is still skyhigh, according to Barry Sams, vice president of game development and community engagement at The Pokémon Company International. 'With explosion in demand, we're printing at maximum capacity to deliver the greatest amount of cards possible to fans for current expansions while ensuring we maintain quality standards,' he tells Fortune. 'Those who grew up with Pokémon now have children of their own to share that passion with, and oftentimes, that means revisiting old Pokémon card collections and recreating fond childhood memories as a parent.' The opportunity within the card industry is causing retailers like GameStop to pay greater attention. The electronics store said in the first quarter of 2025, collectibles, such as Pokémon and sports cards, made up 29% of the company's sales—outselling video game software. 'We're focusing on trading cards as a natural extension of our existing business,' GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen said at the company's annual shareholder meeting last month. 'The trading card market, whether it's sports, Pokémon or collectibles, is aligned with our heritage. It fits our trade and model. It appeals to our core customer base. And it's deeply embedded in physical retail.' The industry continues to fascinate even world leaders. During this year's Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House, President Donald Trump was seen with a graded trading card that depicted the assassination attempt on him last year. And in a recent meeting with a young student, Pope Leo XIV didn't shy away from the trading card frenzy and was more than happy to sign a 'Popplio' Pokemon card. 'It doesn't matter how old you are, when you get a pack of cards in your hand, the first thing you want to do is rip it open and you hope that you're going to get that hot rookie, or you're going to get a player from your favorite team,' says Panini's Howarth. 'If any one of those things happens, you're ecstatic.' This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
%3Amax_bytes(150000)%3Astrip_icc()%2FTAL-lead-image-TSUKIJIMARKET0725-f808ea41d71e48cc82fb365a3a6ca0a0.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Travel + Leisure
12 hours ago
- Travel + Leisure
I'm a Tokyo Local—Here's What You Should Eat, See, and Do at the Most Famous Market in Japan
Visiting a seafood market is an essential part of any trip to Japan, and Tokyo's Tsukiji Market is the grandfather of them all. Eating fatty tuna freshly sliced from a fish the size of a motorcycle, sampling deep-sea creatures you've never heard of, and taking a deep dive into the staples of Japanese cuisine are just some of the pleasures it offers. You may have heard that the wholesale fish market has moved to Toyosu (less than two miles away), but that's not the full story. Tsukiji still has plenty to enjoy. Tsukiji, located just south of Ginza's glittery retail mecca, has a history that stretches back to 1657, when a huge fire tore through Tokyo (known as "Edo" back then). During rebuilding efforts, the shogunate decided to reclaim some coastal land at the mouth of the Sumida River. This reclaimed land became Tsujiki, and it was originally intended to be a quiet residential area. However, another disaster, a massive earthquake in 1923, transformed Tsukiji into a commercial district. The Nihonbashi Fish Market (the busiest fish market in Tokyo before Tsukiji) was destroyed, so vendors relocated to Tsukiji, attracted by its access to Tokyo Bay. The Tsukiji Fish Market officially opened for business in 1935 and was at one point the largest wholesale market in the world. As Tokyo boomed in the 1980s, the narrow aisles and lack of refrigeration put the aging market under new pressures and strain. A new facility was built in nearby Toyosu for wholesale operations, including the popular predawn tuna auctions, and Tsukiji's "inner market" was torn down in 2018. However, the outer market, a warren of retail stalls and restaurants, cropped up around the former wholesale grounds and is still going strong. In fact, a new hybrid retail and wholesale market called Tsukiji Uogashi was recently built to sustain this historic neighborhood, staffed by many of the old market vendors. To give us the lay of the land, we asked Kyoko Nagano, CEO of cultural tourism operator and director of sake export and tour company Sake Lovers to share some of her favorite places in Tsukiji. Her first piece of advice? Don't forget the market still runs on the old-school schedule, with shops mostly open in the morning and early afternoon and closed on Sundays, Wednesdays, and holidays. Here's what you need to know before planning a visit to Tsukiji Fish Market. A sushi cutting station in Tsukiji Market. Angelina Pilarinos/Travel + Leisure Food is naturally the main attraction in Tsukiji. Nagano says if you are coming for a sushi breakfast or lunch, the best bet is the Uogashi Yokocho rather than the sit-down restaurants outside. Uogashi is located on the fourth floor of the Fisheries Intermediate Wholesale Market Building, and you can find around 70 specialty restaurants and shops there. 'The tuna vendors have fantastic toro (tuna) nigiri, and it's only [around] 1,000 yen for six pieces," she says. "Other places charge more than double that." Nagono recommends visiting wholesaler Kitani Suisan in particular. 'Sometimes, if you come around like 8:30 or 9:00 am, you actually get to see the tuna cutting," she says. "And if you are buying the tuna, they let you take photos of the tuna, too.' After that, simply take your purchases to the rooftop dining space, where free chopsticks and soy sauce are provided, and enjoy a budget-priced comparison of all the different tuna cuts. However, the outer market restaurants are still worth a look and Nagano suggests stopping by Sushi Yamaharu, a hidden, reservations-only sushi restaurant directly run by a market vendor. 'It's 5,500 yen for an omakase sushi course, and that's so affordable," she says. "I would say it's one of the best.' If raw fish isn't your speed, there's Unagi Shokudo, a grilled eel specialist. They offer the classic eel rice bowl, but also specialize in hitsumabushi , a serving style popular in Nagoya that involves topping the eel with green onions, wasabi, and Japanese parsley and pouring dashi over it all. Beef fans, meanwhile, should make a beeline for Wine Stand 88, a tiny counter shop that sells roast wagyu sandwiches. 'Their wagyu is cooked on the grill and pretty thick, but they only serve like 10 [sandwiches] per day,' says Nagano. 'My absolute favorite is their roast beef with uni (sea urchin) as a topping. They put a generous amount of uni on top. It's a really amazing combo.' For dessert, Nagano recommends stopping by confectionary Soratsuki, which specializes in daifuku mochi, or mochi stuffed with sweet beans. Consider getting their strawberry daifuku, which aren't just pretty to look at—they're delicious, too. A person making matcha at Jugetsudo Tea House. PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images Once your belly is full, there's plenty of shopping to be had in the area, especially if you're in the mood for browsing for Japanese specialty ingredients. Nagano recommends visiting Kotobukiya, a dashi stock specialist founded in 1948. 'The older gentleman who runs the shop is so knowledgeable about the fermentation of kombu (an edible kelp)," she says. "[Young] kombu has a slimy texture because it's so new, but if it's aged for 10 or 20 years, the sweetness comes out. It gets white with pale, dusty stuff. But that's what gives it more umami and sweetness. A lot of Michelin chefs like to get it there.' For matcha and other green teas, there's Jugetsudo Tea House, founded in 1854. 'They have a lot of teas from Fukuoka, a lot from Kyoto, like organic ones from Uji, all sold as single-origin teas. But I particularly love the matcha cookies with hazelnuts,' says Nagano. If you want to try some teas before you buy them, they do have a cafe counter. However, Nagano recommends visiting their Kengo Kuma-designed Ginza cafe, sited just a few blocks north. It's above the Kabuki-za Theater, and is frequently visited by elegant ladies in kimonos headed to kabuki performances. Namiyoke Inari Shrine in Tsukiji, Tokyo. LilyRosePhotos/Adobe Stock While food is certainly Tsukiji's main attraction, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the historic Namiyoke Inari, a Shinto shrine that dates back to Tsukiji's earliest years, way back to 1659. Its name literally means 'protection from the waves,' and the fishers who stock the market have long visited to pray for the safety of their boats and crews. Interestingly, the shrine also has monuments honoring the sea life that gets turned into the seafood that sustains Japan. So, offer a grateful bow at the sushi grave before heading out for more omakase.
