A monument of wooden sculptures created by Ainu sculptor Nuburi Toko and his son Shusei Toko in 1989, Kamui Mintara (Playground of the Gods) commemorates twenty-five years of goodwill between the sister cities of Kushiro, Japan and Burnaby, Canada. Completed in 1990, the work conveys the Ainu’s belief that the Gods come to Earth in the form of animals to live together with the people. The Japanese Ainu share cultural similarities to West Coast First Nations, and the positions of totems and animals, particularly the Orca and the Owl, express the east-west connection between Kushiro and Burnaby. Artist’s Statement: “It is because I am the Ainu myself and a man that I carve. I do want you to understand through my carvings the ways of thinking, living, and ideas of the Ainu people who have been living with their Gods, and loved peace, living things, human beings, and nature. Carving is my language and Yukara (ancestry). It is a poem of love.”