OKHOTSK, HOKKAIDO - As one would expect from a place whose name has roots in an aboriginal phrase that means "end of the earth", there is vast emptiness on the rugged Shiretoko Peninsula on the north-eastern tip of Hokkaido.
It is here that I meet Mrs Etsuko Umezawa, 76, an ethnic Ainu whose dialect had inspired the destination's name ("sir etok").
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