Indigenous peoples in Japan "The two indigenous peoples of Japan, the Ainu and the Okinawans, live on the northernmost and southernmost islands of the country’s archipelago." International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. See also this 2014 update on recent policies and developments related to indigenous people in Japan.
Charanke Matsuri: "The festival ties the earth to the heavens. The dance connects people to the universe". The Charanke Festival is a major event bringing together the Ainu and Okinawan communities in Tokyo. It all started more than 20 years ago from a connection between an Ainu and Okinawan feeling a sense of kinship, and developed into the event it is today. More info here.
Ainu An overview from the Minority Rights Group that gives a profile of the Ainu people, and looks at their historical situation and the current issues they face.
Ainu People in Japan Discrimination against the Ainu takes many forms, including disparities in employment, education and marriage. Young Ainu are often afraid to tell their friends and classmates that they are Ainu. Discrimination towards my people is grounded in a long history of the notion that Japanese are ethnically superior, and that Japan is ethnically homogeneous. Christian Conference of Asia.
Ainu discrimination defies the law The Ainu, Japan's indigenous people, are complaining of growing discrimination despite a landmark law enacted in 1997 that for the first time recognizes their culture as unique and officially promotes their rights. Asia Times.
Ainu People Today - 7 Years after the Culture Promotion Law By Yoichi Tanaka. The Ainu people are still struggling for the full recognition and acceptance by the Japanese society of their culture and language, and for the recognition in law of their rights as an indigenous people. An article from 2004, before the Japanese government recogmised the Ainu as an indigenous people in 2008.
Law for the Promotion of the Ainu Culture and for the Dissemination and Advocacy for the Traditions of the Ainu and the Ainu Culture Law No. 52, May 14, 1997. The Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture.
Recognition at last for Japan's Ainu Japan's parliament is to adopt a resolution that, for the first time, formally recognises the Ainu as "an indigenous people with a distinct language, religion and culture". BBC News, 2008/06/06.
Diet officially declares Ainu indigenous The Ainu celebrated a historic moment Friday as the Diet unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes them as indigenous people of Japan. The unprecedented resolution was adopted by both chambers, acknowledging the Ainu's hardships from discrimination and poverty. Japan Times, June 7, 2008.
Ainu musician Oki brings the world to Hokkaido An interview with Oki, a musician with a Japanese mother and an Ainu father, whose band, the Oki Dub Ainu Band, mix Ainu music with reggae, dub and other world musics. Japan Times, Aug. 28, 2008.
Oki Official Website Website for Oki, a musician with a Japanese mother and Ainu father and his Oki Dub Ainu Band that plays music that fuses Reggae, African music and Electronica with Ainu folk melodies.
Ainu Revival: A feast of culture on Hokkaido menu Despite and because of their marginalization in Japanese society, Ainu people have been steadily acquiring the self-confidence to express themselves in an increasing variety of fields. Ainu politicians, writers, musicians, artists, actors and designers -- such as Shigeru Kayano, Oki Kano, Takashi Ukaji and Tamami Kaizawa among others -- are signs of the renaissance under way. Japan Times, June 27, 2004.
Ainu stepping out of social stigma: Once invisible minority hopes new indigenous cachet ends legacy of discrimination "You are beautiful just as you are. Don't be afraid," Mina Sakai sings to a young, enthusiastic crowd in the language of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido. This is an article about yoing Ainu taking pride in their identity through music and dance that mixes traditional Ainu culture with hip-hop and rap. It also looks at attitudes towards multiculturalism amongst young people in Japan today. Japan Times, Aug. 13, 2008.
Japan's Ainu This video documentary looks at, "Japan's indigenous people and their fight for cultural survival and acceptance. Over the last century, they have seen their traditions and their language stripped away, along with their ancestral lands. But after generations of oppression, racism and forced assimilation, change is in the air for the Ainu." Aljazeera, 4 Feb 2010.
Ainu ‘rebels’ mix it up to get message across "Mina Sakai wanted to improve the status of her people and their self-esteem in a way that would also entertain ordinary people...She performs traditional Ainu dances and music mixed with rock and hip-hop." Japan Times, 22 Nov, 2007.
Young Ainu people used to face an identity crisis but many are able to walk out of the shadow of hiding their ethnic background. Now they are willing to present their traditional dances and singing their own songs. TITV Weekly, 27 Aug, 2008.
Some in Hokkaido preserve Ainu culture But the lack of young supporters does not bode well for future efforts This article describes attempts by Ainu people in Hokkaido to preserve traditional Ainu culture. Japan Times 25 Jan 2007. (New link added 02 May 2013). (New link added 02 May 2013).
Ainu hope U.N. move aids indigenous status quest This article, which was written before the Japanese Government recognised the Ainu as an indigenous people, reports on the hopes of Tadashi Kato, chief of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, about how the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples will benefit Ainu people. It also considers different arguments by the government and experts about recognizing the Ainu as an indeginous people and the cinsequences of such a decision. Japan Times, 13 Oct 2007.
Scholar urges fresh look at rich Ainu heritage This article discusses the views of Shunwa Honda, a scholar on indigenous ethnic groups. Honda argues that Japan still doesn't listen to the voice of Ainu people and he notes that some Japanese see Ainu as a people of the past in the Hokkaido whilst in reality they are people who live in today's society whilst preserving their history and culture. Japan Times, 10 Jul, 2012.
The decision of the Nibutani Dam Case In Japanese. If you want to read this in English, please search 'Mark A. Levin' who is the Professor of Law at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law. He transrated the decision into English.
Ainu fight for return of plundered ancestral remains: Landmark case pits indigenous people of Hokkaido against local university holding lion's share of grisly trophies This article looks at court case brought by an Ainu group in Kineusu, Hokkaido against Hokkaido University to have Ainu remains held by the University returned to them. The case raises the issue of whether we understand ancestry as individual, as Japanese law requires, or as collective and tribal as it is for Ainu group. Japan Times, Aug 12, 2013.
Skeletons in the academic closet An article about the removal of Ainu remains and grave goods for 'scientific research' by researchers including Sakuzaemon Kodama, professor of anatomy in the medical department of Hokkaido University. The article also makes connections to the wider question of indigenous people's ownership and control over their cultural property, one of the major issues considered by the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations. Japan Times, 17 Nov, 2002.
Japan's indigenous Ainu battle for return of ancestors "Japan's long marginalised and little known indigenous people, the Ainu, are engaged in a protracted and symbolic struggle to have the remains of their ancestors brought home." New Zealand Herald, 2 Jun, 2013.
Ainu struggle to find solution for hundreds of unidentified skeletons "Papers were lost, bones were mixed up, and now only 23 of the 1,635 Ainu skeletons kept at nine universities can be identified." Asahi Shimbun, 13 Aug, 2013.
アイヌ学習と民族教育機関設立に向けて The study about the Ainu learning and the idea of founding the educational institutions for Ainu people. It has a list of universities which has classes of Ainu culture and language. 上野 昌之、日本大学
アイヌ語の現状と復興 佐藤知己、北海道大学
アイヌ語学習・教育用資料の電算化・集積・公開を可能にする情報ネットワーク構築のための基礎研究 井筒勝信、北海道教育大学旭川校 Ainu Language Education as a Rural Education: Basic Research for Creating IT-Assisted Resources for Ainu Language Learning and Teaching. Katsunobu Idutsu. Hokkaido University of Education. 2007.
アイヌ民族の歴史と現状：アイヌ語教育に焦点を当てて 萱野志朗(萱野茂二風谷アイヌ資料館館長、WIN-AINU代表) The current situation for indigenous peoples and biodiversity. Shiro Kayano, Director of Kayano Shigeru Nibutani Ainu Meseum, Representative of WIN-AINU.
Biratori-cho Nibutani Ainu Language School Moved by the idea that "The Ainu language must be taught to the children of Nibutani," the school opened in 1983 as the "Nibutani Ainu-go Juku (Nibutani Ainu Language School)" for the local primary and secondary school children. Foundation for the Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture.
Efforts to preserve Ainu language gain momentum An independent television producer and an Ainu-language teacher recently released a compact disc featuring traditional Ainu stories in a bid to pass down the indigenous minority’s language. Japan Times, 15 Jun, 2002.
Some in Hokkaido preserve Ainu culture: But the lack of young supporters does not bode well for future efforts The second half of this article discusses Ainu language use by some Ainu people on Hokkaido and the telling of ‘Kamuy-yukar’ (Ainu epics) in the Ainu language. Japan Times, 25 Jan, 2007.
Japan's Ainu seek help to preserve their native culture Part of the article talks about the need for an Ainu language school in Tokyo. Cultural Survival, 2001.
質問主意書（第１６８回第５３号） 答弁書 Question for Japanese Government's reaction to adoption of the UN Declaration. In Japanese. 9 Nov 2007. 20 Nov 2007.
A Cultural Revival: The spirit of Japan's Ainu artists A longer article about various kinds of Ainu cultural revitalisation and experimentation, including the woodblock prints of Koji Yuki, the Ainu Arts Project - an Ainu rock band, Oki Kanno and his Dub Band, Mina Sakai and the Ainu rebels, Sayo Ogasawara's picture books, and Shizue Ukaji's embroidery. 26 Feb, 2010, Wall Street Journal.
Law for the Promotion of the Ainu Culture and for the Dissemination and Advocacy for the Traditions of the Ainu and the Ainu Culture Law No. 52, May 14, 1997. The Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture.
Ainu Art Project Express themselves as Ainu living today. Their fields include rock-music, story-telling and woodcut prints.
Ainu Revival: A feast of culture on Hokkaido menu Despite and because of their marginalization in Japanese society, Ainu people have been steadily acquiring the self-confidence to express themselves in an increasing variety of fields. Ainu politicians, writers, musicians, artists, actors and designers -- such as Shigeru Kayano, Oki Kano, Takashi Ukaji and Tamami Kaizawa among others -- are signs of the renaissance under way. Japan Times, June 27, 2004.
Booklet lists Ainu rights in U.N. declaration This article discusses a booklet published by Citizens’ Diplomatic Center for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (市民外交センター), a Japanese NGO chaired by Professor Hideaki Uemura, professor of international human rights law at Keisen University. The booklet, which was written to show Ainu people how they could make use of the Declaration to improve their conditions, explains that the Declaration gives Ainu the right to self-determination (to control their own affairs politically and economically), to practice their cultural traditions and to have ethnic education in their own language. Japan Times, 7 Nov, 2008.
Ainu Living in Tokyo - Getting To Know the Indigenous People of Japan by Osamu Hasegawa "The Japanese government colonized places where the Ainu traditionally lived, and positioned them as an extinct ethnic group. I believe that the lack of awareness regarding the Ainu is the result of an intentional effort." Japan for Sustainability, 24 Dec 2009.
Akan Kotan Ainu Village This is the largest Ainu community in Hokkaido with 130 in 36 households. The village has Ainu folk art stores and restaurants, and at the Onne Chise at the center of the village, visitors can watch ancient Ainu dance and listen to performances of the traditional Ainu music.
The Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture (FRPAC) Founded by the Hokkaido government and the Japanese Ministry of Education. The basic idea of our Foundation is to contribute to the realization of a society in which the ethnic pride of the Ainu is respected and to further the development of diverse national cultures through the preservation and promotion of the Ainu language and traditional culture and to disseminate knowledge on Ainu traditions to the nation. Projects include the promotion of Ainu language and culture.
Ainu Museum This museum introduces Ainu history and culture.
The Ainu Association of Hokkaido The Ainu Association of Hokkaido is an organization made up of Ainu who live in Hokkaido, which aims to "work to improve the social status of Ainu people and to develop, transmit and preserve Ainu culture in order to establish the dignity of the Ainu people".
Hawehe –Ainu Voices Hawehe (lit. “voices, sounds” in the Ainu language) is a free media project, in the shape of a blog, that aims at introducing to non Japanese or Ainu speakers the many issues related to the Ainu minority. If you have any suggestion or comment, please do not hesitate to email us at hawehe.av AT gmail.com.
Ainu Utari Renrakukai - organises Charanke Matsuri
Ainu Associations in Greater Tokyo An overview of some Ainu organisations and events in the Tokyo area.
Siddle, M. R. (2009) ‘The Ainu: Indigenous people of Japan’, in M. Weiner, (Ed). Japan's minorities: the illusion of homogeneity. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge. Available from: Chuo Library 開架 301.45/J35.
Siddle R. (1997). 'Ainu: Japan's indigenous people', in M. Weiner (Ed). Japan's minorities: the illusion of homogeneity. 1st Edition. London: Routledge. Available from: Chuo Library 総合政策 301.45/J35 & Mike.
Deconstructing and Reconstructing Ainu identity From assimilation to recognition 1868-2008 by Noémi Godefroy “Populations Japonaises” Research Group Centre d’Etudes Japonaises (CEJ), Paris, 2013. This article looks at different understandings of Ainu identity in response to assimilation by the Japanese state and mentions the development of new hybrid forms of Ainu culture by young Ainu on pages 12-13.
The Ainu and Their Culture: A Critical Twenty-First Century Assessment An interview with Chisato ("Kitty") O. Dubreuil, an Ainu-Japanese art historian, who co-organised, the groundbreaking 1999 Smithsonian exhibition on Ainu culture at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, in the United States. She talks about both traditional and contemporary Ainu culture and artistic production. Asia Pacific Journal, Japan Focus, Nov 26, 2007.
After the Ainu Shinpō: The United Nations and the Indigenous People of Japan by Crystal Porter,
Australian National University This article explores the significance of indigenous rights in Japan and how the Japanese Government uses the guise [strategy] of upholding individual rights to ignore indigenous rights in Japan.
Toward Ainu- and Japan-Specific Indigenous Policies, Teruki Tsunemoto, LL.D., Center for Ainu & Indigenous Studies Hokkaido University, Japan A presentation which discusses different definitions of indigenous people as well as Japanese government policy towards Ainu people.
The Plight of Ainu, Indigenous People of Japan by Mitsuharu Vincent Okada "This article describes the systematic introduction of policies (of forced assimilation and discrimination), which endangered the survival of Ainu as a people and continuance of their culture". It gives a clear overview of Ainu history and the colonisation of Hokkaido, as well as current issues facing Ainu people. Journal of Indigenous Social Development, 2012.
The Ainu: Beyond the Politics of Cultural Coexistence by Tessa Morris-Suzuki. This article includes a discussion of the colonisation of Ainu lands and resistance to it, and critically analyses the Ainu Cultural Promotion Law of 1997. Cultural Survival, 1999.
Ainu Success: the Political and Cultural Achievements of Japan's Indigenous Minority by Simon Cotterill Japan's Ainu people have undergone suppression of their culture and livelihood, and subsequent denial of their existence. However, this article critically re-evaluates the Ainu's recent history in terms of their considerable achievements, such as international recognition and the Japanese government's 2008 declaration recognising their indigenous status. In spite of and often in reaction to continuing obstacles, the Ainu have successfully used international fora to advance towards their domestic goals. Simultaneously, they have often reshaped their culture to successfully engage with contemporary demands. Asia Pacific Journal, Japan Forum, March 21, 2011.
Documenting Urban Indigeneity: TOKYO Ainu and the 2011 survey on the living conditions of Ainu outside Hokkaido by Simon Cotterill. If acknowledged at all, Japan’s indigenous population the Ainu are usually represented as a rural, exotic group, bound to ancestral homes in Hokkaido and the Northern territories. Yet, large numbers of Ainu, perhaps even the majority of their population, now live in urban centres outside Hokkaido. The recent documentary TOKYO Ainu challenges traditional, negative representations of Ainu culture as only rural, and records the complex reality of urban indigenous life for Ainu within Greater Tokyo. The article compares the film TOKYO Ainu in broadening discourse and understanding of Ainu identity with the Japanese government’s recent living conditions survey released this year. Asia-Pacific Journal, Japan Focus, Nov 7, 2011.
Aynu itak: On the road to Ainu language revitalisation by Kylie Martin, 2011. Includes the following sections: 6. 4. Ainu language classes , 6. 6. Formal education and the Ainu language, 6. 7. Attendance at Ainu language classes.