MINA SAKAI
Mii Hirayama DP2 TOK: Craig
Mina Sakai
She was born in Obihiro, Hokkaido in 1983. Her mother is Japanese and her father is an Ainu. Her name means 'to smile' in the Ainu language.
She has danced since she was four years old. She started learning the traditional Ainu dance at the age of ten. In her lifetime, performance is her major interest.
She has contributed to Ainu culture in the field of arts. She is now a singer and dancer of a prominent advanced group of music and performance called IMERUAT.
“We think that culture is something that constantly changes. We are confident that we have the spirit -- the spirit that we want to do something, to express something about the Ainu.” (Mina Sakai, 2007)
Ainu people
Ainu people are indigenous to Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan. They are originally hunter and gatherers and they bartered. They obtained furs and seafood by themselves and get rice, lacquerware, cotton, and ironware from Japanese people. Ainu people speak the Ainu language.
In the mid 19 centuries, the Japanese government assimilated Ainu people into Japanese citizens without their consent. Ainu people were forced to speak Japanese and the Ainu language has been dying. Their lifestyle such as hunting, gathering, or finishing was banned.
In 2019, the number of Ainu people was 13,118 according to Hokkaido government.
In the same year, the New Ainu Law was established to promote policies for realizing a society in which the pride of Ainu People is respected.
Experience in Canada
Mina's trip to British Columbia in Canada at grade 10 was a life-changing experience.
Before the trip, she was sometimes discriminated against in the school. She felt like that being the Ainu was a shame and hid it.
In BC, she participated in the activity with Indigenous people including Haida, Heiltsuk, and Métis. She was impressed that they had their tight communities and they were proud of themselves. She watched people of the same age wearing tattoos of the name of their tribe and dancing traditional dances. It was the first time that she felt that being the Ainu should be something to be proud of. She also came to realize that she wanted to live without denying her identity.
AINU REBELS
In 2006, Mina formed a dance performance team called AINU REBELS with more than several young Ainu living in Eastern Japan.
As "REBELS" showed, she wanted to express Ainu culture enthusiastically and modernly refuting the image of the traditional culture.
She arranged traditional dances and songs in a modern way and performed at clubs and music festivals.
AINU REBELS dancers wearing traditional costumes and dancing zealously was featured in the media both in Japan and abroad.
IMERUAT
Mina formed IMERUAT in 2011 with well-known game music composer Masashi Hamazu. IMERUAT means lightning in the Ainu language. She incorporates traditional Ainu elements into some of her music.
Their music is in a wide range of genres, including contemporary music, techno, pop, folk music, electronica, and piano renditions, and also includes video production. Their music is not only in Japanese but also in English, traditional Ainu songs, and musical instruments.
"Battaki" is the song sung entirely in the Ainu language. Battaki means a grasshopper in the Ainu language and is a traditional song about a circle dance of grasshoppers. Mina has danced at festivals and other events since she was little, and it was one of her favorite dances. The lyrics mean along with the Tokachi River/in front of me /put my knees together, along with the Tokachi River/behind me/put my elbow together.
In IMERUAT, she has made significant contributions to the prevalence of Ainu knowledge and culture. Her creativity has made the music be a hybrid of the traditional Ainu songs and modern songs.
Other contributions
In 2001, Mina delivered a speech about Ainu people in Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP), which was a subsidiary organ within the structure of the United Nations.
In 2008, she hosted Indigenous Summit at the time that 34th G8 Summit was held in Hokkaido.
Interview
I got an opportunity to interview Mina for half an hour and I asked her three questions.
How has the trip to Canada influenced your life?
>Read 'Experience in Canada'
What do you think about the Ainu people and the culture in Japan?
In her childhood, even though Mina lived in Hokkaido, she learned about the Ainu people only in history classes as students in other parts of Japan did. Until recently, Ainu culture has not often be recognized in public. Since the Ainu Culture Promotion Law was enacted about 20 years ago, the knowledge of Ainu culture has been disseminated. For example, in New Chitose Airport, a sign in the Ainu language saying "irankarapte" which means hello was built. This reminds her of when she hoped Ainu culture would be recognized more in daily life by seeing totem poles in Vancouver Airport.
However, she also mentioned the downside of the prevalence of Ainu culture. Hate speech has increased as Ainu people or their culture go to the public such as the opinion that Ainu people connect with authorities for their interests.
How is being the Ainu important to you?
The Ainu is a part of her identity and she is proud of it.
When she was in AINU REBELS, she realized that being the Ainu or discrimination were all the focus of attention, and it would continue, she would end up becoming an activist.
Right now, she wants to be recognized as a performer neither an activist.
