C. Indigenous Rights and (In)equality

沖縄語のいま ➁ A short video about Uchinaaguchi teacher, Fija Byron, who has mixed Okinawan and foreign roots, and about the Okinawan language/Uchinaaguchi. 19 Feb 2016.

Introduction to Okinawa...from actual Okinawans This video is about Okinawan, and Ryukyun, history by Native Ryukyuan historian and human rights activist Robert Kajiwara, at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. 9 Sep 2020.

American-Okinawan working to keep Ryukyu language alive Byron Fija, who knows nothing about his American father and little about his Okinawan mother, now works to preserve Uchinaguchi, a native language in Okinawa, after having overcome an identity crisis. Japan Times, 13 Jun 2015.

“Wanne Uchinanchu – I am Okinawan.” Japan, the US and Okinawa’s Endangered Languages Patrick Heinrich interviews Fija Bairon on Okinawa’s endangered languages and culture, and efforts to restore them. "In this article Okinawan language and cultural activist Fija Bairon speaks on the discovery of his Okinawan identity and on his attempts to maintain and revitalize Uchinaguchi, one of five Ryukyuan languages. An introduction addresses issues of Ryukyuan language endangerment and the local attempts of language revitalisation." The Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus, 22 Nov, 2007.

言葉も心も、次代へ紡ぐ「なくなったら寂しいさーね」しまとぅくばの日　本村清子さん（82）宜野湾市　冊子自費出版、孫のため歌も This is an article about a women who made a book to protect Okinawan by her own money. 琉球新報, 19 Sep 2021

沖縄の方言を徹底解説！日常会話で使われる定番のウチナーグチ（沖縄方言）人気TOP10をおばーに喋ってもらって This is an article about the current situation of Okinawan from the perspective of young Okinawan men. おきなわマグネット, 24 Aug 2017

しまとぅくば「文字表記確立して」「学校教科に」継承に識者ら提案 This is an article about the proposal given by the Okinawan language successor to make Okinawan language be one of the school subjects. 琉球新報, 19 Sep 2020

ハイサイ！！うちなぁぐち　比嘉光龍 This is a vlog of Byron Fija. He is teatching Okinawan languages in this vlog and sometimes explains about the history, and culture of Okinawa. Goo, 2009

Ainu Voices and Stories

Future is Mine: Ainu My Voice This video tells the story of Kayano Rie san, her relation to her Ainu identity and culture, and especially her visit to the Seminole people, the indigenous people of Southern Florida. Future is Mine, 28 Jun 2020.

Japan's indigenous Ainu people still hunting for acceptance of their ancestral traditions This video looks at Atsushi Monbestsu, an Ainu man who is trying to live and support his family as an Ainu hunter. He talks about the importance of traditional Ainu hunting to his identity and also the discrimination he has experienced as Ainu. Reuters/South China Morning Post, 1 Nov 2019.

TOKYO応援宣言「開会式に登場!?先住民族・アイヌの歴史と文化を世界へ」The video tells the story of a young Ainu woman, Maya Sekine, about how she didn't reveal her Ainu identity to others when she was young but came to identify publicly as Ainu and now works to promote understanding of Ainu culture and language including on YouTube. TV Asahi, 8 Jul 2019.

Japan's 'vanishing' Ainu will finally be recognized as indigenous people This article includes a brief overview of Ainu history, tells the Story of Oki Kano, an Ainu musician who mixes Ainu music with reggae and other genres, and looks at different views about the New Ainu Law of 2019 including the lack of an apology to Ainu people and whether it tries to turn them into a cultural exhibit and deny them their rights and self-determination. CNN, 23 Apr 2018.

Ainu activist near Tokyo uses traditional cloth art to show her people are 'right here' This article tells the story of Shizue Ukaji, 88, who is skilled and highly respected maker of traditional Ainu embroidery. It explains how her family left Hokkaido like many other Ainu people to find work and to escape discrimination and how she became "a pioneer of the movement to reclaim the rights of Ainu people in eastern Japan's Kanto region". Mainichi Shimbun, 22 Apr, 2021.

Going Native: Tokyo’s thriving Ainu community keeps traditional culture alive Part 1 explains the history of Ainu people as well as the story of Mina Sakai, a young Ainu woman from Hokkaido who at first felt shame about her Ainu identity. The article explains how she cam to have pride in being Ainu and to set up the group Ainu Rebels to promote Ainu culture. Metropolis, 26 Feb, 2009.

Going Native: Tokyo’s thriving Ainu community keeps traditional culture alive Part 2 explains a bit more of Mina Sakai's story (from part 1 above), and explains briefly about traditional Ainu music and dance as well as looking at the Ainu artists, Ainu Rebels and Oki, who combine Ainu dance and music with rap, reggae and hip hop, and at attitudes to this new hybrid culture from amongst Ainu people. It also explains about the film Tokyo Ainu. Metropolis, 26 Feb, 2009.

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.

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.

Ainu Musician, OKI – Roots 1999 "When I realised the origin of my blood, I knew this blood was going to be burning" says Oki, "but first I had to find out how to make it burn". With the release of his second album, "Hankapuy", it's clear that Oki, a musician of mixed Japanese and Ainu (indigenous Japanese) blood has come a long way on his own personal journey and in the process has created a startling album. Far Side Music. 14 Nov, 2014. Includes some videos of Oki.

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.

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.

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 indigenous people and the consequences of such a decision. Japan Times, 13 Oct 2007.

Ainu Living in Tokyo - Getting To Know the Indigenous People of Japan by Osamu Hasegawa This article explains the history of the invasion of Hokkaido, and assimilation and dispossession of the Ainu people, and why it is important for Japanese people to understand this history. He argues that "the history that most Japanese learn is only based on the Japanese perspective" and hides the history of invasion and colonization.The section on 'Current Situation of Ainu Living in and around Tokyo' gives a short overview of the Ainu community in Tokyo and the Tokyo-Icarpa. which commemorates the removal of 38 Ainu people to the Kaitakushi Ainu School and Agricultural Experiment Station in 1872 (later Sapporo University) who were not allowed to return to their homes. Sustainability, 24 Dec 2009.

From assimilation to recognition: Japan’s indigenous Ainu This article describes the process of recognition of Ainu people by the Japanese government largely from the perspective of Yuya Abe, Deputy Head of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido. Although this Association was involved in the discussions about the New Ainu Law and Upopoy and largely welcomed them, Abe recognizes that the Law does not include commitments to return land, resources or political control to Ainu people and has been divisive amonst Ainu groups. He points out that half of the land in Hokkaido is state-owned and much is wilderness so it could easily be returned to Ainu people. Minority Rights Group, Jan 2020.

Shimizu, Hatakeyama, Maruyama & Ichikawa:"Recognition at last for Japan’s Ainu Community?" A video of a meeting (in English and Japanese) at the Tokyo Foreign Correspondents Club in which Ainu activists criticized the New Ainu Law of 2019 which recognizes the Ainu people for the first time as “an indigenous group,” saying that despite the wording, it treats them as a tourist attraction and does not do enough to reverse the historical discrimination they have suffered or provide them an apology. See also the article 'Empty words': Rights groups say Japan's bill recognizing Ainu as indigenous group falls short. Japan Times, 2 Mar 2019.

【サツダイリアルアクション】アイヌのルーツを追いかけて、静岡から北海道へ An interview with 金澤眞直, from Shizuoka Prefecture, who is one of the students in the Ureshipa Club programme. Sapporo University, 24 Nov 2020.

TOKYO Ainu Documentary Film "TOKYO Ainu features the Ainu, an indigenous people of Japan, living in Greater Tokyo (Tokyo and its surrounding areas), who are and actively in promoting their traditional culture in a metropolitan environment away from their traditional homeland, Hokkaido. Shedding a common assumption that all Ainu live in Hokkaido, the film captures the feelings, thoughts and aspirations of Ainu people that who try to follow the Ainu way no matter where they live."

Explanation and Analysis

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 2015 update on recent policies and developments related to indigenous people in Japan including Ainu people and hate speech and the Futenma/Henoko campaigns in Okinawa.

Genetic kinship found between Ainu and native Okinawans This article reports on research that shows that Ainu and Okinawan people have genetic similarities and lived in Japan before the arrival of Yayoi people from the Asian mainland. It supports the theory that modern Japanese people are a mix of the original Jomon inhabitants and the later Yayoi migrants but that Ainu and Okinawan people are much closer genetically to the original Jomon inhabitants. Asahi Shimbun, 1 Nov 2012.

Ainu and Okinawan Human Rights- United Nations Forum on indigenous issues Various organizations urged the Japanese government to fully realize the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and address human rights violations against the Ainu and Okinawan communities at the tenth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues convened at the United Nations Headquarters, New York from the 16th to 27th of May, 2011

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.

World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Japan : Ainu 'The Ainu are an indigenous people who inhabit the island of Hokkaido of Japan, as well as the north of Honshu, Japan's main island and Sakhalin island, in Russia.' refworld, 2008.

Ainu: indigenous in every way but not by official fiat Following the United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples in 2007 and shortly before the Japanese government recognised the Ainu as indigenous people, this article answers questions about the history and current situation of Ainu people - and also refers to the situation of Okinawan people. Japan Times, 20 May, 2008.

Recognition at last for Japan's Ainu An article about the history of the Ainu people and Japanese settlement on of their lands, which discusses their recognition as an indigenous people in 2008. BBC News, 6 Jun, 2008.

Recognition for a People Who Faded as Japan Grew This article discusses what their recognition as an indigenous people means for Ainu people and for their human rights. New York Times, July 3, 2008.

Ainu, Okinawans join first U.N. indigenous peoples’ conference Delegates for indigenous peoples from around the world, including Ainu and Okinawans, gathered this week at the United Nations to discuss measures to ensure their political representation and freedom from discrimination in the first U.N.-backed conference of its kind. Japan Times, Sep 23, 2014.