#Ainu Moshir

[hawon-ee]

函館市北方民族資料館からのアイヌ語彙表

Ainu Vocabulary List from the Hakodate Museum of Northern Peoples

Orders: [Japanese word] + [English translation] + [Ainu written in katakana] + [Ainu written in Roman letters]

Family / Status

人間 Human　アイヌ (aynu)

男性 Male　オッカヨ (okkayo)

女性 Female　メノコ (menoko)

男の子 Boy　ヘカチ (hekaci)

女の子 Girl　マッカチ (matkaci)

祖父 Grandfather　エカシ (ekashi)

祖母 Grandmother　フチ (huci)

父 Father　ミチ (mici)

母 Mother　ハポ (hapo)

兄 Older brother　ユポ (yupo)

姉 Older sister　サポ (sapo)

弟 Younger brother アク (ak)

妹 Younger sister

・姉から見て From the perspective of the older sister: マタㇰ (matak)

・兄から見て From the perspective of the older brother: マタパ (matapa)

孫 Grandchild　ミッポ (mippo)

叔父 Uncle　アチャポ (acapo)

叔母 Aunt　ウナㇻペ (unarpe)

夫婦 A married couple　ウムレㇰ (umurek)

夫 Husband　ホク (hoku)

妻 Wife　マッ (mat)

紳士 Gentleman　シパ (nisipa)

淑女 Lady　カッケマッ (katkemat)

Body

体 Body　ネトパケ (netopake)

顔 Face　サパ (sapa)

髪 Hair　オトㇷ゚ (otop)

額 Eyebrows　キプトゥル (kiputuru)

耳 Ear　キサラ (kisara)

目 Eyes　シㇰ (sik)

鼻 Nose　エトゥ (etu)

口 Mouth　パㇻ (par)

歯 Teeth　ニマク (nimaku)

眉 Cheek　ラル (raru)

頬 Eyebrows　ノタカㇺ (notakam)

頸・喉 Neck and throat　レクッ (rekut)

肩 Shoulders　(tap)

背中 Back　セトゥㇽ (setur)

腰 Waist　イッケウ (ikkew)

手 Hand　テㇰ (tek)

指 Finger　アッケペッ (askepet)

腹 Belly/stomach　ホン (hon)

へそ Bellybutton　ハンク (hanku)

尻 Buttocks　オソㇿ (osor)

足 Legs　チキㇼ (chikir)

Places

国 Country　モシㇼ (moshir)

村 Village　コタン (kotan)

山 Mountains　ヌプリ (nupuri)

川 Rivers　ペッ (pet)

海 Sea　アトゥイ (atuy)

湖 Lake　ト (to)

木 Wood　ニ (ni)

森 Forest ニタイ (nitay)

太陽 Sun　チュプ (cup)

月 Moon　クンネチュプ (kunnecup)

空 Sky　ニㇱ (nis)

星 Stars　ノチウ (nociw)

春 Spring　パイカㇻ (paykar)

夏 Summer　サㇰ (sak)

秋 Autumn チュㇰ (chuk)

冬 Winter　マタ (mata)

Time

昨日 Yesterday　ヌマン (numan)

今日 Today　タント (tanto)

明日 Tomorrow　ニサッタ (nisatta)

Colours

白 White　レタㇻ (retar)

赤 Red　フレ (hure)

黒 Black　クンネ (kunne)

緑 Green　シウニン (shiwnin)

青 Blue　シウニンノ (shiwninno)

金 Gold　コンカネ (konne)

銀 Silver　シロカネ (shirokane)

Faith

神 gods　カムイ (kamuy)

祈り・祈祷 Prayer　カムイノミ (kamuynomi)

*Anything with a plural stuck to the end, know that it can be singular, and any singular can also be plural. The information is written down in Japanese in which this distinction is not made.

[intogenshin]

Tsurumi Island is also uncomfortable

I wrote a series where I dissected the underlying themes and narratives of the Inazuma chapter because most of the intent behind the poorly written storyline was lost in their ambition to pull a shocking plot twist. Unlike the other nations, the player doesn’t get to look into the archon’s inner world (figuratively) until the climax of the last act, save for some vague foreshadowing dialogues from Yae, so the most important part of the story was hidden from the audience.

I found the story they wrote compelling, but at the same time I couldn’t push away the uncomfortable feeling of knowing how that story was built by detaching it from its historical parallel: Tokugawa Japan. 

It is one thing to make fantasy dictatorship into a benevolent measure for protection, where the ruler was rather a subordinate to the major power and whose motivations were based on fear, if (if) the real life historical parallel of a feudal military dictatorship isn’t a big issue for Japanese people then it doesn’t matter much in the end. But it is another to blur the narratives around the parallels of indigenous people that were invaded and occupied by imperial Japan. 

Chinese media has strict restrictions regarding what they can and cannot portray or show, and revisionism of imperial japan is prohibited. I know it goes beyond even fiction, because an actor from a cdrama I liked was accused of praying at a temple that honors a Japanese general, and was unofficially banned from working in the industry (his name cannot even be used for registering a phone number). The actor in question has explained he was only walking outside, unaware of what the location really was since it is promoted as a tourist spot, yet he is still unofficially blacklisted. 

All this to say, no, this criticism is not implying hoyo is endorsing Japanese colonialism + mentioning an instance of just how serious the issue is in China. Let’s not waste time arguing in extremes. Moving on now. 

Names and terms in Tsurumi Island come from Ainu language, but it seems there’s very little that honors their culture. 

(Please check resources and research for yourself, don’t take my words at face value, as I might make mistakes)

Ainu cosmology sees their relationship with their environment in a symmetrical order, meaning there is a reciprocity between animals and humans, as well as humans and kamuy, the spirits that inhabit the heavenly world and watch over humans. 

Kamuy manifest in the human world (Ainu Moshir) through disguises of natural phenomena (wind, fire, water), parts of nature (animals, plants, mountains), and material culture (boats, pots), so when Ainu hunt or use these elements they are receiving the gifts of the kamuy in these forms. And they perform rituals in which they also give back to the kamuy in return, showing how important reciprocity between humans and nature is in their worldview. 

There is a ritual for “sending off” damaged, old or unwanted daily utensils to the the realm of the spirits called Iwakute, and one of salmon called Ascircep-nomi, but the most known ritual is Iomante, the ceremony of the bear, in which a cub is raised by the community for a couple of years and then sacrificed as a “sending off” of the kamuy of the mountains, Kim-un-kamuy, who manifests in the form of bears. 

The Ainu bear ritual has been recorded by varios explorers and researchers. It was so famous and attractive that it was performed in the presence of Emperor Meiji in the Shiraoi village in 1881.

Ainu believe that kamui live in the form of human beings in their own world Kamui-moshir. Plants and animals in this world are regarded as temporary forms of the kamui which are endowed to humans by deities themselves as gifts. Kindaichi states that the kamui who came down to Ainu-moshir can return happily to Kamui-moshir only by willingly being eaten and being respected. 

—The Ainu Bear Ceremony and the Logic Behind Hunting the Deified Bear, by Takako Yamada 

This type of ceremony or festival is very common in northern cultures:

As is revealed by Watanabe, the sending-off ceremonies for a variety of animals, including the caribou, the seal, and the whale, are commonly observed among northern hunting-gatherer peoples. Moreover, considering the northern cultures in terms of relationships between religion and ecology, Irimoto suggests two significant characteristics: first, the notion of reciprocity that exists between man and game spirits, and, second, the original oneness of both sets of beings. 

—The Ainu Bear Ceremony and the Logic Behind Hunting the Deified Bear, by Takako Yamada

Ainu is the name for the people that lived in the islands of Hokkaido, possibly Honshu, Kuril and Sakhalin (the latter two passed to soviet control following World War II), who lived in kotar (small villages) of people related by blood, but the groups shared similar religious beliefs and eventually came to be known collectively as Ainu. 

The history of the Ainu is intertwined with that of Northeast Asia, namely, Japan, Mongolia, and Siberia. The geography of these regions influenced various groups of Ainu and created obvious differences in their lifestyles. Nevertheless, all these Ainu groups seemed to share similar religious beliefs and subscribed to a similar philosophy. 

The identification of the Ainu culture is based more on “the Hokkaido Ainu” than other groups. This is because the Hokkaido Ainu were the largest of the Ainu groups and survived the Japanese and Russian conquests. 

—Symbolism of Symmetry in the Ainu Culture from the Viewpoint of Analytical Psychology, by Kazuko Kosaka-Tanaka

So, how did Hoyoverse portray this culture in the story of Tsurumi Island?

The people of Tsurumi are extinct due to their own actions, born of ignorance and naivety: the creature they revered as their god, Kapatcir, had no interest in them and didn’t regard herself as a deity or protector either, and the rituals of human sacrifice had no meaning for her. 

First of all, Ainu is a culture under threat of erasure after a long time of Japanese colonial/settler violence, but they are very much living and dedicate their lives to preserve their culture. 

Hoyoverse portrayed the island as a ghost civilization that only survives in memory and broken objects left behind, and that seems to be the way they also went about borrowing bits and pieces of their culture, as if they were taking different candies from a store, and carelessly used them to adorn their story. 

Tsurumi’s civilization doesn’t honor Ainu’s cosmology of reciprocity with nature, nor the respectful relationship between Ainu and Kamuy, nor their rituals or ceremonies performed in gratitude. It doesn’t even recognize them as a living people. 

I keep wondering just how many people might uncritically and subconsciously believe Ainu performed human sacrifices after playing this game. And I have to question why this narrative was used in this context at all alongside the recurrent justification of a civilization causing their own demise when it can make their main characters, the product they sell through their gacha, look bad. 

The Japanese themselves considered the Ainu to be barbarians, and this led to uneasy relationship from the start and to repeated efforts on the part of the Ainu to expel the Japanese from their lands. After a few centuries of sporadic conflict, including the last “pan-Ainu” uprising against the Japanese in 1669 (Shakushain’s War). 

Meiji government embarked on a policy of (forced) assimilation —a policy whose ultimate aim was to eradicate Ainu culture. Under this regime, the Ainu were systematically stripped of any Ainu identity and were “made” Japanese. 

The Japanese government redoubled its efforts at assimilating the Ainu into Japanese society and eradicating Ainu culture. As part of the act, Ainu families were granted small plots of land, in order to transform them from hunters into (more easily managed) farmers. Much of the best farmland had already been claimed by Japanese settlers. 

—Language Conflict and Language Rights: the Ainu, Ryūkyūans, and Koreans in Japan, by Stanley Dubinsky and William D Davies 

What it seems is, much like they did with Watatsumi Island and Ryukyu culture, the company intends to mimic the consequences of settler colonialism and the violence of occupation by framing the loss of these fantasy cultures in tragedy, but fails to address the historical parallels that inspired them in the first place so as not to damage the marketing of their product. Who would want to buy a colonizer ruler, even if it’s made in the vessel of a gacha waifu?

The archon and shogunate in Inazuma are portrayed initially as benevolent (by allowing Orobashi to maintain the island he brought from the depths nearby their territory), and their violence against Watatsumi and against Kapatcir is justified (Orobashi invaded Yashiori Island, the resistance broke the seals that suppressed the Tatarigami instigated by an undercover Fatui, and Kapatcir’s grief was out of control and therefore represented a danger to Seirai Island). Not to mention there is no contact between the Thunder Civilization of Tsurumi and the Shogunate or the archon. 

I don’t know if any allegory can work with Kapatcir at all. If she represents the power of the archon (thunder) and the destruction of Tsurumi’s civilization is an indirect reference to Japan’s genocide of Ainu, then it’s just weird that the people of Tsurumi were worshipping her in the first place. If Kapatcir is meant to represent the entirety of Tsurumi’s people and Ei sealing her in Seirai island is a reference to the genocide and forced assimilation, then it’s just weird that Kapatcir had such disregard and indifference for the people of Tsurumi in the first place. It doesn’t work in any cohesive way. 

Moreover, the human sacrifice narrative is at best distasteful and very unfortunate, and at worst malicious. 

There is a folklore Ainu legend that includes human sacrifices, though I couldn’t find much about it: Sitonai. A village is terrorized by a snake monster who demands human sacrifices and a girl, Sitonai, bravely volunteers in order to slay the snake with her wit and aided by her dog. This story however is about defeating a invasor, completely different from the narrative of ignorance and submissive acceptance portrayed by Ruu. 

There is no evidence of the Ainu ever performing human sacrifice, but given the racism against Ainu and this disrespectful notion of “barbarism”, it seems something malicious to imply. The only thing I could find was something that looks like an offhand comment by a researcher, with no evidence other than pointing out that a ceremonial object looks like ceramics in the shape of a person, nothing else. 

I did find, however, an instance of human sacrifice of Ainu people perpetrated by Japanese settlers. 

Ainu men and boys were exploited in Takobeya forced labor by the settlers, while women and girls were abused as Comfort Women. The laborers were kept incarcerated in small rooms and stripped off their human rights, and those who tried to escape were subjected to harsh punishments and brutally assaulted. 

Decades later, skeletal remains were found in a nearby tunnel in Hokkaido, and it is believed these remains were the result of Hitobashira, a Buddhist practice of human sacrifice where people are buried alive in a construction, perpetrated against some of these Tako laborers. 

Takahashi refers to these victims as “countless bloodstained human pillars” (hitobashira人柱). Although hitobashira usually refers to someone who sacrifices his or her life for a cause, it can also refer to the ancient practice of sacrificing people by burying them in the foundation of a building, castle, or bridge in order to appease the gods during a particularly difficult construction project. Takahashi does not elaborate on his word choice, but it is possible that hitobashira refers to the abstract notion of “sacrifice” for the nation’s “colonization” of Hokkaido, or the physical form of “sacrifice” involving the buried bodies upon which the “colony” was built. There were local rumors that there were “human pillars” buried within the Jōmon Tunnel walls, suggesting that Takahashi might have also been referring to the actual buried bodies at former construction sites.

—From “Convict” to “Victim”: Commemorating Laborers on Hokkaido’s Central Road, by Jesús Solís 

So why, just why, would the writers use the human sacrifice narrative in the fantasy island inspired by Ainu culture, while simultaneously butchering their religious beliefs of coexistence with kamuy, and ignoring the nature of the rituals they are known for? 

When I wrote my post The Allegory of the Puppet Ruler (first version on hoyolab, revised version on reddit), I could tell that the narrative of Inazuma’s chapter was trying to examine the beliefs around the bushido, a code of conduct that Tokugawa used to incentivize nationalism and military submission, which is something that plays into the expansionist colonial invasions of imperial japan. The NPC character leader of the Kujou clan also was portraying a quest for power, authority and control that scapegoats the rest of the nation (the shogunate and the archon) from this fault, especially with the way Kujou Sara vehemently rejects his delusions to follow the “true eternity” of the shogun instead, you know, the one that is benevolent and protective.

From the way they disrespectfully borrowed from Ainu and Ryukyu culture, the writing was on the wall for the fiasco that was Sumeru, but there’s something especially revolting about doing it to cultures under threat of erasure. And I’d be surprised if they improve at all in their depiction of indigenous America or Africa. 

Anyway, please check these resources if you made it down here.

Ainu Mythology: the Cuckoo and Pon-Oki-Kurumi, by Hosana Fukuzawa

Symbolism of Symmetry in the Ainu Culture from the Viewpoint of Analytical Psychology, by Kazuko Kosaka-Tanaka

The Concept of Shared Destiny in the Ainu Spiritual Belief, by Junhong Wang

Language Conflict and Language Rights: the Ainu, Ryūkyūans, and Koreans in Japan, by William D Davies and Stanley Dubinsky 

The Ainu Bear Ceremony and the Logic Behind Hunting the Deified Bear, by Takako Yamada

From “Convict” to “Victim”: Commemorating Laborers on Hokkaido’s Central Road, by Jesús Solís 

Forced Labor in Imperial Japan’s First Colony: Hokkaidō, by Pia M Jolliffe

[justlarkin]

Could there be more potential transients from Kamuy Kotan? I don't know Ainu mythology well so in comparison to Aaru with Egyptian gods who most people know I wonder who could join this particular world.

I really don't know enough about Ainu mythology to narrow down guaranteed transients, but from exile connection alone there's gods like Kanna Kamui (thunder god, possibly Ainurakkur's dad), Fuchi (fire goddess), Pakoro Kamui (plague god, also possibly Ainurakkur's dad), Pikata Kamui (wind goddess), and Moshir Huchi (a sea goddess). And in some variations, the sun goddess, Tokapcup, and the moon god, Kunnecup, were also the ones tasked with raising Ainurakkur.

But since Ainu mythology has god/goddesses to represent everything like most cultures, they could honestly use whoever they want when it's convenient to the plot. They'll probably just use one of the animal based kamuys when they want to add a new furry to spice things up tbh. There's even certain stories where the owl kamuy, Cikap's, younger sister has to marry Ainurakkur.

[amer-ainu]

The 2019 Ainu Bill is a joke, and Here’s Why

I know everyone wants something good to happen to Indigenous folks somewhere for once, but this policy isn’t it. The article is necessarily long, and since none of y’all actually read any of these articles before posing them and shouting GOLDEN KAMUY for some reason, here are some of the most important details about what the bill actually does, or fails to do.

Ainu members of the Council represent a minority within its numbers. In other words, Japanese individuals dominate the Council, which determines the policies on behalf of the Ainu.

Second, the five Ainu members on the council do not represent an adequate diversity of the different Ainu interest groups or associations as only a few of select Ainu organisations are represented. Other organizations across the vibrant spectrum of activism and interests of the Ainu community — such as the Karafuto (Sakhalin) Ainu Association, the Monbetsu Ainu Association, or the Ainu Women’s Association — have been excluded from the decision-making processes with priority instead given to those groups directly tied to government.

there are no stipulations in the bill which guarantee the indigenous status of the Ainu or take comprehensive anti-discrimination measures in ways which would accord with the international human rights standards to which Japan is bound. This is equally true of the forthcoming bill as it was for its predecessor, the Ainu Culture Promotion Act (ACPA, 1997).

Did you read that?  

There are no stipulations in the bill which guarantee the indigenous status of the Ainu.

the Ainu are regarded as a distinct ethnic group, which is significantly different from recognition as indigenous peoples and implies a completely different set of rights and guarantees according to international human rights standards. 

Article 2 of the bill reinforces the constraints on the Ainu by providing a very narrow definition of what culture is, one that is again consistent with that outlined the ACPA, although in opposition to indigenous culture as defined by a number of international conventions.

So about those fishing and gathering rights?

the new policy relegates and restricts Ainu culture to limited activities such as salmon fishing in fresh water and foraging in Hokkaido forests solely for the purpose of performing certain rituals or disseminating their traditional knowledge, rather than accommodating self-determination of the Ainu to enjoy their own culture.

In effect, the policy defines Ainu culture on behalf of the Ainu themselves, as opposed to allowing for self-determination. Article 5 of the bill reinforces this distorted representation by allowing the state and municipalities to take the lead in adopting and implementing Ainu policy. 

On 16 February, the day following the approval of the bill by the Cabinet Meeting, Ainu activist Mamoru Tazawa critically remakred, “No measures are really taken for the Ainu, let alone the [diverse groups like the] Karafuto Ainu.”

The short of it is, the 2019 Ainu bill is exactly what I said it was in my last post about the topic. It’s an underhanded scheme made to save face on the international stage, and rake in tourist dollars for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. There is nothing substantially different in this bill from the 1997 bill it’s meant to replace. It’s reinforcing the commodification of our culture and our people as objects for some vacationer’s curio cabinet.

This is not a win for us.

[oroichonno]

Here’s some light on how to better understand the locals. To go there & get a fuller experience, please look in this.

Aynu Mosir en paye yan, wa nukar tan sisima itak katu.

(Go to Ainu Mosir, please, and listen to this Japanese language form.)

[warau-okami]

Japan's 'vanishing' Ainu will finally be recognized as indigenous people

A bill, which was passed on Friday, for the first time has officially recognized the Ainu of Hokkaido as an "indigenous" people of Japan. The bill also includes measures to make Japan a more inclusive society for the Ainu, strengthen their local economies and bring visibility to their culture.

Japanese land minister Keiichi Ishii told reporters Friday that it was important for the Ainu to maintain their ethnic dignity and pass on their culture to create a vibrant and diverse society.Yet some warn a new museum showcasing their culture risks turning the Ainu into a cultural exhibit and note the bill is missing one important thing -- an apology.

Ainu Moshir (Land of the Ainu)

The origins of the Ainu and their language remain unclear, though many theories exist.

They were early residents of northern Japan, in what is now the Hokkaido prefecture, and the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin, off the east coast of Russia. They revered bears and wolves, and worshiped gods embodied in the natural elements like water, fire and wind.

In the 15th century, the Japanese moved into territories held by various Ainu groups to trade. But conflicts soon erupted, with many battles fought between 1457 and 1789. After the 1789 Battle of Kunasiri-Menasi, the Japanese conquered the Ainu.

Japan's modernization in the mid-1800s was accompanied a growing sense of nationalism and, in 1899, the government sought to assimilate the Ainu by introducing the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act.

The act implemented Japan's compulsory national education system in Hokkaido and eliminated traditional systems of Ainu land rights and claims. Over time, the Ainu were forced to give up their land and adopt Japanese customs through a series of government initiatives.Today, there are only two native Ainu speakers worldwide, according to the Endangered Languages Project, a organization of indigenous groups and researchers aimed at protecting endangered languages.

High levels of poverty and unemployment currently hinder the Ainu's social progress. The percentage of Ainu who attend high school and university is far lower than the Hokkaido average.

The Ainu population also appears to have shrunk. Official figures put the number of Ainu in Hokkaido at 17,000 in 2013, accounting for around 2% of the prefecture's population. In 2017, the latest year on record, there were only about 13,000.

However, Gayman, the Ainu researcher, says that the number of Ainu could be up to ten times higher than official surveys suggest, because many have chosen not to identify as Ainu and others have forgotten -- or never known -- their origins.

Mark John Winchester, a Japan-based indigenous rights expert, calls the new bill a "small step forward" in terms of indigenous recognition and anti-discrimination, but says it falls short of truly empowering the Ainu people. "Self-determination, which should be the central pillar of indigenous policy-making, is not reflected in the law," says Winchester.

Winchester and Gayman also say the government failed to consult all Ainu groups when drafting the bill.

For the Ainu elder Shimizu, the new bill is missing an important part: atonement. "Why doesn't the government apologize? If the Japanese recognized what they did in the past, I think we could move forward," says Shimizu."The Japanese forcibly colonized us and annihilated our culture. Without even admitting to this, they want to turn us into a museum exhibit," Shimizu adds, referring to the 2019 bill's provision to open an Ainu culture museum in Hokkaido.

Both Shimizu and Kano say the new law grants too much power to Japan's central government, which requires Ainu groups to seek its approval for state-sponsored cultural projects. Furthermore, they say the bill should do more to promote education.

Currently, Ainu youth are eligible for scholarships and grants to study their own language and culture at a few select private universities. But Kano says government funding should extend beyond supporting Ainu heritage, to support the Ainu people."We need more Ainu to enter higher education and become Ainu lawyers, film directors and professors," he says. "If that doesn't happen, the Japanese will always control our culture."

@languagesandshootingstars

[tokyototokyo]

Day 22, Sapporo, 17th April

Another day, another adventure. This was the hotel foyer at our hotel which was very nice. We have stayed in some good places. It’s been a combination of western and traditional hotels. In a couple of places we stayed in the only suitable hotel in the town.

There are often Japanese artefacts around the hotels we stay in which makes for an interesting wander.

We are all very good at being on time and if anything early to get on the bus. This is particularly good in the morning as we always seem to get to our first stop before other tourists arrive. We haven’t see too many westerners were we have been the last week or so. Chinese, South Korean and other Asian countries are their main source of tourists. On our first stop today we visited Jigokudani.

In this valley 10,000 tons of bubbling water is generated every day. It had that rotten egg smell from the sulphur.

Lots of thermal activity.

You could walk across the valley on boardwalks. It was a noticeably hotter day today but we didn’t know whether it was from the thermal activity or just the increase in temperature to start with.

A lake in an old crater. We have been able to walk a bit on this trip which has been good. There are often different paths to take around the places we have visited.

After the thermal area we drove through the countryside and again saw lots of agriculture and many green houses. The houses out in the countryside seem to be of reasonable size. Considering the population of the country you never see a lot of people around.

Next stop was to a Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum. This museum preserves Hokkaido’s true history. It was run by descendants of this group of people.

Orginal homes and buildings are on display.

Inside the museum there are treasures not found anywhere else in the world belonging to the Ainu people.

The museum is presented in three zones: the Ainu Zone which introduces everyday items, the Kamuy Zone that focuses on the spiritual life of the Ainu and  the Moshir Zone which exhibits implements related to agriculture, hunting, transport and funeral ceremonies.

Lots of natural material was used to make necessary items.

Spiritual items

There were some beautiful preserved clothing mostly made out of cotton, flax and linens,

Lots of good stitching on many items.

Walking around the grounds we came across these children in their pusher. So adorable. The little boy in blue was almost asleep.

Store house up off the ground.

More children.

Martin gave all of them a high five which they got very involved with.

Lunch was next on our agenda and this time we were cooking our meat over a hot plate. We have experienced so many types of Japanese food and ways of cooking it. We wore bibs to protect us from the hot fat splatter. Meals are always pretty jovial affairs.

Waiting for the bus after lunch.

Next we headed across Sapporo to the Beer Museum. At many places we go to there are often people around in uniform directing people and cars. They always look very efficient and often have a whistle and baton.

 The red star was the emblem for the Sapporo beer company which is the oldest beer company in Japan. They sell their beer worldwide.

The historic building now houses a museum and beer tasting area. Outside was the old copper/ steel vat which has been replaced by a more modern container.

Advertising posters that go back to the early 1900′s. The girls and what they wore has changed significantly over the years. There were no posters between 1938 to 1951.

These posters take the company up to modern day. They now use men and  the look is very different.

Pouring the beer. Everyone had a choice of drinking the company’s original beer or newer versions.

Sampling the beer.

Old beer barrels stacked up out the front.

We had a bit of a drive around Sapporo which is the largest city on Hokkaido. It has 1.95 million people. We got to do a bit of shopping at Daiso which is Japanese 108 yen shop which is about $1.50 for everything. The people with grandkids bought up big.

Les Miserables is going to be on in Sapporo. I don’t know how that would sound in Japanese.

Another main Street.

The old clock tower in the middle of the city. A remanent from times past and now mostly a photo op.

Telecommunication tower in Sapporo which was based on the Tokyo Tower. This area of parkland is where the city holds its big ice sculpture festival in winter.

Bikes in the city seem to be a popular form of transport. For all the high population of Japan the traffic isn’t that bad anywhere we have been. I think because they have such great public transport and such strict laws on car ownership it works. Before you can buy a car you have to prove you have somewhere to park it.

Our room. We are back to western style hotel rooms. No more onsens and sleeping on the floor. We had a choice about sleeping on the floor even in the traditional hotels but some opted to do that to have that experience but most regretted that choice. People found sleeping on mats on the floor to be too hard plus the difficulty of getting up and down off the floor. The pillows we all had seemed to be full of beans but after awhile the pillow seemed to adjust to your head.

Our hotel was close to the ‘Red light district’ of Sapporo so some of us went for a wander. There were lots of bright lights and well lit up advertising.

A ‘Madam’ who works in the bars setting up a connection between the men and the girls walked past us. You have to be quick with the camera as you never know what you are going to see.

All the streets were brightly lit. It felt very safe to walk around  it’s not like other red light districts in other countries as there are strict rules here.

Entry into the Ramen food area. Ramen is noodle soup.

Alley way of Ramen restaurants.

The restaurants or stalls are tiny only holding a few people sitting up at the counter.

Lots of bright lights.

All sorts of girls are advertised at different prices. Prostitution is legal in Japan and very controlled. Most work for the money but do it by choice. Men go into the clubs and buy drinks for the girls and negiotate a price.

Empty taxis have their doors open ready for new customers.

These girls work in a place that you can only touch and nothing else. They were quite happy to pose for us with their V sign.

We saw all sorts of things walking around the streets.

Lanterns along the street.

This board advertisers the clubs in this one building. You can see that there are a lot in this one place. Most are fairly small.

Many hotels in the area have rooms for rent for a few hours or all night. Not our hotel, though.

[amer-ainu]

Isfendiyar lived with Kenji Matsuda over a two-year period. Photograph: Adam Isfendiyar

At a time when the UK is wrestling with who we are as a people, the granularity of culture is worth remembering: beneath every seemingly monolithic group lies layer upon layer of diversity, variation and difference.

A new exhibition of photographs at Sway Gallery about the indigenous Ainu people of Japan shows this to be the case even for the reputedly homogeneous Japanese.

The images by British photographer Adam Isfendiyar depict the Ainu through the story of a single man, restaurant-owner Kenji Matsuda.

Like many in his group, Matsuda suffered discrimination as a child, and his grandmother lived through a period of forced assimilation that started in the 19th century.

Though this people has inhabited the islands of Japan since before the arrival of the ethnic Japanese, the systematic suppression of their culture all but wiped out traces of their heritage.

Gradually in recent decades, the Ainu have been able to piece back together their identity.

Photograph: Adam Isfendiyar

A law passed in 1997 recognised them as an ethnic group; a second law in February of this year acknowledged their indigenous status and restored their right to certain traditional cultural practices.

I caught up with Adam Isfendiyar at the gallery and asked him to explain how the project came about.

Having become interested in the Ainu during an eight-year stay in Tokyo, he carried out research in a somewhat circuitous manner: “I bought a book in the market of Ainu tales – it was a kid’s book and my Japanese was at kid’s level. From that book I found out about them.”

He wanted to know more, so he found an Ainu cultural centre in Tokyo which pointed him to a festival where he got a cautious reception. But he persevered and eventually managed to make Ainu friends who invited him to visit.

A major challenge facing any photographer seeking to portray indigenous culture is how to avoid falling back on stereotypes.

For Isfendiyar, the answer was practical: wash dishes in a noodle bar.

Through multiple trips over a two-year period between 2016 and 2018, he immersed himself in the culture of a single Ainu community in Hokkaido Island and the family life of Kenji Matsuda.

His work in Matsudo’s restaurant drew curious reactions from tourists; the proprietor responded by identifying the photographer as his son – the ultimate mark of acceptance: “He ended up calling me his son and I’d call him Dad.”

Gradually the project took shape as Isfendiyar found his way into his subject matter: “A lot of the photos I had seen were in black and white or in sepia, and they had a nostalgic feel to them. I didn’t want to create that. I wanted to create something that was a bit more modern and gave the impression of something that is still alive, as opposed to something that of the past, of the bygone era.”

Many of the images in the exhibition were taken in a single four-day session on his last visit when it all seemed to come together in Isfendiyar’s head.

Photograph: Adam Isfendiyar

The photos are a mixture of highly choreographed shots depicting stylised visions of Ainu heritage – Matsuda in traditional dress holding a bow and arrow, Matsuda looking at a mountain in the distance; and vernacular photos of the restaurateur, his family and others in the community going about their daily business on the street, at work and at family events.

The two sides of contemporary Ainu culture are united in Isfendiyar’s photographs by a common colour scheme of dark blue and rust – the two dominant colours in Matsuda’s ceremonial garments.

Numerous Ainu make their living from selling such handmade traditional crafts – textiles and carved woodwork are specialities – and catering to the needs of visitors.

As with many indigenous groups, the Ainu have an ambiguous relationship with the tourist industry; it is a livelihood, but also a commodification of their heritage.

Can photography provide an alternative take on the Ainu to that scooped up by passing tourists?

Isfendiyar notes that the community he visited had formed around a pre-existing tourist trade that had drawn them in: “There is much more depth to the culture than you see initially if you just walk in for a couple of days and see the tourist industry. That is really just the surface of what they are producing to stay alive.”

But he also acknowledges that his photos offer only one of numerous possible interpretations of Ainu culture: “From going up there a few times, having been invited into people’s homes to see what goes on behind closed doors, you see that this is one perspective, because firstly it is through my eyes, and then it is through another man’s eyes.”

In a cultural group of 25,000, there are as many notions of ethnicity, and this fine collection of photographs is a salutary reminder of the diversity of all identity.

Master – An Ainu Story by Adam Isfendiyar is on until 10 April at Sway Gallery, 70-72 Old Street, EC1V 9AN.

[amer-ainu]

ON 15 February, the Cabinet of Japan approved a bill that officially recognises the Ainu as Indigenous people of northern Japan, many of which live in Hokkaido. Although Japan formally recognised the Ainu as an Indigenous group in 2008, concrete legal recognition has not been established until now.

The new ‘Bill on the implementation of the policies to realise a society where the pride of Ainu people are respected’ consists of 45 clauses and nine supplementary clauses. The first clause states that the Ainu are the Indigenous people of northern Japan and defines the nature of the bill; the fourth bans discrimination against them.

It even simplifies the procedures individuals must follow to obtain permission to collect timber from national forests for indigenous rituals and to catch salmon in rivers using traditional methods. Moreover, it defines the purpose and structure of the Symbolic Spaces for Ethnic Harmony – a national centre for promoting Ainu history and culture set to open in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, in April 2020. The national government will also be committed to subsidising similar local government projects.

Shiraoi Ainu Museum, Source: PixHound/Shutterstock

The bill, however, ultimately shies away from the genuine protection of Indigenous rights. It fails to directly address welfare policies, including life protection insurance, employment support schemes, and existing gaps in education levels. Furthermore, the bill does not acknowledge the immorality of past assimilation policies that have resulted in immeasurable losses for Ainu populations.

Merely defining a series of administrative procedures, the bill is limited to mandating the national and local governments to actively help preserve Ainu culture and improve the rest of the population’s understanding of it as well as of its people.

As such, it is not very difficult to identify the shortcomings of this so-called reform and condemn the government for its half-hearted approach to Indigenous issues.

Indeed, some activists and specialists have been quick to attack it. Some have argued that Japan’s Indigenous policies do not recognise Ainu self-determination and autonomy, disqualifying the country from meeting international human rights standards despite its government voting in favour of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007.

Nevertheless, it is too early to determine whether the new bill will prove useless or whether it will eventually benefit the Ainu people.

The new bill replaces the 1997 Ainu Culture Promotion Act (ACPA) that had also initially been largely criticised by Ainu activists and experts for explicitly rejecting the general concept of ‘Indigenous rights’. Some argued that the ACPA would not change anything and would fail to improve the socioeconomic status of the Ainu people.

However, the enactment of the ACPA actually encouraged – at least to an extent – individuals from the Ainu community to engage more in promoting their own culture. The Foundation for Ainu Culture, established under the ACPA, has hosted annual craft exhibitions and festivals across Japan that have arguably contributed to raising national awareness. Things seem to have changed, if even slightly, for the better over the past two decades with ACPA in place.

Additionally, in the past, government funding for cultural initiatives was only available on a case-by-case basis. The town of Biratori in Hokkaido, for example, where the famous Ainu village Nibutani is located, has long received financial assistance from the national government to temporarily employ workers in the development of Ainu cultural projects. The majority of project employees from the town have been of Ainu ethnicity.

Traditional Ainu dishes in Otaru museum. Hokkaido. Japan. Source: ArtNat/Shutterstock

Now, other local municipalities can facilitate similar programs under the new bill as well. That is, local governments can propose or plan an Ainu cultural promotion project and receive subsidies from the national government to create local employment, contributing to social and economic prosperity in the area.

Local Ainu populations naturally possess the required skills to work on these projects, meaning that the hiring process is based on merit rather than ethnicity.

In this way, the new bill can indirectly contribute to easing employment problems faced by the Ainu and to enhancing the socioeconomic status of Ainu communities in the region. Without compromising their identity, the Ainu are more easily able to live amongst other ethnic groups as ‘normal’ citizens of Japan.

While it is true that Japan’s law does not properly define who the Ainu are – only implying equality and rejecting collective Indigenous rights – this also means that regions with big Ainu communities are able to take advantage of the general lack of legal constraints. This results in there being less conflict with existing laws, and allows for greater social and economic prosperity that benefits the entire region instead of just the local Ainu populations.

Like ACPA, this new bill may well change social and economic conditions surrounding the Ainu in the long-term. From here, however, its success depends entirely on the tactics and initiatives local governments and individuals decide to implement.

Naohiro Nakamura is a senior lecturer in the School of Geography, Earth Science and Environment, The University of the South Pacific, Fiji.

This piece was first published at Policy Forum, Asia and the Pacific’s platform for public policy analysis and opinion.

Anyone in Japan with a greater understanding of the situation there (as well as less ambiguous translations) can tell me if I’m wrong, but it sounds to me that one of the details of this new Ainu bill scheme is to allow non-Ainu to request government funding as long as their projects are Ainu themed enough (like a souvenir shop, perhaps?) 

This particular article seems optimistic that somehow Ainu’s “natural” predisposition to certain skills would certainly guarantee their position at the front of hiring considerations, despite the bill stripping them of legally requiring Ainu folks involvement in Ainu cultural projects. 

On the other hand, it may offer Ainu folks who aren’t on the Japanese government’s registry (most Ainu are not registered) to benefit from financial assistance as well, at least in northern Japan. I’d be interested to know if that includes northern Honshu, or just Hokkaido. One issue that is consistently raised is how Ainu identity in the eyes of the occupying Japanese government is essentially region-locked. Hokkaido is a reservation in everything but name. 

So far everything I’ve read continues to illustrate the shallowness of the 2019 Ainu bill, and the naked avarice that motivates it. 

[amer-ainu]

Multimedia night walk experience to bring Ainu legend to life in forests around Lake Akan

June 14 06:00 am JST KUSHIRO, Hokkaido

Akan Adventure Tourism will open on July 5 a new outdoor multimedia experience, “KAMUY LUMINA, an Enchanted Night Walk at Lake Akan,” created by Moment Factory, a world leading multimedia entertainment company based in Montreal, Canada. KAMUY LUMINA will offer visitors to Japan’s northernmost prefecture an immersive experience combining the rich natural beauty of the area with the culture of Hokkaido’s indigenous people, the Ainu.

This highly anticipated digital art experience is inspired by the Ainu legend “Konkuwa,” which has been passed down in the form of a song said to have been sung by the Owl God. The Ainu consider the owl a nocturnal protector that wakes at night to watch over villages from the trees. Kamuy Lumina, a collaboration between Moment Factory and the people of Lake Akan, is designed to introduce visitors of all ages and nationalities to the Ainu philosophy of respect for and coexistence with nature in an unforgettable hands-on experience.

Kamuy Lumina uses projection mapping, scenography, and other cutting-edge digital technology to bring animals such as birds and deer to life within the woods, and special effects and interactive features showcase the unique geography and sights of Lake Akan.

The guests themselves play a leading role in the story, walking through the twilight woods as the immersive narrative draws them in. Kamuy Lumina is the tenth and latest project in the Lumina Night Walk series created by Moment Factory.

Each Lumina Night Walk is a unique interactive multimedia experience inspired by the local culture and natural beauty of its host region. Kamuy Lumina is especially unique in that it will be the first experience in the Lumina Night Walk series staged in a national park.

The island of Hokkaido boasts natural and cultural riches not found anywhere else in Japan. Lake Akan is located in the western region of Hokkaido’s Akan-Mashu National Park, renowned for its pristine caldera lakes, ancient forests and hot springs. Kamuy Lumina turns the woods around the lake into an otherworldly realm. Lights, soundscape, video content, and interactive features create an entirely new kind of outdoor digital art experience combining natural beauty with Ainu legend.

In partnership with the Ministry of the Environment, the Forestry Agency and the Maeda Ippoen Foundation, the environmental impact assessments for the project have been conducted to ensure that no harm was done to the national park. Part of the proceeds from the attraction will be used for environmental preservation activities around Lake Akan as well as Ainu cultural revitalization efforts.

The Ainu, indigenous people in Hokkaido with their own language and customs, have a long storytelling tradition and a philosophy of harmonious coexistence with nature. The Ainu believe that “Kamuy” (divine spirits or gods) can be found in their surroundings, manifesting animals, plants, fire, water, and wind. It is hoped that this new type of immersive experience will pave the way for an increased awareness of the importance of nature in line with the philosophy of the Ainu.

The Story

The Kamuy are angry and have stopped sending deer and fish for the hunters because humans have forgotten their respect for the land. But the Owl and the Jay Bird are determined to get the humans a second chance by travelling to the land of the Kamuy, and delivering a musical message on their behalf. There’s just one problem. The Jay Bird may have the most beautiful voice in the forest, but he can’t follow a beat! He needs your help to keep the rhythm. Join him on his journey, and you might even return with the wisdom to bring the animals back to the forest.

Date: July 5 to November 10, 2019 (Closed during winter period). The 2020 season will be from late May through early November.

Hours: Tours start 30 minutes after sunset. Last admission at 10:30 p.m.

Venue: Bokke Nature Trail, Akan-Mashu National Park (Address: 5-20, Akanko-onsen 1-chome, Akancho, Kushiro City, Hokkaido)

Duration: Approximately 50–60 minutes (about a 1.2-km walk)

Same-day admission ticket: Adults ¥3,000 | Children aged 6-12 ¥1,500

Advance-purchase admission ticket: Adults ¥2,700 | Children aged 6-12 ¥1,350

Admission for disabled visitors: Adults ¥1,500 | Children aged 6-12 ¥750

Combo ticket for Kamuy Lumina & Lost Kamuy: Adults ¥3,800 | Children aged 6-12 ¥1,900

Children aged 5 and under – Free

For more information, please visit www.kamuylumina.jp/en

Where to Purchase Tickets

Advance tickets can be purchased online at the Kamuy Lumina website. Tickets will also be available at the Kamuy Lumina ticket booth and at hotel front desks in the Akanko Onsen area after July 5.

[amer-ainu]

How many times does the word "tourism" appear in this article? This is a baby step in the right direction, but the Japanese government is getting something out of it, and it is not an act of altruism or good will. Keep fighting the good fight. Japan and Russia are still hostile occupiers.

[amer-ainu]

Some rights groups criticized the Japanese government Friday over a recent bill recognizing 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.

Calling the bill "deplorable," some representatives of the ethnic minority, with roots in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido, said the group's voices and rights have been ignored.

The bill, which the government approved on Feb. 15, says its objective is to "realize a society which will respect the pride of the Ainu," who also live in parts of Russia near Hokkaido.

"There has been no apology...The bill refers to the Ainu as indigenous people but they are empty words," said Yuji Shimizu, chairman of the Ainu Kotan no Kai at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, demanding its "immediate withdrawal and resubmission."

The government is seeking to enact the legislation during the ongoing 150-day parliamentary session, which will end in late June if not extended.

"There is no content in any of the articles mentioning indigenous rights, in other words the right to self-determination, the right to land, etc.," Shimizu said, noting the government had stripped the Ainu of their entitlements and resources starting in the late 19th century.

Beginning with the government's assimilationist policy in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), the ethnic minority has suffered discrimination, spilling over into income and educational disparities. The Ainu have also struggled to maintain their culture and language.

Government policy has been so detrimental that their actual number is difficult to ascertain. A 2017 Hokkaido survey lists the Ainu population as slightly more than 13,000, but some estimates put it as high as 250,000.

A 1997 law replaced the almost century-old assimilationist law and acknowledged for the first time the existence of an ethnic minority in Japan, but it did not call the Ainu an indigenous group.

The new bill aims to reverse that. It also comes more than a decade after Japan supported a U.N. declaration in 2007 that confirmed the rights of indigenous people as a group.

The bill says it aims to realize a society that will respect the Ainu people, which is a "duty" for both the central and local governments. Municipality projects aimed at preserving Ainu culture and developing their communities will be subsidized by the government.

"Positioning Ainu culture at the center for proposals to promote tourism is nothing other than a scheme to sacrifice or exploit living Ainu as a resource for tourism," Shimizu said, adding he has "very strong reservations and unease about the system of financial subsidies."

There will be a new national Ainu museum and park in the Hokkaido town of Shiraoi in April 2020, three months before the Tokyo Olympics. It is expected to bring in one million visitors.

"This is going to feed a few mouths but this is not a typical situation in our Ainu society," said Satoshi Hatakeyama, chairman of the Mombetsu Ainu Association. "I would like to see actualization of inherent indigenous rights such as the right to fish and to harvest whales."

The bill would also relax restrictions on traditional Ainu salmon fishing and timber collection in national forests for their rituals. However, Mochihiro Ichikawa, a lawyer at the press conference, said this too was for cultural promotion and was not based on collective rights.

Article 13 of the Japanese Constitution already protects the rights of individual citizens, including the Ainu. But the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is based on the recognition of group rights.

"What's been talked about is the right of the group as a collective and that's what the Japanese government refuses to acknowledge. The fundamental stance is that they will not recognize collective rights on certain activities," Ichikawa said.

"The new bill is the consummation of the assimilation policy," he said.

[amer-ainu]

Do The Shamo See Us Now?

From the 1300s to 1899 (that’s more than 500 years for those who are bad at math) we were hairy barbarians, which meant the Wajin were morally free to kill us, enslave us, rape us, and take our stuff. 

In 1899 we were “former aborigines,” after the Wajin had succeeded in all their raping and pillaging. We were “given” automatic Japanese “citizenship,” replacing our Indigenous status in the eyes of the Japanese law (if not the hearts and minds). This is when the physical genocide was more or less replaced with a cultural genocide, following the Meiji restoration period. 

That went on from 1899 to 1997 (98 years), when the 1899 Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act was replaced with the 1997 Ainu Cultural Promotion Law. This is when they got wise to those sweet, sweet tourist dollars. You know what the 1997 act was coming up on the heels of? The 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Ainu activism had been active for decades, the world was becoming a smaller place, and there had been increasing scrutiny on Japan about how they treated minorities and Indigenous people. The 1997 act was written to save face and promote a culture that could be repackaged and sold to tourists. We were still not legally considered Indigenous.

In 2008 the Japanese Diet passed a non-binding resolution to recognize us as Indigenous to Japan, wagging a non-binding moral finger at discrimination against us, and recognized our culture as distinct from Wajin culture. 

2019, more than ten years later, our status as Indigenous became legalized within Japanese law. Oh, also the 2020 Summer Olympics are coming to Tokyo, Japan. Deja vu, huh?

OK, But What Does That Mean?

I have no idea. Having read through some of the English-language articles,

Aljazeera, NHK, Japan Today, Japan Times, Asahi Shimbun, the word “tourism” comes up a lot, and not many more specifics.

From Asahi Shimbun:

While banning discrimination against the Ainu people, the bill also has provisions to establish new subsidies to promote tourism to the northernmost main island of Hokkaido where Ainu are from.

A subsidy of 1 billion yen ($9 million) will be proposed in the fiscal 2019 budget to promote the development of Ainu culture as a tourism resource as well as provide support for bus operations to help support Ainu communities. 

It also is intended to help the government achieve its target of foreign tourist numbers to 40 million by 2020 when Tokyo will host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics. 

When Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga visited Hokkaido in August 2018, he told reporters, "Having the world understand the splendid aspects of Ainu culture will contribute to international goodwill and lead to promotion of tourism." 

I mean, they just straight up say it, don’t they? 

So what’s in it for Hokkaido Ainu?

The draft bill states its objective as realizing a society that will respect the pride of the Ainu as an ethnic group. Legal restrictions will be relaxed to allow the Ainu to engage in traditional fishing practices.

The new bill will be an effort to implement a more comprehensive package of measures to promote local communities and industries with a view to also expanding international exchanges. 

Huh? 

From Aljazeera:

"It is the first step for ensuring equality under the law," Mikiko Maruko, who represents a group of Ainu people in eastern Japan near Tokyo, told AFP news agency, commenting on the government's move.

"There are lots of things to be done, for example, creating a scholarship for families who struggle to send their children to high schools," she added, referring to Ainu living outside Hokkaido who cannot access existing Ainu scholarship programmes on the island.

Meaning none of those things are being done currently, and don’t appear to be on the table in the 2019 bill. 

Under the new plan, the government will also allow the Ainu to cut down trees in nationally-owned forests for use in traditional rituals. 

From NHK:

The bill also calls for deregulation to make it easier for the Ainu people to gather wood in state-owned forests and catch salmon in local rivers, as part of efforts to help them conserve their cultural traditions.  

TELL ME MORE ABOUT FISHING RIGHTS. 

The short of it is, I’d like to hear more specifics before I start celebrating the Japanese seeing us for the first time. I apologize if this post is not the most concise thing I’ve ever written, but I wanted to write something as this story gains some momentum. I don’t speak for all the Ainu in all the tribes, I only speak for one, and I’m still trying to sort out the events for myself. And the Sakhalin recognition is a huge deal as well, I wish I had more information on that. 

[amer-ainu]

@the-aila-test

I asked the folks in my facebook group, Repun Moshir about Golden Kamuy and Princess Mononoke. Sasakawa san, who identifies as Emishi, had this to say about Princess Mononoke:

I do not mention about "Golden Kamuy" because I have never seen this work. Regarding "Princess Mononoke", I have been much annoyed with it over for 20 years because the cartoon is not [correct]. It is just a fictional story but this is a big problem because it has wrongly been broadcasting disinformation about Emishi and also Ainu all over the world. Mr.Chupchisekor, who was [a] private Ainu historian and scholar living in Kyoto city strictly criticized "Prince Mononoke" on his [magazine issue] "Chikap Oropeka An-Nu(No.201:July 22,1997, No.202:August 30,1997, No.210: January 28,1998, No.220: February 26, 1999) ". He also pointed this "work" is also related to the eugenics for Japanese people.(Chikap Oropeka An-Nu: No.210) By the way, he seemed to consider Emishi was ”just the ancestral group" of Ainu people. 

Sasakawa san maintains that the Ainu and Emishi are distinct cultures, not diverging branches or offshoots of another. I’m not educated enough in the subject to comment, and defer to his observations as an Emishi person living in Japan. 

[amer-ainu]

The translate button works a lot better for German than Japanese, but I’ll still share the English-language translation here.

Elders of the Ainu gather around a killed bear. (Image: Charles Gorry / AP)

Many of the traditions of the Ainu, the original inhabitants of Hokkaido, have been lost in the decades of compulsory assimilation. Today, they are being increasingly cared for again. (Photo: Franck Robichon / EPA)

Ainu men participate in a traditional prayer ceremony. (Image: Dai Kurokawa / EPA)

An Ainu in traditional dress stands in the village of Akan in Hokkaido in front of Inaw, holy sacrificial staffs for the gods. (Image: Everett Kennedy Brown / EPA)

Japan Recognizes its Natives - and Continues to Patronize them

After 150 years of compulsory assimilation, according to a new law, the people of the Ainu "should be able to live and be respected with pride". But the beautiful words and the reality gape far apart.

Patrick Zoll22.2.2019, 06:00 clock 

Hokkaido is the northernmost of Japan's four main islands. It got its name in 1869 - two years after Emperor Meiji had ascended the throne and Japan embarked on a dizzying course of reforms, which made the isolated, backward country within a few decades an industrialized great power.Hokkaido became more connected with the country's increased centralization. For the officials the designation "Nordmeerbezirk" was close. How much the Japanese of the island and its inhabitants, the Ainu, had held until then, shows Hokkaido's previous name: Ezo - roughly translated "Land of Barbarians".

Patronizing Laws

The tighter connection was followed by intensive colonization by Japanese from southern areas. The natives were marginalized.The Meiji Reformation also took over the then European spirit of colonization and subordinated the "backward" Ainu to a special "protection law": the Ainu were not allowed to fish salmon or hunt deer - which brought them to the brink of starvation. Their traditional lifestyle was suppressed, and they were forced to speak Japanese. The government considered the settlement areas of the Ainu as "propertyless" and awarded the land to immigrants from the south.Other traditional settlement areas of the Ainu were completely lost: Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. At the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union conquered them, the Ainu were expelled as well as the resident Japanese population. Many of the refugees died in poor conditions in Hokkaido in the following years.

It was only in 1997 that the "Protection Law" was formally repealed. To date, the Ainu are far less educated and poorer than the average Japanese population.

Save what can still be saved

Now the government in Tokyo has for the first time recognized the Ainu as a native of Japan. A recently passed law wants to promote their language and culture. Or at least what's left of it. For in everyday life the language has disappeared. After all, it can still be studied at individual universities. 

According to official figures, there are 13,200 Ainu in Hokkaido. Representatives of the ethnic group, however, assume that this number is far too low. For over the decades, many Ainu have assimilated so much, not least by marrying other Japanese, that they are no longer aware of their origins. Others, after decades of discrimination, are ashamed to identify themselves as Ainu. And it can also be assumed that many Ainu live outside Hokkaido prefecture but are not included in official statistics.

Native people as a tourist attraction

The new law officially aims to "create a society in which the Ainu can live and be respected with pride". Critics argue, however, that in spite of the melodious words, the law still wafts the old patronizing mind. Because it was written in Tokyo by the ruling Liberal Democrats of Prime Minister Abe; Representatives of the Ainu had hardly anything to say themselves.

The trench is particularly evident in the so-called symbolic "place of ethnic harmony" to be built in Hokkaido. This includes a museum and a park where traditional ceremonies and dances of the Ainu are to be performed. This will make the indigenous people a tourist attraction, which the government does not even deny, quite the contrary: The facility will open in 2020 - just in time for the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. One million visitors are expected to lure Ainu Park to Hokkaido every year, thereby contributing to the national goal of 40 million foreign tourists.

Plundered graves

The site also includes a memorial, which serves as the final resting place for the remains of Ainu, which are now stored in museums in Japan and abroad. From the 1930s to the 1960s, cemeteries of the Ainu were looted under the pretext of scientific research. According to official figures, the bones of 1676 Ainu, often only the skulls, are partly complete skeletons in twelve Japanese universities.The national government now wants to "return" these bones to Hokkaido and store them in the new facility. There they will continue to be available to science, for example for DNA examinations.

However, the Ainu understand by return something else, namely a funeral after traditional ceremonies as possible in the region of origin of the deceased person. This can be anywhere in Hokkaido, Japan's largest prefecture, which is twice as large as Switzerland."Mortal remains should be buried in the homeland of the deceased and not stored on racks in a building that resembles a warehouse," the newspaper The Japan Times quoted an Ainu senior. “For us Ainu is the greatest joy to be born of the earth and to return to it.”

Lawsuits in court

In recent years, various Ainu associations have sued museums and universities to legally return the bones of their ancestors. So far, this has only been successful in isolated cases. With the planned deposit of the national government, the desire of the Ainu should once again further away.

The Ainu lacks a real say, which is respected by the politicians in Tokyo. In 2007, Japan approved the Declaration on Indigenous Peoples' Declaration in the UN General Assembly , which grants these peoples a right of self-determination. The Ainu have so far felt little of this, because in general Tokyo is having a hard time taking into account the sensitivities of minorities. A special law therefore does not help the Ainu.

[amer-ainu]

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Shimizu, Hatakeyama, Maruyama & Ichikawa: "Recognition at last for Japan’s Ainu Community?"

Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan press conference discussing criticisms of the 2019 Ainu bill, with Yuji Shimizu, Chairperson of Ainu Kotan no Kai, and Satoshi Hatakeyama, Chairperson of the Monbetsu Ainu Association.