Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-zpzq9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-09T04:57:30.186Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Indigenous at last! Ainu Grassroots Organizing and the Indigenous Peoples Summit in Ainu Mosir”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Ann-Elise Lewallen
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

In this article, lewallen discusses a pivotal moment in Ainu history, when on June 6, 2008, the Ainu were formally recognized as an indigenous people by the Japanese government. For a people whose history of colonization has often been brushed aside in studies of Japanese history, such as in textbooks, this official recognition appears to be a step in the right direction. However, this is probably not the last battle. The government recognized the Ainu as indigenous due to international pressure that came when the G8 summit was hosted in Toyako, Hokkaido in 2008; it was a potential cause for embarrassment if the host country was seen to be blatantly ignoring indigenous people's rights. Therefore, some Ainu leaders have doubted the commitment of the Japanese government to their needs, since Japanese officials have not acknowledged that imperial government policies marginalized and impoverished Ainu. Fundamentally, it remains to be seen whether the government will enact policies that actually redress colonial treatment of the Ainu.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 11 , Special Issue S8: Course Reader No. 8. The Japanese Empire: Colonial Lives and Postcolonial Struggles , January 2013 , pp. 208 - 236
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013

Footnotes

6

The Ainu Association website is at http://www.ainu-assn.or.jp/english/eabout04.html (accessed 29 October 2012).

References

Ainu Mosir means the “domain of humans,” in the Ainu language (as opposed to kamuymosir, or the “domain of the gods”) and is currently the most widely-accepted term for Hokkaido. Some Ainu language scholars argue that yawnmosir, or “land country” (as opposed to repunmosir or “ocean country”) is a more fitting name for Hokkaido. Technically there is no overarching term in the Ainu language which refers specifically to Hokkaido, because Ainu historically dwelled in Southern Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands, Hokkaido, and Northern Honshu, and did not conceptualize their terrain using modernist concepts of territory such as the nation-state.Google Scholar
Shimazaki, N. 2008. “Senju'uminzoku Samitto Ainu Mosir 2008 kara takusareta mono.” In IMADR-JC Tsu'ushin 155.Google Scholar
Imazu Hiroshi (House of Representatives) led a group of non-partisan Hokkaido politicians in launching the “Legislative Coalition to establish Ainu people's rights” in March 2008.Google Scholar
See Zablonski and Seaton in this special edition of Japan Focus.Google Scholar
United States president elect Barack Obama has suggested that he may consider an official apology to Native Americans for the legacy of discrimination and abusive treatment they have received at the hands of the U.S. government (Obama at Unity Journalists of Color Convention, Chicago: July 27, 2008).Google Scholar
Associated Press. “New Zealand gives Maori tribes forest in largest-ever settlement.” International Herald Tribune, June 25, 2008.Google Scholar
Shimazaki, N. 2008. “Senju'uminzoku Samitto Ainu Mosir 2008 kara takusareta mono.” In IMADR-JC Tsu'ushin 155.Google Scholar
Non-signatory states include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States; Russia abstained from the DRIP. In the Nibutani Declaration, IPS delegates focused principally on G8 nations, and therefore included Australia and New Zealand only indirectly.Google Scholar
Kuhn, Anthony. “Japan recognizes indigenous group.” All Things Considered, National Public Radio: August 12, 2008 (http://www.npr.org/templates/storv/story.php?storvId=93540770, Access date: August 13, 2008.)Google Scholar
Personal Communication: Sato Yukio, 25 August 2008.Google Scholar
Membership of the Ainu Association voted in May 2008 to revert the organization's name from Utari Association (Utari Kyokai) to the original Ainu Association (Ainu Kyokai) in April 2009. However, the name was never changed in English translation, because “Utari” is thought to be confusing and the organization wanted to be clear that they represented Ainu people (Interview: Sato Y., 16 September 2008) (Ainu Association website)Google Scholar
During the 1989 International Indigenous Peoples Conference, Ainu were not included in the planning process and were involved only tangentially; in the 1993 Nibutani Forum Ainu organizers were centrally involved but lacked local community support; and during the 2005 Biratori-Nibutani Forum local Ainu organizers formed the core of the planning team and enjoyed community support, but Ainu were not involved on a national or global scale.Google Scholar
For a thorough history of the Ainu movement during the 20th century, including a detailed discussion of the Ainu Association, see Siddle, Richard. 1996. Race, resistance and the Ainu of Japan. London; New York: Routledge. x, 269 pp.Google Scholar
Shimazaki, N. 2008. “Senju'uminzoku Samitto Ainu Mosir 2008 kara takusareta mono.” In IMADR-JC Tsu'ushin 155.Google Scholar
IPS Survey response, 28 August 2008.Google Scholar
lewallen, ann-elise. 2007 “Bones of Contention: Negotiating Anthropological Ethics within Fields of Ainu Refusal.” Critical Asian Studies 39 (4):509–540.Google Scholar
See, for example Azuma, Shoko. 2008. “Culture & More: Ainu come out from obscurity to reclaim rights”. Shimbun, Asahi; Foster, Malcolm. 2008. “Indigenous peoples criticize Canada, blame G8 for global warming”. The Sault Star. July 5; Ito, Masami. 2008. “Diet officially declares Ainu indigenous”. Japan Times. June 7; Kambayashi, Takehiko. 2008. “Japan's Ainu hope new identity leads to more rights”. Christian Science Monitor. June 9; Koike, Masaharu. 2008. “[G8 Toyako Samitto Orutanatibu] senju minzoku samitto Ainu Mosir 2008 Sakai Mina san ni kiku”; Makino, Catherine. 2008. “Ainu people to press demands at G8 Summit”. Inter Press Service News Agency. April 28; Mochida, Takeshi. 2008. Yoyaku mitomerareta Ainu ‘retto no senju minzoku’ ketsugi. In JanJanNews; Onishi, Norimitsu. 2008. “Nibutani Journal: Recognition for a people who faded as Japan grew”. The New York Times. July 3; Pellegatta, Leonardo. 2008. L'altro volto di un summit. ALIAS. 30 August 2008:6-7; and Takayama, Hideko. 2008. “Japan's Parliament recognizes Ainu as indigenous people” In Bloomberg.com.Google Scholar
Kayano, Shiro. “Reflections on the Indigenous Peoples Summit in Ainu Mosir 2008.” August 2008.Google Scholar
The final vote for DRIP were 143-4, with 11 abstentions. Negative votes were cast by the CANZAUS states; Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Votes of abstention were cast by Russia, Azerbaijan, Israel, and Georgia, among others.Google Scholar
Shimbun, Hokkaido, September 14, 2007; Indigenous Peoples Summit in Ainu Mosir Guidebook 2008:13.Google Scholar
Junko, Kobayashi. 2008. “Shutoken no Ainu minzoku ni yoru shomei katsudo-Nihon seifu ni ‘Senju minzoku’ to mitomesaseru tame ni.” Senju minzoku no 10-nen nyusu 144:10.Google Scholar
Ainu Utari Liaison Group (Ainu Utari Renrakukai) is composed of four main organizations: Rera no Kai, Tokyo Ainu Kyokai, Kanto Utari Kai, and Pewre Utari Kai, all located in the greater metropolitan area. (Ainu Utari Renrakukai blog)Google Scholar
Specifically, the UNHCR Working group issued the following comments, “Review, inter alia, the land rights and other rights of the Ainu population and harmonize them with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Algeria); Urge Japan to seek ways to initiating a dialogue with its Indigenous peoples so that it can implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Guatemala)” ï/¼ Online, Accessed August 22, 2008ï¼%o.Google Scholar
Hiroshi, Imazu cited in Ito, “Ainu press case for official recognition,” Japan Times, 23 May 2008.Google Scholar
See for example article on the Kunashiri Project and article on Suzuki-backed aid to Kunashiri, also see the high court's February 2008 ruling on Suzuki's case.Google Scholar
On July 2, 2001, Suzuki stated, “I think it's reasonable to say [that Japan is] a ‘one nation, one language, one race/ethnicity nation-state.’ In Hokkaido, there are these people known as the Ainu, and I'm sure there are those who will object to this comment, but they [the Ainu] are completely assimilated now” (Hokkaido Shimbun. July 3, 2001). At the time Suzuki was an upper house legislator representing the Liberal Democratic Party.Google Scholar
For discussion of Suzuki's influence on Tahara's candidacy, see Japan Times article.Google Scholar
In fairness, I should note that Suzuki reportedly negotiated with top representatives of the Ainu Association in a closed-door meeting in October 2001, and then held a press conference where Association officials agreed that they issue had been resolved (lewallen field notes, Sapporo, May 2007).Google Scholar
The Governor of Sakhalin stated in 1994 that he recognized Ainu as indigenous peoples, as well as their former inhabitation of the so-called Northern Territories, i.e. Etorof, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and Habomai (Hokkaido Ainu Association. 2001. Kokusai Kaigi Shiryoshu, 1987-2000 [Records from international meetings] Sapporo: Hokkaido Ainu Association.).Google Scholar
Note these comments from an endorsement speech for Upper House Candidate Tahara Kaori in May 2007: “If we succeed in establishing Ainu rights, Japan will for the first time be in a position to share international standards and international values [with the rest of the world]. Through that, we can find a solution for Japan's weak point, the energy question, and improve relations with Russia…Northem Territories’ residents recognize Ainu to be an indigenous people; the Russian government also recognizes Ainu indigeneity. By properly calling for [recognition of] Ainu indigeneity, I believe we can launch a new approach to the movement to return the Northern Territories, and [work toward] a solution” (Speech: Suzuki Muneo. May 2007, translation by author.)Google Scholar
Legislators in both houses were reportedly in attendance for the yes vote; although one legislator later claimed he “did not understand the implication of the Resolution” after voting in favor of it (Interview: Sato Y., 16 September 2008.)Google Scholar
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party cited this text as “too emotional”: “We must acknowledge the historical fact that, in the course of Japan's modernization, because Ainu people were constrained as forced labor and exploited, destruction of Ainu culture and society was accelerated, and in addition, as a result of the so-called assimilation policy, their traditional lifestyles were restricted and eventually prohibited, and due to the damage resulting from these policies, great numbers of Ainu persons were subjected to discrimination and forced to live in poverty even though they are Japanese citizens and equal under the law (Original Paragraph 2 of the “Resolution calling for the Recognition of the Ainu People as an indigenous people of Japan”).Google Scholar
Online, Accessed 16 September 2008.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Muneo “June 24 Shitsumon Shuisho” cited in Kobayashi, Junko. 2008. “Ainu Mosir 2008 ‘Natsu’.” Senju minzoku no 10-nen nyusu 147:2-4.Google Scholar
Interview: Abe K., September 7, 2008.Google Scholar
According to the Ainu Utari Renrakukai's survey of Diet legislators conducted in February 2008, while a handful of legislators had an extraordinarily high level of awareness and concern about Ainu issues, the majority were poorly informed (Kobayashi, Junko 2008. “2008-nen harukara natsu he, Ainu minzoku no doko - Senju minzoku no kenri kakuritsu wo motomete.” Senju minzoku 10-nen news 143:14-15). While the survey had a 10% response rate, it should be noted that respondents were likely self-selected with a prior interest in Ainu issues which compelled them to respond.Google Scholar
The full text of both appeals is available in English and Japanese Online.Google Scholar
Kano Oki's websiteGoogle Scholar
Ainu Art Project websiteGoogle Scholar
Ainu Rebels websiteGoogle Scholar
This third objective aiming to link indigenous relationships with the natural environment to ecological practice served as a central symbolic metaphor for marketing the IP Summit to indigenous guests, supporters, and funding agencies.Google Scholar
By that extension, all settler nations, including Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand, for example, may also be considered as erstwhile and ongoing colonizers with varying degrees of recognition among the general population and not always satisfactory government policy advocated by different administrations. Indigenous-identified persons from these settler nations often correct discussion of “post-colonialism” by emphasizing that their own experience of colonialism is ongoing or “advanced colonialism.”Google Scholar
The principal Okinawan group now sending advocates to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is the Association of Indigenous Peoples in the Ryuukyuus (AIPR). They have worked closely with the Shimin Gaikou Center, a Tokyo-based NGO which has also supported Ainu representatives’ attendance at the UNPFII in New York and the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva. Okinawans seeking recognition as indigenous peoples represent a tiny fraction of the larger Okinawan population, even among those Okinawans who seek independence. See Hook, Glenn and Siddle, R. 2003 Japan and Okinawa: Structure and Subjectivity. Routledge: New York for more discussion of the Okinawan indigenous advocacy movement.Google Scholar
I do not intend to claim that the Ainu movement will necessarily follow a similar trajectory of empowerment and political mobilization as evident in other indigenous communities. Canadian First Nations, New Zealand Maori, Australian Aboriginals and Sami, for example, each have separate histories of colonial invasion and treaty-building with their respective nation-states, and their paths to rights recovery each involve separate trajectories. In particular, because Ainu lack any sort of treaty with the Japanese government they face a formidable challenge in future legal action. But it is worth noting that many Ainu activists perceive indigenous peoples overseas as comrades in work toward political rights recovery work.Google Scholar
Kayano, Shiro. “Reflections on the Indigenous Peoples Summit in Ainu Mosir 2008.” August 2008.Google Scholar
Personal Communication: IPS delegate, August 2008.Google Scholar
Kayano, Shiro. “Reflections on the Indigenous Peoples Summit in Ainu Mosir 2008.” August 2008.Google Scholar
IPS Caravan Tour Blog.Google Scholar
Indigenous peoples have witnessed an increase in droughts, desertification, coastal and riverbank erosion, erratic weather patterns (stronger hurricanes, typhoons, flooding, extreme cold/heat), an increase in tropical diseases and disease-resistant insects, loss of biodiversity, changes in flora and faunal habitats and related food insecurity due to speciation change, and loss of agricultural land to the above factors.Google Scholar
Tauli-Corpuz, Victoria and Tamang, Parshuram. “Trouble Trees.” Cultural Survival Quarterly 32:2. (Online).Google Scholar
Tauli-Corpuz, Victoria and Lynge, Aqqaluk. “Impacts of Climate Change Mitigation Measures on Indigenous Peoples and on their Territories and Lands.” United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (7th session). April 2008:4–5.Google Scholar
For a more detailed review of the Nibutani Dam issue, see Stevens, Georgina. Forthcoming. “The Ainu, Law, and Legal Mobilization: From 1984 to 2007”. In Re-visioning Ainu Studies: A Critical Introduction, ed. Hudson, Mark, lewallen, ann-elise, and Watson, Mark, eds. Honolulu: Hawai'i University Press; and Levin 2001 Online.Google Scholar
Tauli-Corpuz and Lynge 2008:4.Google Scholar
Cherrington, Mark. “Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change.” Cultural Survival Quarterly 32:2. (Online, Access date:27 August 2008).Google Scholar
Tauli-Corpuz and Lynge 2008:4Google Scholar
The Global Summit will be sponsored by the Inuit Circumpolar Council (Online, Access date:30 August 2008).Google Scholar
By “strategic essentialism,” I refer to symbolic and other strategies employed by indigenous peoples such as emphasizing shared values and similar histories to accentuate essential characteristics to achieve political objectives.Google Scholar
Lopez, Kevin Lee. Returning to fields. Cultural Survival Quarterly. Winter 1994:29.Google Scholar
In some cases Ainu chose to be assimilated to have better access to education and livelihood, especially under Ainu Association campaigns in the 20th century. But in the early colonial period most Ainu resisted assimilation, although the lines where assimilation policies started and Ainu autonomy ended were often blurred.Google Scholar