The Plight of Ainu, Indigenous People of Japan

Auteurs-es

  • Mitsuharu Vincent Okada

Mots-clés :

Ainu, Japan, public policy, history, indigenous people

Résumé

After over a hundred years of forced assimilation and discriminatory policies, in 2008, the Japanese government finally recognized Ainu as an indigenous people of Japan. These policies eroded the identity and sense of worth of Ainu people, confiscated their homelands, and caused considerable suffering over several generations. The passage of such policies were unknown to the Japanese public who remained ignorant of Ainu cultural values and traditional ways of living, thereby devaluing and relegating them to an invisible status.

This article describes the systematic introduction of policies, which endangered the survival of Ainu as a people and continuance of their culture. The effects of these oppressive policies are examined as well as the need for indigenous research, which advocates for social justice.

Références

Ainu Association of Hokkaido (2006). Watashitachi nit suite(私たちについて) [About us]. Retrieved from http://www.ainu-assn.or.jp/about03.html

Ainu Association of Hokkaido. (2008). Ainu no seikatsu jitta(i アイヌの生活実態) [Ainu lifestyle data results]. Retrieved from http://www.ainu-assn.or.jp/about03.html

Ainu Minzoku Hakubutsukan. (1993). Ainu bunka no kiso chishiki (アイヌ文化の 基礎知識) [Basic knowledge about Ainu culture]. Soufukan.

Fumoto, S. (2002, November). Kindai Nihon to Ainu shakai. Tokyo, Japan: Yamakawa.

Hokkaido Prefectural Government. (2006). Ainu seikatsu jittai chosa(アイヌの生 活実態) [Ainu lifestyle data results]. Retrieved from http://www.pref.hokkaido. lg.jp/ks/sum/soumuka/ainu/jittai.htm

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA.) (n.d.).

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Namikawa, K. (2004, August). Ainu minzoku no kiseki (アイヌ民族の軌跡):Tokyo, Japan: Yamakawa Shuppansha.

Ogasawara, N. (2004, October). Ainu sabetsu mondai dokuhon (アイヌ差別問題読本): (pp. 83-184). Tokyo, Japan: Ryokufu Publication.

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Uemura, H. (2008). Shitte imasuka, Ainu people? (知っていますか、アイヌ?) [Did you know about Ainu people?] Osaka, Japan: Kaihou Shuppansha.

Walker, B. (2006). The Conquest of Ainu lands: Ecology and culture in Japanese expansion, 1590-1800. Berkeley: University of California Press.

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Publié-e

2012-02-01

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