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Ainu People in
Japan
Yuuki Hasegawa1
Background
Our Ainu people lived in the territories now known as north of Honshu,
Hokkaido, south of Karafuto (Sakhalin), Kurile Islands. The Ainu have
enjoyed their lifestyle, protected by the spirits and provided with abundant
natural resources. The Ainu used to trade with people from China and
Siberia, through official missions to pay tribute to and trade with the
Emperor.
As Japan began its construction of a modern nation-state in 1867, the
Japanese government unilaterally annexed our homeland, renaming it
'Hokkaido'. The Ainu continued to be thought of and treated as a 'barbaric'
minority group of Japan. Towards the end of the 19th century, the Japanese
government started a strict formal assimilation policy towards the Ainu. In
its drive to 'settle' the island of Hokkaido, the government invited
specialists on assimilation policies aimed at Native Americans from the
United States. In 1899, the Japanese government enacted its 'Former
Aboriginals Protection Act'. This law, which was effective until 1997, was
in fact used as a model for colonization in the era of Japanese imperialism
in other Asian countries such as Taiwan, Korea, and so on.
Throughout this period, as the government deprived our ancestors of their
land, the Japanese government also forbade us to speak our language. In the
face of these strict policies, the power and ability of our people to revolt
against Japan was further weakened. In spite of the government's
assimilation policy, the Ainu culture has been well preserved in some areas,
even after World War II. But strong socialization and fear of
marginalization led this generation to regard their Ainu identity
negatively. They abandoned the transmission of Ainu customs. In other words,
our people chose to survive at the cost of losing our Ainu traditions.
In 1946, the Ainu people established the Ainu Association of Hokkaido. With
financial support from the government, the Association was able to offer
assistance to improve the level of living and education for the Ainu.
However, this support is limited to those Ainu who live in Hokkaido only;
the Ainu living outside of Hokkaido are not eligible for support. Many Ainu
have migrated to large cities outside of Hokkaido to look for jobs and
hoping that discrimination would be milder in the city. As a result, many of
our people became ineligible for support. This situation continues today.
Human Rights Trends/Issues
1. Discrimination
Discrimination against the Ainu takes many forms, including disparities in
employment, education and marriage. Young Ainu are often afraid to tell
their friends and classmates that they are Ainu. Discrimination towards my
people is grounded in a long history of the notion that Japanese are
ethnically superior, and that Japan is ethnically homogeneous. These
sentiments remain pervasive in the media and textbooks. Ainu history and
culture are not taught in Japanese schools. This contributes to
discrimination because Japanese people's knowledge about us is based on
negative stereotypes.
Ongoing discrimination of the Ainu is reflected in my people's
socio-economic marginalization within Japan. The proportion of young Ainu
going to college is only half the total number of young Japanese. At
present, 57% of employed Ainu in Hokkaido work in the primary or secondary
sectors of the economy, compared with 28% of the general population. Many
Ainu must rely on seasonal work or day labor. Given such instability, a
significant proportion of elderly Ainu do not receive social security.
Unemployment among my people is also very high.
2. Women
The position of Ainu women in Japan is a result of both the fundamental
forms of discrimination against my people as well as the pervasive
discrimination against women in Japanese society.
It is worth noting that men used to filled many "public" or community roles
within Ainu culture, such as spiritual ceremonies and hunting. When the
Japanese forbade such practices, Ainu men lost much of their identity and
sense of purpose. As a result, not only have Ainu women suffered directly
under Japan's policies and discrimination within Japanese society, but we
also suffer indirectly because of the formal and informal structures that
have led to the marginalization of Ainu men.
The precarious economic situation of the Ainu, created and sustained in a
context of discrimination, often leads to an insecure home life for many
Ainu women and children. This situation of Ainu women is made worse because
of the ways women are discriminated against within Japanese society. The
more unequal structures of Ainu society have also been reinforced as Ainu
men became socialized in the Japanese culture which considers women
inferior.
3. Education
In 1997, the Japanese government enacted what it calls the "Ainu Culture
Promotion Act". However, because the government does not recognize the Ainu
as an indigenous people, the new law offers nothing in terms of actual
rights. The government does not recognize, for example, our indigenous right
to establish a system for Ainu education.
Public education in Japan has failed the Ainu community. This is evident in
the difference between Ainu and the majority population, in terms of their
relative rates of advancement to higher education. According to data from
Hokkaido, 34.5% of Japanese high school graduates enter some form of higher
education, compared to 16% of Ainu students. Income disparities between the
Ainu and the Japanese contribute to this difference in educational
attainment, and reflect the historical disregard for the economic rights of
the Ainu. The overall result is often a cycle of poverty, from one
generation to the next.
An additional problem is the severe lack of education regarding Ainu
culture, our rights and our history in public schools. At present, the
average number of lines dedicated to information about the Ainu in Japanese
high school social studies textbooks is less than two lines (1.94 Lines).
Not only are there no opportunities for Ainu children to learn about their
history and distinct culture in the public school system, but Japanese
children also face the same fate. The resulting lack of knowledge and
understanding on the part of the Japanese is at the root of their
discrimination of the Ainu.
The public school system does not offer the Ainu a means of regaining a
sense of their own heritage and identity. This is particularly the case for
those of us who grew up far from Hokkaido, our ancestral land. It is very
difficult for us to receive Ainu education, in any form. For example,
because there are very few Ainu outside of Hokkaido who are able to teach
us, we have little opportunity to learn Ainu language and crafts. We also
have no access to natural places where we may carry out Ainu ceremonies
properly.
As part of the government's new "Ainu Culture Promotion Act," a few classes
were established in the Tokyo area. However, they are conducted at a
government agency, and the manner in which they are administrated and taught
conforms to Japanese practice. The law, therefore, does not provide for us
to learn about our own way. This is what we desire the most: to transmit our
own culture in a way that is comfortable and natural for us.
After nearly 150 years of the Japanese government's assimilation policies,
it is difficult for today's Ainu to pass on the Ainu spirit to the next
generation. Two generations have now grown in an environment where they were
made to feel that being Ainu was a shameful identity. Many in my generation
feel as if we are groping in the dark, as we search desperately for our Ainu
identity. We are now striving to embrace Ainu knowledge, philosophy and
spirituality, and the language and customs based on these.
Specific Cases and Concerns
1. Discriminatory Statement
On 2 July 2001, two influential members of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party,
Muneo Suzuki and Takeo Hiranuma, stated publicly in separate venues that
Japan is an "ethnically homogeneous" nation. Hokkaido representative Muneo
Suzuki referred to Japan as "one nation [with] one language, one ethnicity."
"The Ainu," he went on to say, "are now completely assimilated." This
statement is particularly offensive to us because Mr. Suzuki was for a long
time the director of the Japanese government's Hokkaido-Okinawa Development
Agency. Therefore, Mr. Suzuki is certainly aware of the existence of the
Uchinanchu in Okinawa and that Ainu are a distinct people.
In paragraph 13 of its report submitted in March 2001, the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) found the Japanese government in
violation of Article 4(c) of the International Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This article prohibits discriminatory
statements by government officials. The recent statements by Japanese
government officials are in clear violation of Article 4(c).
At present, Japan does not have any domestic laws that address racial or
ethnic discrimination. The government's lack of effort to eliminate
discrimination contributes to the impunity with which government officials
make statements such as those made by Mr. Suzuki and Mr. Hiranuma. This
highlights the need for laws within Japan that will guarantee protection
from all forms of racial and ethnic discrimination.
2. Court Decision
In 1971, the Japanese government announced its plan to construct a massive
industrial park in our ancestral land, Hokkaido. The government announced it
would build a large dam specifically to supply water and electricity to the
industrial park. The dam would be built in Nibutani, a land sacred to the
Ainu.
The government cancelled its plans for the industrial park. This, according
to the government's own stated purpose, rendered the Nibutani dam
unnecessary. However, appropriation of Ainu land and construction continued,
and the dam was completed in 1997. The government never consulted the Ainu,
nor did it conduct any impact studies regarding the short- or long-term
effects of the dam on our culture. The government's actions showed
tremendous ignorance of and disrespect for my people.
However, two Ainu activists refused to sell their land and instead filed a
lawsuit in the Sapporo District Court against the Japanese government. They
claimed that the construction of the dam and the appropriation of Ainu land
violated their indigenous rights. In its landmark decision in 1997, the
court recognized the indigenous identity of the Ainu, despite the Japanese
government's long denial of our indigenous identity. The court also declared
the land appropriation unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the large dam has
drastically altered the Nibutani landscape and the sacred land of the Ainu
now rests at the bottom of the reservoir.
The dam construction caused a wide range of problems for the Ainu. It caused
considerable social and political conflict among the Ainu community,
especially among those who sold their land and the two Ainu who refused to
sell their land to the Government. But the fact of the matter was that many
Ainu in Nibutani felt compelled to sell their land to the government because
it offered a means of escaping the serious financial hardship that most Ainu
experienced in the wake of the assimilation policies of the Japanese
government. Over-cutting of our forests by the Japanese led to flooding and
erosion, making it impossible for Ainu in Nibutani to practice traditional
agriculture. Forced to practice wet-rice agriculture at a time when the
global economy made it difficult to make a living, many Ainu in Nibutani
fell into debt and found themselves without any choice but to sell their
land to the government in order to bring their children out of poverty.
The dam, like all of the Japanese government's so-called "development"
projects and policies, has also had a negative impact on the ability of
Nibutani Ainu to transmit our culture. Fish no longer fill the river because
the dam changed the water temperature. Places where Ainu used to gather wild
plants disappeared. Sacred sites that were central to Ainu ceremonies in
Nibutani now lie under water. Many links between elder and younger Ainu were
destroyed because we lost the places and activities that were central to our
communication. This is a clear violation of our indigenous rights by the
Japanese government.
Challenges
The continued social and economic marginalization of indigenous peoples in
Japan is a clear indication that the few legal measures supposedly
addressing our situation are completely inadequate.
At present, Japan does not have any domestic laws that address racial or
ethnic discrimination. The government's lack of effort to eliminate
discrimination contributes to the impunity with which government officials
make statements about the so-called "ethnic homogeneity" of Japan.
Most Ainu, especially our women, do not know about opportunities available
to them. Our small organizations do not have resources to ensure that all
Ainu are aware of the mechanisms of redress available to them at the
international level. We strongly urge to put greater emphasis on educating
those most vulnerable to discrimination about ways we can overcome it.
Finally, for indigenous peoples in Japan and throughout Asia and Africa, our
struggle for our indigenous rights includes the acknowledgement by
governments of our very existence as indigenous peoples.
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