Law enacted to recognize ethnic Ainu minority as indigenous people

If you can do it for the Ainu, I really think you can do it for the Ryukuan people as well, whom in the not too distant past were damn near eliminated because of the war!

You owe it to them as well!

Hmmm... almost enough, but far, far too late. Early accounts of Westerners traveling in Hokkaido vividly describe a structured culture and civilization quite separate from the strong Japanese influence taking hold there.

But, of course, they still cannot use traditional Ainu names legally!

They were recognized by the government as indigenous people back in the 90s. The story of Ainu and other minorities in Japan, and their struggle for recognition is really interesting in the way in differs from the same struggle by minorities in America. For those of you interested in learning more about minorities in Japan throughout the years and their civil movements, there is a book called "Japan's minorities: the illusion of homogeneity" by Michael Weiner. It is the best book on the topic you will ever find. It covers the entire history of the Ainu as well as other minorities, and their struggle for rights and recognition.

The book never made any conclusions, but what i learned from the book for myself is that the reason why the civil rights movement in America was successful in the sense that Blacks became more accepted and integrated into the society, wheres the many, many movements in Japan were unsuccessful in the sense that, the minorities who led them did not become more integrated or accepted into society despite the improvement in their financial and living conditions, the main reason is because the civil rights movement in America was targeted at the society, and it was in the form of public demonstration for acceptance, wheres in Japan, they would have various lobbying organizations with the sole purpose of extracting money from the government without appealing to the larger public for acceptance or understanding.

I hope they can recover their fishing rights as well.

Anyway, a welcome step in the right direction.

Agree with @toasted. I met an Ainu man who told me he can’t even catch salmon without a license from Tokyo.

Also fully agree with @yubaru. Okinawans are very different to mainlanders.

Ainu have lived for centuries in northern Japan, notably on the country's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, as well as on neighboring Sakhalin in what is now Russia.

Just the sheer arrogance of a Johnny come lately abrogating himself the power to " recognize" and "legitimize " the Ainus indegenousity stinks to high heavens. That includes wherever these " recognitions " occur.

Still better than nothing. And maybe better the re-education taking place in another large Asian country.

About bloody time! Now, I hope the Ainu take a clue from Canada's 'First Nations'.

Its not law already? Nice how they waited until there were only 200,000 Ainu left for them to be recognized as indigenous.

Doesn’t Hokkaido belong to the Ainu?

It was stolen by the Japanese invaders....

That's really awesome. I'm glad Japan is finally taking this step in recognizing the Ainu. It's long overdue.

I've been fascinated by the Ainu for many years. Haven't kept up but so happy that their culture and language are being preserved.

@kurisupisu

It was stolen by the Japanese invaders....

While you’re at it, just how much of “Japan” did the “Japanese” “invade”? Please define the words I put in quotes. But, as we are speaking of pre-history, I doubt you or anyone else can. Perhaps you should just say “someone did something”.

...so happy that their culture and language are being preserved.

Same here. The preservation of the Ainu language and other elements of culture, but not all, is important and must be pursued actively especially by the Ainu themselves. Anything else will ultimately lead to extinction.

I only hope Tokyo will not try to turn Ainu culture into a tourist attraction.

With a headcount of roughly tenhousand at least there is a minority on these islands.

As with everything in Japan, it's only being done because the Olympics are coming, Japan is obsessed with being painted as the best place in the world, and oh yea, maybe the Ainu can somehow be registered as Unesco People.

I only hope Tokyo will not try to turn Ainu culture into a tourist attraction.

Oh they will and exploited as a novelty as well...like Okinawa. At a popular Japanese grocery store in California, I saw a display of Hokkaido cuisine items and a curious smaller subdisplay of Ainu cuisine. Like Okinawan cuisine, the Ainu cuisine was interesting and different.....and appeared to be healthy eating.

It's a shame the Ainu language and culture, like Okinawa's, were brutally suppressed and its people forced to assimilate. It's also a shame that they weren't recognized as indigenous until recently.