SAPPORO —

A government panel on policies concerning the indigenous Ainu people will urge the government to show its determination to improve their lives and education through new legislation, a draft of its report indicated Wednesday. The panel will finalize the report on July 29 before submitting it to Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura later in the day.
   
In the report, the panel says that the government needs to compile measures to improve the living standards of the Ainu people, many of whom lead underprivileged lives. It also stresses the significance of maintaining the Ainu language as a way to preserve their culture. Meanwhile, the panel requests that private corporations employ more college graduates of Ainu origin and deepen their understanding of Ainu history and the current situation of the native people.

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4 Comments

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  Osakadaz at 08:09 AM JST - 23rd July

  a step forward and a long time in coming.

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  knackerz at 08:27 AM JST - 23rd July

  Unfortunately there's so few Ainu left it may be too little too late.

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  OssanAmerica at 09:17 AM JST - 23rd July

  Yes, it's about 100 years too late. But Japan would hardly be the only country in that club.

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  hokkaidoguy at 01:56 PM JST - 23rd July

  Knacjerz: Unfortunately there's so few Ainu left it may be too little too late.

  ... That's hardly true. There are well over 125,000 Ainu in Japan today, and the best archaeological evidence suggests that at no point between 1200 and 1700 (the beginnings of Ainu culture and the beginnings of Japanese conflict) did their population exceed 50,000 (including Ainu in the Kurils and on Sakhalin).

  Taking the position that it's too little, too late is sweeping the Ainu under the rug. The fact is that there are more Ainu now than at any other point in history - and that alone should justify what the government is proposing.

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