7 Comments

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  Farmboy at 10:05 PM JST - 6th June

  Well, this is a good development, though passing such a resolution before so many Ainu were driven out of their homes might have been better. And then, I thought the Ainu had already gotten indigenous status back in 1996 or 97.
  Does anyone have info about that?

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  Dubya at 10:39 PM JST - 6th June

  Assimilation is the only viable way to avoid Balkanization. This is a step backwards.

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  Cos at 11:02 PM JST - 6th June

  *I thought the Ainu had already gotten indigenous status back in 1996 or 97.

  I thought they always had it. Nobody ever said they were gaikokujins that settled in Japan... The translation of the article is weird. The relative novelty is Tokyo acknowledging they were the "natural" inhabitants of Hokkaido/Yezo, while the other Japanese weren't.

  Anyway I don't understand exactly what that means. Certainly not a first step to make Hokkaido an independant Ainuland. So what ? Acknowledging the Ainu back then were not Nihonjin ? Well, let Monkasho write decent history books someday, that's hardly news. To say that now the people (mostly from mixed origines) are not completely Japanese ? That would bring what to single out Ainu people ? Even if some activists are asking it. Not sure that would improve any discrimination problem. It never does any good to tell people are victims in Japan. For instance, the zainichi Koreans gained respect when and because they were successful, never because they complained.

  Well is that recognition is a good evolution or just a way to stop the conversation ? I'm afraid for the Japanese governement, it's just "So, yes, it's true, the Ainu are Ainu, we've said it and now shut up.", or maybe, "Let's send a little more money for compassion".

  Some say Japan should pay... I don't believe in economical repayment for distant history. Just after a war, you pay to rebuild what you've destroyed, give money to educate orphans that makes sense. After 10 generations, no. If people or communities in Hokkaido (or anywhere else) have poverty issues, they should be entitled to welfare or any help to develop local economy anyway, whether they are related to the Ainu or not. It's hard to tell they would be better off if the Ainu had stayed on their own on the island. What if the Romans had not won their wars ? What if Gengis Khan died when he was a toddler ? It's done. My impression -I'd appreciate if those that know better would correct it- is the post-war economical developpement of Hokkaido was not optimal. Industrial towns were hit by crisis, old factories closed. Other sucessful businesses, like tourism and modern agriculture, were developped by people recently arrived from Tokyo, so locals, Ainu and other Japanese that had settled earlier more or less sunk into poverty, unless they moved away to get better jobs. I mean, you don't need to have an ethnicity difference to get a regional development problem, poverty and desindustrialization issues.

  I would be a Japanese leader, I would want to tell the Ainu communities : "Hey compatriots, now we are brothers, the colonization of Hokkaido was another dark page of Japanese history [full apologies] let's try to build the future together because we are glad you became a part of today's Japan...". I'd look for a symbol to celebrate this, like a few words in ainu language on Japanese banknotes, and maybe an official "Year of Ainu Friendship" with a large PR budget and international events. Well doing something positive anyway.

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  The_Marion at 11:03 PM JST - 6th June

  Indigenous means anyone born and raised in the country of their origin, Heck, I am indigenous to Minnesota. Yes, the Ainu are indigenous to an island that was once known as Ainu and I have the map to prove it.

  I might also insert the needle when I add the Ryukyuans are indigenous to the Ryukyu Islands.

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  OssanULTRA at 12:03 AM JST - 7th June

  "Indigenous means anyone born and raised in the country of their origin, Heck, I am indigenous to Minnesota. "

  Unless you are Ojibwe or Dakota Sioux, I wouldn't consider you "indiginous" to Minnesota.

  "Yes, the Ainu are indigenous to an island that was once known as Ainu and I have the map to prove it."

  I'm sure your map says "Ezo" and not "Ainu". Furthermore, the Ainu were "indigenous" to much more of Japan than Hokkaido, since most of the last wars with the Yamato people were in the Northern parts of Honshu. Furthermore, as recent DNA tests have shown that the remaining Ainu today are the closest to the Jomon people who inhabited the entire Japanese archipelego from about 10,000 BC one could argue that the Ainu are indegenous to all of Japan.

  "I might also insert the needle when I add the Ryukyuans are indigenous to the Ryukyu Islands."

  This article isn't abnout Okinawa.

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  aedfed at 03:45 AM JST - 7th June

  "Indigenous means anyone born and raised in the country of their origin, Heck, I am indigenous to Minnesota." You're actually thinking of the term "native" which is more frequently used that way. "Indigenous" is used "primarily of aboriginal inhabitants" according to the OED.

  Of course, if you come from the Humpty Dumpty school of semantics then you can attach whatever meaning you wish. "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."

  Ainu recognition as an indigenous group could have legal ramifications. If they can demonstrate that their land was taken without compensation or treaty, they may have legal recourse to claim land and/or compensation. Certainly, this is what is happening in parts of Canada with many aboriginal groups who never signed treaties.

  On the other hand, the whole declaration could simply be a feel-good exercise on the part of the Diet with no meaning other than making the politicians who voted for it feel better.

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  Farmboy at 10:23 AM JST - 8th June

  "I thought the Ainu had already gotten indigenous status back in 1996 or 97.Does anyone have info about that?"

  By indigenous status, I meant that they had been officially recognized under Japanese law as being in that legal category. It does have some benefits to be indigenous under the law. I thought that that had already happened in the mid or late 1990s.

  Of course the Ainu are indigenous to not only that area, but to other parts as well, but the question was whether or not Japanese law would "fess up to" that fact.

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