JAPAN: AINU PEOPLE FINALLY TO GET RECOGNITION AS INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

• Report rights infringement
• published: 21 Jul 2015
• views: 1147

Japanese/Nat After three and a half centuries fighting for recognition from Japan, the Ainu people of the northern island of Hokkaido could finally be about to be acknowledged as the region's indigenous population. A report will be handed down in the Japanese parliament next month which may formally accept the Ainu's claim to be the island's original inhabitants. The Ainu say they have been ethnically discriminated against by the government for hundreds of years and that it's time they got their cultural identity back. A traditional war dance of the Ainu tribe, who claim to be the indigenous population of northern Japan. The dance is part of a week long cultural festival by the Ainu in Hokkaido's capital Sapporo. The Japanese and the Ainu have been foes since the 8th century. Peaceful by nature, the Ainu were forced to take up arms against the Japanese government 350 years ago. The Ainu say the government won that battle by deceit and since then claim to have been subject to widespread ethnic discrimination. They say the oppression has been so great that their heritage and identity has been all but lost. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) "Schools were set up where the Ainu were made to learn Japanese by Japanese teachers. The way they (Japanese) went about it was to the extreme." SUPER CAPTION: Shigeo Toyokawa, Ainu elder The number of full-blooded Ainu in modern-day Japan is estimated to be around 25,000. The Ainu occupied Hokkaido, the northern tip of Japan's main island Honshu and the islands of the Northern Territories. Traditional clothing was replaced by Japanese styles, the Ainu were prevented from cooking traditional foods, their houses were destroyed and the people forced into Japanese dwellings. At a symposium being held in conjunction with the cultural festival, debate centred on whether the Ainu will get their identity back. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) "I want the Japanese government to recognize the Ainu as indigenous people of this country." SUPER CAPTION: Aku Sawai, Ainu Association of Hokkaido Well known Ainu cultural leader Shigeru Kayano took up a seat in the Diet's upper house in 1994. He believes the government needs to go further than recognition. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) "Everyone says sorry, that's easy to say. We want more than an apology, we want full and proper recognition and importantly, rights to our land." SUPER CAPTION: Shigeru Kayano, Ainu cultural leader and Diet member The ruling coalition government is seemingly changing with the times. U-N recognition of the Ainu in 1992 and active campaigning by the Ainu people may see justice finally arrive in parliament next month. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/791691f54f97ff4f1a889bdc67d9c6d9 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork