Japan is an island nation, consisting of a chain of four main Islands which form the main part of the nation and approximately two thousand smaller ones. The main Islands are Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido, and Honshu (Poisson 6). Contrary to a circulating persuasive myth depicting Japan as homogenous, the status of the minority groups whose numbers constitute 4-6 percent of Japan’s population, has continued to suffer various forms of discrimination and the concepts of nation and race in this nation have attracted a lot of interest from historians (Siddle 6).
One of the well-known minority groups in Japan is the Ainu, a small ethnic group of natives that has for many years shared this homeland with the people of Japan (Poisson 4). Most of them live on Hokkaido Island, which the Ainu people proudly refer to as Ainu Mashir, meaning Ainu homeland. Few of them live on the main Japanese island of Honshu and a relatively small number on the Russian Islands of Sakhalin and Kurile (Poisson 5).
In 1854, the Ainu population numbered about 16,136 and by 1986, the number had slightly increased to 24,381 (Schweitzer et al., 207). Today, the number of people who can trace genuine Ainu ancestry from both parents is well below 200. Nevertheless, some people have argued that this minority group, is probably the only ethnic group that can genuinely claim to have native Japanese origin (Rowthorn et al., 44).
Historically, the Japanese considered the Ainu as a completely separate race having an inferior ethnic background, and economically, they held no right to own property such as land. Their social status was in the lowest class, sharing the same status as lepers, beggars, and outcasts (Denoon & McCormack 118). In present-day Japan, the Ainu have no indigenous status and they constitute a group of deprived ethnic minorities with no defined social category. Ainu culture has largely disappeared and they live as a poorly acculturated minority group that suffers extensive political and economic marginalization (Inda & Rosaldo 240).
The Ainu people speak the Japanese language, live the Japanese style of life, attend Japanese schools and take Japanese identity under the modern state registration system (Ishii 52). Japanese politics has had tremendous effects on this community that has not only resulted in the social and economic assimilation of this minority group but has also contributed to the loss of Ainu culture. This has created in the Ainu people, a very strong desire for the restoration of their ethnic identity (Schweitzer et al., 207). The Ainu have received the help of worldwide movements that advocate for the preservation of indigenous people and they have set up political movements, language schools, and cultural schools geared towards the revitalization of Ainu culture (Schweitzer et al., 215-217).
Assimilation of the Ainu people into the larger Japanese society began at the close of the 19th century under a modernization process set up by the Meiji government. At this same period, the Japanese government formally incorporated the native Island of the Ainu under its jurisdiction and gave it the new name of Hokkaido (Ishii 52). The government planned to develop the island as agricultural land, but the Ainu could not provide the necessary labor force due to their minimal numbers. Their traditional fishing lifestyle could also not fit into the government’s development plans. With these factors in mind, the only other option left for the government was assimilating them into the larger society, to ensure that they did not cause any future trouble (Ishii 53).
Many Ainu people have over the years attempted to integrate into the wider Japanese society by denying their traditional Ainu identity and trying to embrace all that is Japanese. But despite the Japanese strategy of full integration being a good channel through which the Ainu can change their position in society, it has not been a very successful undertaking for these people. This has been due to the marginalized social position that the Ainu still hold in Japanese society. They still experience stigmatization owing to their aboriginal background and the wider Japanese society still has a general outlook that these people are outcasts (Inda & Rosaldo 240-241).
Through assimilation, Ainu land was taken over by the Japanese and these people now make their living by working for others in the service, tourism, and agricultural sectors as well as in the industries (Inda & Rosaldo 240). Since the 1970s, the Ainu have however been pushing for recognition, not of any form of political autonomy but rather, to gain status as an independent ethnic group. But this move has not gone well with Japanese authorities who feel that the legitimacy of the state has continually been threatened by multi-ethnicity (Inda & Rosaldo 241). For the Ainu, as is the case with all other minority groups such as Chinese, Koreans, Okinawans, and various other foreigners, there is a conspicuous absence of legal frameworks prohibiting racial discrimination (Chan 27).
For about 130 years, the Ainu people have been subjected to various forms of human rights violations arising from forced rule and assimilation under the Japanese state system (JNNC Rev 2). The Ainu, like the Okinawans, hold Japanese citizenship but have continuously been denied indigenous status (Chan 11). Ainu women married to Japanese men have continued to struggle for civil rights within public offices, education, health, and employment circles (Chan 14, 250). Illiteracy levels, especially among Ainu women in the 50 and above age bracket continue to be very high. This is largely because most of these women live in the rural areas where they have been exposed to poverty, lack of literacy or education programs, poor employment opportunities, and lack of other services (JNNC Rev 2).
The Japanese government opposes ethnic forms of education and subsequently, the Ainu native language and culture are not taught in the formal school system (Chan 274). They too, like many other minority ethnic groups, are struggling to resist the changes that continue to arise from modernity. The native religion practiced by the Ainu is animistic but many of them have today converted to Christianity, Buddhism, and Shinto. Few of them continue to refer to the traditional religious rituals (Alesha 71). These people have intermarried with the Japanese; they speak Japanese and live in Japanese-built houses (Chan 250).
But despite all the odds, the Ainu can count some blessings. For these people, this is the time they have been able to celebrate and strongly emphasize Ainu identity, more than at any other time of their history (Siddle 7). A remnant of them continues to feel culturally different and has made several efforts to revive their culture (Davidson 177). As a result, this ethnic group has been going through some form of cultural rejuvenation assisted by many worldwide organizations together with their organizations such as the Hokkaido Utari Association (Denoon & McCormack 126). In 1991, the government of Japan finally gave the Ainu ethnic status as one of the minority groups in Japan but has adamantly declined to give them indigenous status (Bhatia & Ritchie 392, 743).
While most of the Ainu people continue to make considerable efforts towards being assimilated into mainstream Japanese society, a few of them have managed to preserve intact, some of the ideologies and values of the Ainu society. They have been tirelessly been working towards recognition of their cultural traditions alongside those of the wider Japanese culture (Olupona 230). Because the Ainu continue to be ethnic in their strategy, they have established learning institutions in which their language and traditions are taught to their children and to all who feel alienated from this culture.
They have tried to maintain their traditional houses or Chise for cultural promotion activities. Several ritualistic activities take place here and a lot of advertisement is done to attract media coverage and visiting tourists. Examples of such activities are traditional dances, woodcarving and weaving, and teaching of traditional language and history. Ainu food and accommodation are also available for tourists (Inda & Rosaldo 240-241).
The tourist villages in the regions of Shirasi, Kushiro, Nibutani, Akan, and Hidaka have benefited the Ainu community in terms of material gain as well as fulfilling their social, religious and cultural needs. These centers also bring the people together in mutual friendship and give them a common sense of belonging. They also provide a public sphere for the people and membership status in a tradition familiar to all. In these forums, the Ainu also get the chance of having their presence felt in the wider society (Olupona 232).
Tourism for the Ainu has become a platform for displaying and manifesting their cultural identity and as an assurance that such an identity still exists. The tourist villages have become important research centers in which the traditional and cultural aspects of the Ainu lifestyle are investigated (Inda & Rosaldo 241). For this minority group, tourism and all the display and production associated with it have become a central process geared towards helping them reconstruct their cultural identity. They have also benefited from a government-funded construction of the Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum overlooking the dammed Saru River (Alesha 217).
For the Ainu living along the Saru River, a dam-building project which they initially resisted has become a blessing in disguise. Though their environment has been interfered with, the monetary compensation attached to the loss of their land has greatly improved their economic status. The money attracted financial institutions to the area which have assisted the Ainu with loans to improve their living standards.
Conclusion
Among the critical issues that confront the Japanese State System, the one about the Ainu no longer holds much weight. Their insignificant numbers, improvement in the general standards of living among the poor in Japan, and the blending of the Ainu with the mainlanders have ensured that economic disadvantage and race have become parallel issues (Scheitzer et al., 207). The Ainu continue to be denied indigenous status but have a stronger cultural consciousness than ever before.
Works Cited
Alesha, Matomah. Sako Ma: A Look at the Sacred Money Totem. Leeds: Matam Press, 2001.
Bhatia, Tej K. and Ritchie William C. The Handbook of Bilingualism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.
Chan, Jennifer. Another Japan Is Possible: New Social Movements and Global Citizenship Education. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008.
Davidson, Peter. The Idea of North. London: Reaktion Books, 2005.
Denoon, Donald and McCormack Gavan. Multicultural Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Inda, Jonathan X. and Rosaldo Renato. The Anthropology of Globalization: A Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2002.
Ishii, Yuri. Development Education in Japan. A Comparative Analysis of the Contexts for its Emergence, and its Introduction into the Japanese School System. London: Routledge, 2003.
Japan NGO Network for CEDAW (JNNC). 2003, Rev 2. Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. The Summary Report of The NGOs in Japan. Web.
Olupona, Jacob K. Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous Religious Traditions and Modernity. London: Routledge, 2004.
Poisson, Barbara A. The Ainu of Japan. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2002.
Rowthorn, Chris, Bartlett Ray, and Ellis Justin. Japan. Oakland: Lonely Planet, 2005.
Schweitzer, Peter P., Biesele Megan and Hitchcock Robert K. Hunters and Gatherers in the Modern World: Conflict, Resistance, and Self determination. New York: Berghan Books, 2000.
Siddle, Richard. Race, Resistance and the Ainu of Japan. London: Routledge, 1996.