Aotearoa Ainu Mosir Exchange Program

Building on the various connections between members of the Maori community in Aotearoa New Zealand and Ainu community in Japan, the Aotearoa Ainu Mosir Exchange Program was established with the aim of sending several Ainu representatives to Aotearoa from January 20th to February 22nd, 2013 to learn from the experiences of the Maori people in restoring their indigenous rights. 

From http://aaexchange.blogspot.jp/

One of the participants in the exchange will be Naoko Tateshita, one of AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS' collaborating artists (see our blog post when Naoko joined us to speak at the College Women's Association of Japan Luncheon).

From http://aaexchange.blogspot.jp/

The program is currently running a campaign on Indiegogo to raise funds to make the planned exchange in January & February 2013 possible.  Please join AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS in supporting the Aotearoa Ainu Mosir Exchange Program, and make a donation today!!!

Aotearoa Ainu Mosir Exchange Program homepage:

http://aaexchange.blogspot.jp/

Aotearoa Ainu Mosir Exchange Program Indiegogo page:

http://www.indiegogo.com/ainumaori

Ainu Party Candidate Running for Seat in Upcoming Election

The upcoming 46th general election for the House of Representatives in Japan will be held on December 16, 2012. 

Naomi Shimazaki of the Ainu Party has announced that she will be running in the election for the Hokkaido 9th district seat, previously occupied by former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. 

Interestingly enough, PM Hatoyama was a supporter of Ainu causes (perhaps in part due to the fact that many Ainu make up the constituency of the Hokkaido 9th district), and his retirement from politics has given Ms. Shimazaki the opportunity to run for his seat. 

Another interesting twist is that Ms. Shimazaki will be running against former representative Tatsumaru Yamaoka, the son of ex-DPJ and current Life People's Life First bigshot Kenji Yamaoka who once infamously joked that was "a savage descended of Ainu blood."

Indeed, this race is full of symbolism and crossing fates.

Photo by Toshiaki Sonoda

Shimazaki is running on a platform of restoring Ainu rights as well as against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), nuclear power, and increased consumption tax.

She is currently the Deputy Director of Sapporo Branch of the Hokkaido Ainu Association and the Secretary General of the Sapporo Upopo Preservation Society.


News articles (in Japanese):
Tomakomai Minpo
Wall Street Journal
Sponichi Annex


(see our previous blog entry for more info regarding the Ainu Party)

Ainu & Okinawa Connections

First, many apologies for being MIA for a long time - this is my first blog entry in nearly 7 months! Things have been quite busy for a while but hopefully I will be able to return to doing a better job of keeping everyone updated about goings on in the Ainu community.

The Ainu have been in the news recently, particularly in their relation to the people of Okinawa.

The Asahi Shimbun: "Genetic kinship found between Ainu and native Okinawans"

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201211010059

A study has found that Okinawan and Ainu peoples most closely resemble each other, sharing Jomon DNA while Japanese on Honshu were of a mix of Jomon and Yayoi DNA. This supports the theory that the Jomon people originally lived throughout the Japanese archipelago, and the Japanese people were into being as the Yayoi came from mainland Asia (China and Korea) and intermixed with the Jomon in Kyushu, moving northwards throughout Honshu.

The theory is already a well-known (and perhaps well-accepted) within certain parts of the Ainu community, so it does not come as much of a surprise. However, there are some criticisms of the study. Some people for example point out the fact that the study treats Jomon as a monolithic entity when in fact it consisted of many different groups and ethnicities.

Personally, I do not find the results surprising but am wary of putting great emphasis and meaning on genetic analysis. Indeed, given the history of using Ainu bodies for study, I have somewhat of a distaste of studies of this nature. Where did the Ainu DNA they used come from? Given all the issues with Ainu identity in the current community, how did they define what an Ainu person was?

Even without the "genetic kinship," many Ainu and Okinawans share a connection in modern society, whether from shared experiences as minorities in a Japan or from the simple fact that they occupy the extremities of the Japanese archipelago. Interestingly enough, these connections have also been brought to the forefront due to recent events, and it is these that draw my personal interest.

Recently the Ainu musician OKI teamed up with Okinawan legend Misako Oshiro for a tour to commemorate the release of their CD, "Kita to Minami (North and South)."  

I was able to attend their performance in Tokyo, an interesting mix of the two traditions. You can find some excellent photos of their rehearsals as well as from their performances in Tokyo, Naha, and Miyako-jima at photographer Masashi Noda's blog.

Also check out check out an interview with the two artists (in Japanese) on Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting's "Q Report."

November also marked the 19th Annual Charanke Festival, the gathering of Ainu and Okinawan communities in Nakano, Tokyo. 

The festival was a great success marking a return to the park area in front of Nakano Station where the festival has traditionally been held. The festival featured many Ainu artists and Okinawan performers as well as various booths featuring crafts and foods from both communities. 

 

Check out more photos from "Charanke Festival 2012" on our Facebook page.

Indeed, the Ainu and Okinawan communities have strong bonds through people, music, food, and culture, regardless of what is written in their DNA - or perhaps, some may argue, because of it.

Update on “Haruzo: A Life Among The Spirits” – Flyer, Trailer, and Screening!

As previously mentioned, one of the new projects that AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS is involved in is the documentary film “Haruzo: A Life Among the Spirits” (website, facebook, twitter).

The film is set for release in spring 2012, and they have released flyers for the film which have arrived for AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS to distribute (contact us if you want one!):

The back of the flyer is designed by the Ainu artist sayo, who is one of the featured artists of AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS. The icons and illustration on the movie’s website are also her designs.

A preview trailer for the film has also been released, and AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS is preparing now to work with the film’s producers in creating English subtitles for the movie (and perhaps an English preview clip as well?). Enjoy the Japanese version for now:

With the release of the trailer, the producers are organizing a special screening (no English subtitles) on December 25, 2011 at Kamuymintar, the “gathering place of people from around the world” run by the star and subject of the film, Haruzo Urakawa.

Details are as follows:

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Special Screening of "Haruzo: A Life Among The Spirits"

Date: December 25, 2011 (Sunday)
Time: OPEN 11:00 / START 13:00 (116 min)

Amission: 1000 yen
*Includes deer stew (ohaw), red beans with mochi, rice ball
(served from 11:00)

Venue: Kamuymintar
3-1 Kiwadahata, Kimitsu-shi, Chiba
*By train, go from Tokyo Station to Kisarazu Station and
take the Kururi Line and get off at Kazusa Kameyama Station.
From there, take the community bus (Kameyama Line "Seseragi-Go" or "Kazekko-Go")
and get off at Nakanodai bus stop.
For additional access info (in Japanese) -
http://www.2kamuymintara.com/access.htm 

Inquiries:
Cycloid
TEL/FAX 03-6413-9590
email  info@kamuytoikiru.com
http://www.kamuytoikiru.com/screen.html

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Articles: TOKYO Ainu and Hokkaido Woman

From the twitter feeds:

 

"Documenting Urban Indigeneity: TOKYO Ainu and the 2011 survey on the living conditions of Ainu outside Hokkaido"

 

by Simon Cotterill at Japan Focus

 

A thorough look at the documentary film TOKYO Ainu and the Ainu community in Tokyo, although the article is not without its errors. In particular, the article refers to Shimokura Emi and Hiroyuki as "an Ainu couple" whereas in actuality Emi is Ainu while Hiroyuki (aka Ague) is not. Perhaps it's not clear in the film either. It may be interesting to discuss how issues of identity are addressed in relationships and families, as it is a complicated and at time problematic issue in the Ainu community (and with other indigenous communities I'm sure), but that is a blog entry for another day... 

 

TOKYO Ainu, of course, is one of the projects that AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS is involved in.

"Hokkaido roots spur woman to bring folk tales to masses - Missionary's daughter brings area's hidden Ainu culture, flavors to life in English"

from the Japan Times

An introduction to the work of Deborah Davidson, who translates Ainu folk tales (uepeker) into English.

Happy reading! 

 

Ainu and Politics

 The recent announcement by Shiro Kayano (see link below) to establish an Ainu political organization to participate in the 2013 House of Councilors election is an interesting development.

(Article: "Ainu people to set up political group, seek upper house seats in 2013") 

As stated in the article, Shiro Kayano is the son of the late Shigeru Kayano, the first and only Ainu to sit in the Japanese Diet and a major figure in the preservation of Ainu language and culture.

Compared to other indigenous peoples, the Ainu do not have a very significant record of success in entering Japanese politics. Kayano served in the Diet from 1994 to 1998, and his efforts helped spur the passage of the Law for the Promotion of the Ainu Culture and for the Dissemination and Advocacy for the Traditions of the Ainu and the Ainu Culture in 1997. He ran but failed to capture a proportional representation seat in the 1992 Upper House elections under the Japan Socialist Party (now defunct) banner. When a vacancy occurred in 1994, he was awarded the seat as the runner-up. When the JSP split into the Democratic Party of Japan and the Social Democratic Party in 1996, he joined the former, and served out the rest of his term until 1998.

Other than Shigeru Kayano however, no other Ainu politicians have been elected to national office. In 1977, Tokuhei Narita (now Tokuhei Akibe) ran for an Upper House seat under the banner of the “Ainu Political Participation Association,” and later as an independent for the Hokkaido 5^th district in the 1993 Lower House elections. He was unsuccessful in both cases. Kaori Tahara ran for a proportional seat (Hokkaido bloc) in the 2005 Upper House election as deputy head of the Hokkaido-based New Party Daichi (New Party Big Earth). She ran again in the 2007 Upper House election, this time for the Hokkaido prefectural district and with backing from New Party Daichi, DPJ, and the People’s New Party. She too, was unsuccessful in both cases.

Interestingly enough, two Executive Directors of the Hokkaido Ainu Association have served as city/town councilors – Giichi Normura in Shiraoi as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party prior to his tenure as Executive Director and Jiro Sasamura in Obihiro as an independent following his tenure as Executive Director (Jiro Sasamura was pressured to resign as Executive Director following what was seen as an insufficient response to statements that “Japan is a homogenous nation” by LDP politicians including Muneo Suzuki, who would later head New Party Daichi. Sasamura himself would run unsuccessfully for a second term in Obihiro under the New Party Daichi banner. That’s politics for ya!).

It will be interesting to see who Shiro Kayano (currently involved with the World Indigenous Peoples Network AINU) will be fielding as candidates in the election, and whether they will see any success.

*****

UPDATE: It is also interesting to see some of the reactions to this news on the internet - there are quite a few people speculating whether it is a plot by the CIA/US military or the Russians to break up Japan, or that the zainichi Koreans or Burakumin are behind the effort as a power grab. Is Japan really that adverse to having an indigenous people try to claim its proper rights?

Varied Reactions to Emperor's Scheduled Visit to Hokkaido

A news item from last month indicates that the current emperor and empress of Japan will be travelling to Hokkaido on September 9th for several days, and among their itinerary is a visit to the Ainu Museum in Shiraoi on September 11th.

(For details see the article from Muroran Minpo News here - in Japanese only.)

According to the article, the Representative Director of the Museum Katsunobu Nomoto stated that "It is a great honor. We are grateful that they expressed an interest in Ainu culture. All of us employees will do our sincere best for them to view the traditional dances that have been passed down to the present and also the displays in the museum."

Given the history of the emperor as the symbol of Japanese imperialism and the subjugation of the Ainu people under such auspices, there are some who are protesting the visit, organizing a discussion demanding the emperor and empress not to come and voicing the opposition against the emperor system.

(For details regarding the protest discussion meeting to be held on September 9 in Sapporo, see here - in Japanese only).

Some right-wing politicians and activists on the other hand, are expressing concern that the visit will be "politicized" by representatives of the Ainu Association, who they believe are seeking to "destroy the country" by demanding indigenous rights.

Report on Levels of Cesium found in Hokkaido Marine Life

Following the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11 and the resulting nuclear power plant disaster in Fukushima, radiation released into the environment and contamination of food has been a major concern among the Japanese public.

This report on the levels of iodine (I-131), cesium-134 (Cs-134) and cesium-137 (Cs-137) in Hokkaido marine life (such as pink salmon, chum/dog salmon, saury, etc.) was released by the Prefectural Government of Hokkaido and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare back at the end of July.

http://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/houdou/2r9852000001kj11-att/2r9852000001kjbo.pdf

The report finds that cesium radition was detected in marine life in Hokkaido from April through July, while no iodine radition has been found. The levels of cesium per kilogram, however, are well under the government's restrictions of 500 becquerels per kilogram.

Although I cannot speak with expertise in this area, the fact that raditation levels have been detected is a cause for concern as it raises questions about its impact on the Ainu community (salmon plays a major role in both traditional and modern Ainu life), and to the Japanese public in general (that the radiation has travelled all the way to Hokkaido and also because it is a major producer of food).

Article on Special Exhibit at the Historical Museum of Hokkaido

This is a translation of an online article from the Asahi Shimbun Newspaper August 5, 2011 edition regarding the exhibition at the Historical Museum of Hokkaido (see previous blog entry). The link to the original online article is dead (Asahi typically removes articles from their site after 2 weeks I believe) but the content can be seen here at the “Indigenous-related News” blog in Japanese.

The exhibit at the Historical Museum of Hokkaido runs until September 25. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see the hohciri!

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Sakhalin Ainu Forehead Adornment Hohciri Confirmed Domestically

On Display for the First Time at the Historical Museum in Sapporo Starting Today

from Historical Museum of Hokkaido

The “hohciri” was a unique and ancient practice passed down by the Sakhalin Ainu to decorate the forehead of young boys, but the actual objects could not be confirmed within Japan until now. The Historical Museum of Hokkaido (Atsubetsu-cho, Atsubetsu-ku, Sapporo) which received the donation, will put it on public display for the first time at the special exhibit “Ainu Life  Kuriles, Sakhalin, Hokkaido.”

The hohciri is a forehead adornment tied to and hung from a boy’s hair in the front. It is a tufted object made from beads strung together in a triangle, and was removed at around the age of 10 when the boy would hunt and capture his first prey. This practice was shown in photographs taken by researchers from Europe that visited Sakhalin approximately 100 years ago, but no existing hohciri could be confirmed in Japan, and it was only reported that such could be confirmed to exist at a museum in Cologne, Germany.

Masato Tamura (35), a curator of the Historical Museum of Hokkaido, learned that Yoko Abe (78), a Sakhalin Ainu living in Kawasaki with whom he kept in contact over the years, had what seemed to be a hohciri in her possession. It was something that she received from her childhood fried in Sakhalin, and Ms. Abe donated it “to be stored at the museum and shown to future generations as evidence of the culture of the Sakhalin Ainu.” Mr. Tamura and others proceeded with the confirmation process.

From the end of the 19^th century to the beginning of the 20^th century, the theory that the Ainu were of European ethnicity was popular in Europe and America (later discredited), leading many researchers to visit many Ainu villages (kotan) inside and outside Hokkaido to collect objects of daily life. It is said that there are over 13,000 Ainu items in museums around Europe and America.

In the special exhibit, there are 152 items that have returned from the Museum of Ethnology in Germany. The hohciri donated by Ms. Abe and daily items that were owned by her grandparents are also on display. Until September 25.

(article by Masakazu Honda)

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Excellent Article on Issue of Ainu Remains at Asia Rights Journal

On the same topic as our August 3rd blog entry "Thoughts Regarding Bones/Remains/Mausoleum", there is an excellent article entitled "Ainu People Call for Return of Indigenous Remains" at the blog of AISA RIGHTS Journal of Human Rights, Media and Society in Asia and the Pacific. Very informative and definitely worth a read:

http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/blogs/asiarights/2011/08/10/ainu-people-call-for-the-return-of-indigenous-remains/ 

Ainu Elder Ogawa Ryukichi and others outside the Hokkaido University ossuary

(from Asia Rights Journal article)

On a separate note regarding the translation of 納骨堂, interestingly enough the Asia Rights Journal article goes with "ossuary."

Report: 42nd Annual Cip Sanke Ceremony in Nibutani

I totally dropped the ball on this one – I completely missed updating one of the major events of August, which is the Cip Sanke boat-lowering ceremony in Nibutani, Hokkaido. Cip is what the Ainu call their traditional wooden boats/canoes, and every August there is a ceremony to lower the boats into the Saru river.

This year, the 42nd Cip Sanke was held, drawing approximately 150 participants from all across Hokkaido and Japan. The weather and water levels were good, and about 120 of the participants took turns riding the 7 boats available for a 15-minute ride down the river for a stretch of 1.5 kilometers.

(photo & information from Tomakomai Minpo newspaper article in Japanese).

I apologize for not putting up a notification beforehand, especially those who would have wanted to participate! But don’t worry, it happens every year – I myself participated in 2002 and rode a cip down the river. They are quite difficult to steer, and take some skill to prevent from flipping over. If you are a novice, you will get wet (I definitely did)!

WLE