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?

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).

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."

Thoughts Regarding Bones/ Remains/ Mausoleum

A few thoughts regarding the blog entry on August 2 about the Utari Communal Mausoleum Memorial Service:

The “Utari Communal Mausoleum” is translated from “ウタリ共同納骨堂”. Although 納骨堂 is apparently technically a “charnel (house),” I figured that most people would not know what a “charnel house” was and so opted to go with the more easily recognizable “mausoleum” instead (納骨堂 is literally “納 place/store” “骨 bones” “堂 hall”).

I had also originally used the term “bones” in reference to the remains stored at the mausoleum. A friend active in Ainu and indigenous issues pointed out that it may be more appropriate to use “ancestral or human remains” instead of “bones.” Perhaps given the background of grave-robbing anthropologists, it may be better to ensure that a greater sense of respect is conveyed – they were, after all, living breathing people. It still surprises me how some people could either forget that or not care. Thus the previous blog post was updated to “(ancestral/human) remains” in place of bones.

The return of Ainu ancestral/human remains is still a contentious and unresolved issue, and is one of the subjects of discussion by the government Panel on Promotion of Ainu Policy. A 2002 article in the Japan Times discusses the issue, but there seems to be little progress even since then. A good read would also be “Gakumon no Boryoku: Ainu Bochi wa Naze Abakareta ka” (The Violence of Scholarship: Why Were Ainu Graves Desecrated?) by Tetsuya Ueki published in 2008 – though I am ashamed to admit I have not yet read it myself.

Gakumon no Boryoku

Speaking personally, I am always greatly disturbed by the ways in which people attempt to control and violate other people’s bodies, even after (especially after?) death. I am always horrified by the stories of lynchings in the American South where whites would cut off the body parts (ears, fingers, genitals) of their victims to display in their homes. I once saw a documentary of Native American sacred sites where one man was fighting off police to shovel dirt onto the exposed skeletons on display at an “Indian Graveyard” tourist site, a desperate attempt to protect some sort of dignity – it had quite a profound impact on me. I now try to avoid any dead bodies in museums, including even Egyptian mummies. Who and how do we decide when it is acceptable to violate someone’s remains? Personally, I would not like to be dug up after I’m gone, whether it is 10, 100, or 10,000 years after the fact.

-WLE