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! 

 

November 5 & 6, 2011: OKI & DUB AINU BAND in Taiwan

From OKI DUB AINU BAND's Facebook page - OKI and DUB AINU BAND will be in Taiwan over the weekend. Information is as below, unfortunately further details are only in Chinese...

OKI will be playing at the Heng Chung International Folk Song & Music Festival today, Saturday November 5, 2011.

http://www.cultural.pthg.gov.tw/folkmusic2011/index.asp?au_id=44&sub_id=47&id=17

OKI DUB AINU BAND will be playing at the Riverside Live House in Taipei on Sunday, November 6 starting at 21:00. Tickets are NT$350.

http://www.riverside.com.tw/index.php?option=com_cafe

November 5, 2011: 15th Annual Ainu Speech Contest

Hokkaido University will be hosting the 15^th Annual Ainu Speech Contest, organized by the Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture. The contest is one of the efforts to promote the revival of the Ainu language, and calls on all people learning the Ainu language to participate (entries are currently closed, please contact FRPAC or AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS if you are interested in entering for next year). The contest features both children and adult divisions, and the adult division is sub-divided into oral traditions (such as uepeker folktales and kamuy yukar epics) and free subjects.

**********

15^th Annual Ainu Speech Contest

-Itak an ro! Let’s speak Ainu!-

Date & Time:

November 5, 2011 (Saturday)

10:00-17:00

Venue:

Hokkaido University

Gakujutsu Koryu Kaikan Building Lecture Hall

Kita 8, Nishi 5, Kita 8-jo, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido

(*No parking available)

Directions:

*7 minutes on foot from JR Sapporo Station

From the north exit, walk towards Yodobashi Camera.

Go north on Nishi 5 Tarukawa-dori.

On your left after entering Hokkaido University main gate.
http://www.hokudai.ac.jp/en/pickup/accesstocampus.html

Website (in Japanese only):

http://www.frpac.or.jp/evt/benron2311.html

Organized by:

Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture

Co-Organized by:

Hokkaido University Ainu Indigenous People Research Center

Supported by:

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Hokkaido Prefecture, Hokkaido Board of Education, Sapporo City, Sapporo Board of Education, Hokkaido Ainu Association, Hokkaido Shimbun Press, Asahi Shimbun Hokkaido Branch, Yomiuri Shimbun Hokkaido Branch, Mainichi Shimbun Hokkaido Branch, Nihon Keizai Shimbun Hokkaido Branch, NHK Sapporo Broadcast Station, Sapporo Television Broadcasting, Hokkaido Cultural Broadcasting, Television Hokkaido

**********

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?

November 3, 2011: Ainu Cultural Festival 2011 in TOKYO

*********

Ainu Cultural Festival 2011 in TOKYO

Date & Time:

November 3, 2011 (Thursday (National Holiday))

13:00 - 16:00 (OPEN 12:00 / START 13:00)

Venue:

Tokyo International Forum, Hall B7

3-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

FREE ADMISSION

Attendees receive a free mukkuri  (traditional Ainu mouth harp)

Program:

<STAGE> 13:00-16:00

*13:00 - Opening Greetings

*13:20 - Keynote Speech: "Towards the Realization of an Ainu Policy"

by Hideo Akibe, Executive Director of the Akan Ainu Industrial Arts Association

*14:20 - Oral Tradition: "Inunke (Lullaby)" by Taeko Hori

*14:35 - Intermission

*14:45 - Dance Performance by Ankoraci Menokoutar

*15:15 - Music Performance by Ainu Art Project

*16:00 - Closing

<EXHIBITION> 12:00-16:00

*Woodcarving: Shigehiro Takano (FRPAC Certified Artisan)

*Embroidery: Kayoko Nishida (Hokkaido Ainu Association Certified Artisan)

*Exhibition of Ainu Culture Panels and Ainu Crafts

*Distribution of FRPAC materials

More information (in Japanese):

http://www.frpac.or.jp/evt/festival2011.html

Organized by:

Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture

Supported by:

Agency for Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Hokkaido Prefecture, Hokkaido Board of Education, Hokkaido Ainu Association

**********

October 30, 2011: 2nd Urespa Festa @Sapporo University

The 2nd Urespa Festa, one of the activities of the Urespa Project at Sapporo University, will be held tomorrow October 30, 2011. The Urespa Project provides educational opportunities and support for Ainu students to learn about their culture and aims to build support within the greater community for Ainu activities by involving members of the community, companies, and other stakeholders in their efforts.

AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS is working to become one of the Urespa Project's supporters as part of our own efforts to support Ainu charities and community activities. We will keep you updated and provide a more thorough introduction of the Urespa Project soon. In the meantime, check out the Festa!

**********

2nd Urespa Festa

October 30, 2011

 <PART 1>

Time: 13:00-17:00

Venue: Sapporo University #2 Building 3F PREA Hall

Keynote Speech by Nahoko Uehashi (Writer/Anthropologist)

"The Path I Have Walked - Stories & Anthropology -"

Panel Discussion with Nahoko Uehashi, Yuko Honda, Hideyuki Kanazawa, Kiyoshi Kawamura)

Performance by Sapporo Children's Theater Yamabiko-za

"Stomping Kicking Spirit of the Bear" (2011 Ainu puppet theater)

Presentations by Urespa Students

<PART 2>

Time: 17:30-19:00

Venue: Linden Hall East 2F

Reception (Admission Fee: 500 yen)

CONTACT:

Urespa Club

Sapporo University Student Support Office

tel: 011-852-9108

email: urespa@sapporo-u.ac.jp

Supporters: Hokkaido Prefecture, Sapporo City

Cooperation from Foundation for Research and Promotion of Ainu Culture

**********

October 29 & 30, 2011: 18th Charanke Festival

Apologies for not updating for so long - things have been quite busy and I have not been available to post information at all. 

I will be posting reports and updates from the past month and a half (hopefully soon!) and a more proper calendar for the rest of the year's events (hopefully soon as well...) in the meantime, check out the events for this weekend:

The Charanke Festival is a major event bringing together the Ainu and Okinawan communities in Tokyo, and this will be the festival's 18th year running. It all started from a connection between an Ainu and Okinawan feeling a sense of kinship, and developed into the event it is today. In the past the festival has been held in the park right by the JR Nakano Station, but this year it will be held at the Araiyakushi Baishoin Temple for the first time. Come check it out if you have the chance!

**********

18th Charanke Festival

October 29 & 30, 2011

Venue:

Araiyakushi Baishoin Temple

5-3-5 Arai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo

TEL: 03-3386-1355

(JR Nakano Station/Seibu Shinjuku Line Arai Yakushi Station)

October 29:

13:00 - 18:00 Various performances by Ainu & Okinawan groups

(15:00 Kamuynomi Prayer Ceremony)

October 30:

10:00 - 18:30 Various performances by Ainu & Okinawan groups

including Ainu Art Project, etc.

Various food and goods will also be on sale on October 30.

A more detailed program and further information available at:

http://www.charanke.com

(in Japanese only)

**********

Please contact AINU PRIDE PRODUCTIONS if you need any assistance.