Who Stands Against Discrimination Toward the Ainu

The Ainu, recognized as an indigenous people of Japan, have historically faced discrimination due to their identity, but in recent years a new form of bias has emerged that seeks to deny both their indigenous status and their very existence, with such views increasingly expressed through panel exhibitions and lectures held at public facilities in Sapporo and across Hokkaido.

These events have prompted ongoing protests from Ainu groups and civic organizations calling for restrictions on the use of public venues for activities they argue promote discrimination, yet Sapporo city authorities have maintained that, in the absence of a formal definition of Ainu discrimination and under provisions of the Local Autonomy Law, they cannot deny access to public facilities, effectively continuing a stance of non-intervention.

One Ainu woman voiced frustration at the situation, saying, “This is not an Ainu problem. It is a problem of those who discriminate,” underscoring a shift in how the issue is being framed.

While discrimination has traditionally been viewed as a dynamic between minority victims and majority perpetrators, a new structure is emerging in which members of the majority are increasingly confronting others within the same majority over discriminatory attitudes.

Citizens holding placards opposing discrimination, researchers protesting the misinterpretation of academic studies used to deny Ainu indigeneity, and artists continuing to address discrimination in their work despite backlash are all contributing to this shift, raising broader questions about how authorities should respond and how the majority itself chooses to engage with the issue of discrimination.

Source: HBCニュース　北海道放送

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