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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
December 20, 2005
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| December 11, 2005 |
Indigenous People of Japan: All About Ainu – Keira Mitsunori and Eiko Watanabe |
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| Specialist in Ainu culture, Mitsunori Keira |
Keira Mitsunori joined Peace Boat to educate about the situation of the Ainu people who live in Hokkaido, Japan. He is the Chairperson of Yaiyukara Ainu Society, which was established in 1973 in order to empower the aboriginal people of Japan. More recently, Keira helped to establish the Forest of the Yaiyukara in 1992 with the hope of deepening the spirit of the Society in a sustainable way. Their activities focus on cultural protection, recovering the rights of indigenous people and promoting exchange with aboriginal people around the world. |
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| Mitsunori Keira gives a lecture on the kinds of prejudice that many Ainu people face |
While onboard he lectured on the history, culture and problems currently facing the Ainu people. A major concern is that over time, the Ainu have lost a sense of community as their culture has become eroded by Japanese society. “Just like the stolen or lost generation of aboriginals in Australia, they have something of a lost culture that they haven’t been able to recover yet,” Keira stated.
There was a strong response to his lectures and many older passengers especially were surprised to learn about how Ainu people live in society today and that the problems they face are different from conventionally preconceived ideas. “They thought they knew about Ainu, but there is a gap between their knowledge and the reality. Ainu people have the same lifestyle as Japanese. However, many Japanese people have prejudices against them. They discriminate against them and have stereotypes about Ainu. For example, Japanese tourists will come from all over Japan and ask Ainu ‘What do you eat?’, ‘Will you go back to the mountains after work?’”
While the Ainu face many serious problems in terms of recovering and rebuilding their culture, the Japanese government is helping to revive the culture. For example, in 1997 a new law was passed which recognized Ainu as a distinctive ethnic people for the first time. However, it has a narrow definition of Ainu culture, so there are already some barriers to recovering their rights. Various NGOs in Japan have been making an effort to help the Ainu and there has been an international influence, following examples of indigenous people in places such as Canada and Australia.
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| An example of the beautiful work of Yamamoto Eiko |
Regaining the power to speak is also something Ainu people are hoping for: “In the 1970s a new movement developed among other indigenous cultures around the world, but this indigenous movement is relatively new to Japan” Keira said. However, one obstacle to achieving these ends is that Ainu are not the same as other indigenous cultures around the world in that they do not have a strong sense of community. While other indigenous populations have managed to maintain a sense of community to some extent, the lack of a distinct Ainu community means that it is difficult to create a sense of solidarity among the people.
Despite the hardships faced by Ainu as they try to recover their culture, Keira believes there is a lot to be learnt about sustaining and protecting the environment, not only from Ainu, but from indigenous peoples all over the world. “They have faced oppression, discrimination but are still surviving after all of these difficulties. This is because they co-exist with the environment and have the knowledge and the will to survive. So, having knowledge about resources such as fish and vegetables means they have created a sustainable way of living by giving back to nature. Japanese also used to live that way but have long lost that lifestyle.”
Keira thinks that because Peace Boat is like an independent country in itself, it’s a good place from which people can broaden their horizons and gain a new perspective by distancing themselves from and reflecting on Japan: “It’s a good opportunity to think about Japan, Japanese culture and Japanese people in a different way. This also means thinking about Ainu as well – their future, their hopes.” |
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| Eiko Yamamoto teaches participants traditional Ainu embroidery |
To compliment Keira’s lectures on Ainu history and culture, Ainu guest artist Eiko Yamamoto also joined Peace Boat. She introduced participants to traditional embroidery of the Ainu people, which though popular with many people in Hokkaido, is not as common in other parts of Japan. Participants had the chance to make a traditional headband or bag, using the intricate designs and stitches common to Ainu tradition. |
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