The government approved a bill Friday to recognize the country’s ethnic Ainu minority as an “indigenous” people for the first time, after decades of discrimination against the group.

The Ainu people — many of whom live in northern Hokkaido — have long suffered the effects of a policy of forced assimilation. While discrimination has receded gradually, income and education gaps with the rest of Japan persist.

“It is important to protect the honor and dignity of the Ainu people and to hand those down to the next generation to realize a vibrant society with diverse values,” top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

“Today we made a Cabinet decision on a bill to proceed with policies to preserve the Ainu people’s pride.”

The bill is the first to recognize the Ainu as “indigenous people” and calls for the government to make “forward-looking policies,” including measures to support communities and boost local economies and tourism.

Ainu have lived for centuries on Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido, as well as nearby areas including Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

They struggled to pass down their language and culture after the Japanese government implemented an assimilation policy beginning in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), as Japan was modernizing.

The Ainu traditionally observed an animist faith, with men wearing full beards and women adorning themselves with facial tattoos before marriage.

But like many indigenous people around the world, most of Japan’s Ainu have lost touch with their traditional lifestyle after decades of forced assimilation.

The Ainu population is estimated to be at least 12,300, according to a 2017 survey, but the real figure is unknown as many have integrated into mainstream society and some have hidden their cultural roots.

In 1997, a law was enacted aimed at preserving Ainu culture and guaranteeing their human rights, about 100 years after the government introduced the assimilation policy.

It was the first legislation acknowledging the existence of an ethnic minority in Japan, but stopped short of saying the Ainu are indigenous.

The new bill states its purpose is to “realize a society where the Ainu people can live with their ethnic pride, which will be respected” by others. The government will subsidize projects aimed at promoting Ainu culture and organized by local municipalities.

The law would also simplify procedures for Ainu to get permission from authorities to collect timber from national forests for their rituals, and to catch salmon in rivers in a traditional way.

In addition to the new law, the central government also plans to open a national Ainu museum and park in the Hokkaido town of Shiraoi in April 2020.

In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a declaration on the rights of indigenous people, asking each country to take legislative steps to protect their rights. Japan was among the countries that supported the declaration.

“It is the first step for ensuring equality under the law,” Mikiko Maruko, who represents a group of Ainu people in eastern Japan near Tokyo, said.

“There are lots of things to be done, for example, creating a scholarship for families who struggle to send their children to high schools,” she added, a system currently only available to Ainu in Hokkaido.

“It is a major step forward on policies towards the Ainu people,” said Masashi Nagaura, chief of the Ainu policy bureau of the Hokkaido Prefectural Government that has spearheaded policies for the ethnic minority.</s>Japan's government introduced a bill Friday to recognise the country's ethnic Ainu minority as an "indigenous" people for the first time, after decades of discrimination against the group.

The Ainu people -- many of whom live in northern Hokkaido -- have long suffered the effects of a policy of forced assimilation, and while discrimination has receded gradually, income and education gaps with the rest of Japan persist.

"It is important to protect the honour and dignity of the Ainu people and to hand those down to the next generation to realise a vibrant society with diverse values," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

"Today we made a cabinet decision on a bill to proceed with policies to preserve the Ainu people's pride."

The bill is the first to recognise the Ainu as "indigenous people" and calls for the government to make "forward-looking policies", including measures to support communities and boost local economies and tourism.

The Ainu have long suffered oppression and exploitation, and the modern Japanese government in the late 19th century banned them from practising their customs and using their language.

The Ainu traditionally observed an animist faith, with men wearing full beards and women adorning themselves with facial tattoos before marriage.

But like many indigenous people around the world, most of Japan's Ainu have lost touch with their traditional lifestyle after decades of forced assimilation policies.

The Ainu population is estimated to be at least 12,300, according to a 2017 survey, but the real figure is unknown as many have integrated into mainstream society and some have hidden their cultural roots.

"It is the first step for ensuring equality under the law," Mikiko Maruko, who represents a group of Ainu people in eastern Japan near Tokyo, told AFP.

"There are lots of things to be done, for example, creating a scholarship for families who struggle to send their children to high schools," she added, a system currently only available to Ainu in Hokkaido.

Under the new plan, the government will also allow the Ainu to cut down trees in nationally-owned forests for use in traditional rituals.

"It is a major step forward on policies towards the Ainu people," said Masashi Nagaura, chief of the Ainu policy bureau of the Hokkaido prefectural government that has spearheaded policies for the ethnic minority.</s>After decades of discrimination, the government of Japan has introduced a bill to recognise the country's ethnic Ainu minority as an "indigenous" people for the first time - a move welcomed by activists as a "first step" towards achieving equality.

The Ainu people, traditionally a society of hunter-gatherers on the northern island of Hokkaido, have long suffered the effects of a policy of forced assimilation that threatened to wipe out their culture. Even though discrimination has receded gradually, income and education gaps between them and the rest of Japan remain.

"It is important to protect the honour and dignity of the Ainu people and to hand those down to the next generation to realise a vibrant society with diverse values," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Friday.

"Today, we made a cabinet decision on a bill to proceed with policies to preserve the Ainu people's pride."

The bill is the first to recognise the Ainu as "indigenous people" and calls for the government to make "forward-looking policies", including measures to support communities and boost local economies and tourism following a long history of exploitation and cultural suppression.

In the late 19th century, the modern Japanese government annexed land from the Ainu people and prohibited them from practising their customs and using their language.

The Ainu traditionally observed an animist faith, the men wearing full beards and women adorning themselves with facial tattoos before marriage. They lived mainly by hunting, fishing and farming.

But, like many indigenous people around the world, most of Japan's Ainu have lost touch with their traditional lifestyle after decades of forced assimilation policies.

The Ainu population is estimated to be at least 12,300, according to a 2017 survey, but the real figure is unknown as many have integrated into mainstream society and some have hidden their cultural roots.

Official estimates of the Ainu population in the early 2000s had put the figure at around 25,000.

"It is the first step for ensuring equality under the law," Mikiko Maruko, who represents a group of Ainu people in eastern Japan near Tokyo, told AFP news agency, commenting on the government's move.

"There are lots of things to be done, for example, creating a scholarship for families who struggle to send their children to high schools," she added, referring to Ainu living outside Hokkaido who cannot access existing Ainu scholarship programmes on the island.

Under the new plan, the government will also allow the Ainu to cut down trees in nationally-owned forests for use in traditional rituals.

"It is a major step forward on policies towards the Ainu people," said Masashi Nagaura, chief of the Ainu policy bureau of the Hokkaido prefectural government that has spearheaded policies for the ethnic minority.</s>(Hatha al-Youm | Iraq News )- Japan's government introduced a bill Friday to recognize thecountry's ethnic Ainu minority as an "indigenous" people for thefirst time, after decades of discrimination against the group, AFP reported.The Ainu people – many of whom live in northern Hokkaido –have long suffered the effects of a policy of forced assimilation, and whilediscrimination has receded gradually, income and education gaps with the restof Japan persist."It is important to protect the honor and dignity ofthe Ainu people and to hand those down to the next generation to realize avibrant society with diverse values," top government spokesman YoshihideSuga told reporters."Today we made a cabinet decision on a bill to proceedwith policies to preserve the Ainu people's pride."The bill is the first to recognize the Ainu as"indigenous people" and calls for the government to make"forward-looking policies", including measures to support communitiesand boost local economies and tourism.The Ainu have long suffered oppression and exploitation, andthe modern Japanese government in the late 19th century banned them from practicingtheir customs and using their language.The Ainu traditionally observed an animist faith, with menwearing full beards and women adorning themselves with facial tattoos beforemarriage.But like many indigenous people around the world, most ofJapan's Ainu have lost touch with their traditional lifestyle after decades offorced assimilation policies.The Ainu population is estimated to be at least 12,300,according to a 2017 survey, but the real figure is unknown as many haveintegrated into mainstream society and some have hidden their cultural roots."It is the first step for ensuring equality under thelaw," Mikiko Maruko, who represents a group of Ainu people in easternJapan near Tokyo, told AFP."There are lots of things to be done, for example,creating a scholarship for families who struggle to send their children to highschools," she added, a system currently only available to Ainu inHokkaido.Under the new plan, the government will also allow the Ainuto cut down trees in nationally-owned forests for use in traditional rituals."It is a major step forward on policies towards theAinu people," said Masashi Nagaura, chief of the Ainu policy bureau of theHokkaido prefectural government that has spearheaded policies for the ethnicminority.</s>After decades of discrimination, the government of Japan has introduced a bill to recognise the country's ethnic Ainu minority as an "indigenous" people for the first time - a move welcomed by activists as a "first step" towards achieving equality.

The Ainu people, traditionally a society of hunter-gatherers on the northern island of Hokkaido, have long suffered the effects of a policy of forced assimilation threatening to wipe out their culture. Even though discrimination has receded gradually, income and education gaps with the rest of Japan remain.

“It is important to protect the honour and dignity of the Ainu people and to hand those down to the next generation to realise a vibrant society with diverse values,” top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Friday.

“Today, we made a cabinet decision on a bill to proceed with policies to preserve the Ainu people’s pride.”

The bill is the first to recognise the Ainu as “indigenous people” and calls for the government to make “forward-looking policies”, including measures to support communities and boost local economies and tourism following a long history of exploitation and cultural suppression.

In the late 19th century, the modern Japanese government annexed land from the Ainu people and prohibited them from practising their customs and using their language.

The Ainu traditionally observed an animist faith, with men wearing full beards and women adorning themselves with facial tattoos before marriage. They lived mainly by hunting, fishing and farming/

But like many indigenous people around the world, most of Japan’s Ainu have lost touch with their traditional lifestyle after decades of forced assimilation policies.

The Ainu population is estimated to be at least 12,300, according to a 2017 survey, but the real figure is unknown as many have integrated into mainstream society and some have hidden their cultural roots.

Official estimates of the Ainu population in the early 2000s had put the figure at around 25,000.

“It is the first step for ensuring equality under the law,” Mikiko Maruko, who represents a group of Ainu people in eastern Japan near Tokyo, told AFP news agency, commenting on the government’s move.

“There are lots of things to be done, for example, creating a scholarship for families who struggle to send their children to high schools,” she added, a system currently only available to Ainu in Hokkaido.

Under the new plan, the government will also allow the Ainu to cut down trees in nationally-owned forests for use in traditional rituals.

“It is a major step forward on policies towards the Ainu people,” said Masashi Nagaura, chief of the Ainu policy bureau of the Hokkaido prefectural government that has spearheaded policies for the ethnic minority. DM

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On Friday, the Ainu people in Japan took a step out of the shadows with a new bill approved by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito party coalition. Once it is passed by parliament, it will finally recognize them as indigenous and ban discrimination against them.

“It feels like we woke up now from a truly deep sleep,” Tadashi Kato, chairman of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, told state broadcaster NHK. “It is significant in that it will lead to building a society where we cohabit together. We think this is the first step.”

Before their assimilation into the wider Japanese population, Ainu men were known for their bushy beards, fair skins and deep-set, wide eyes under beetle brows. Ainu women would tattoo themselves around their mouths and sometimes on their forearms.

Today, just 13,118 people identify as Ainu on the northern island of Hokkaido, but only a handful speak the language. Smaller numbers live on the Russian island of Sakhalin and the disputed Kuril Islands. But there may be many more people with significant Ainu heritage in Japan whose origins have been obscured by a desire to escape discrimination.

The exact origins of the Ainu are a subject of academic debate, but they are thought to have links to the ancient Jomon culture that dominated the islands of modern Japan from 1,400 to 300 B.C. The later Satsumon culture was centered on the north of the main island of Honshu and the northern island of Hokkaido, and the Okhotsk culture was from Russia’s far east.

Genetically, they are most closely related to the native tribes on India’s Andaman Islands, as well as people in Tibet and northern Myanmar, as well as the Ryukyuan people of Japan’s southern island of Okinawa. They are thought to have been descended from some of the earliest humans to leave Africa and settle in Asia.

Ainu legend claims that they “lived in this place a hundred thousand years before the Children of the Sun came.” That may be an exaggeration, but what is clear is that waves of Japanese settlement pushed them to the margins of northern Hokkaido.

From the 13th century on, the Ainu fought a series of unsuccessful wars and rebellions against Japanese domination, while epidemics of smallpox and other diseases also decimated the population.

Under Japan’s Meiji Restoration in 1868 and its plans to modernize the country, Hokkaido was formally annexed, and an 1899 law classified the Ainu as “former aboriginal people.” They were given Japanese citizenship but forced to adopt Japanese names. Their land was taken away, their language outlawed and cultural practices such as animal sacrifices and tattooing banned.

While many Japanese settlers may have compelled Ainu women to marry them, the Ainu themselves promoted intermarriage to escape discrimination. As a result, few pure-blood Ainu are alive today.

Japan finally began to acknowledge the existence of the Ainu as an ethnic group in recent decades, under domestic and international pressure. The 1899 law was repealed in 1997, and funds were provided to promote Ainu culture, helping to revive their language, dance and music.

In 2008, Japan’s two houses of parliament passed a joint resolution recognizing the Ainu for the first time as “an indigenous people with a distinct language, religion and culture.”

The new draft bill aims to give some legal weight to that symbolic gesture.

It recognizes the Ainu as an indigenous people for the first time in legislation and lists its objective as “realizing a society that will respect the pride of the Ainu as an ethnic group.” It sets aside money to promote Ainu culture and makes it easier for Ainu people to log in state-owned forests and catch salmon in rivers, NHK reported.

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper said the government was partly motivated by international pressure to recognize the rights of indigenous people, but also by its own desire to use Ainu culture to promote tourism in Hokkaido. It aims to attract 40 million foreign visitors in 2020 when Tokyo will host the Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

According to a survey by the Hokkaido government, only 33 percent of Ainu attended university, compared to 46 percent of the general population, while 36 percent said they had either faced discrimination or knew someone who had.

The word “ainu” means human, as opposed to “kamuy,” the spirits or gods that dwell inside living things, but the people also refer to each other as “utari,” or comrade. The Ainu were among the native populations of eastern Asia who practiced arctolatry, or bear worship.

“It is important to protect the honor and dignity of the Ainu people and to hand those down to the next generation to realize a vibrant society with diverse values,” chief cabinet secretary and top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news</s>Ainu have lived in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's main islands, for centuries and have been routinely treated with repression including a forced assimilation of the their culture to that of Tokyo.

"It is important to protect the honor and dignity of the Ainu people and to hand those down to the next generation to realize a vibrant society with diverse values," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters, Japan Times reported.

"Today we made a Cabinet decision on a bill to proceed with policies to preserve the Ainu people's pride."

The bill, which recognizes the Ainu as "indigenous people," urges the government to propose "forward-looking policies" in support of Ainu communities in the island nation.

The Ainu, with an estimated population of at least 12,300 based on a 2017 survey, were unable to live traditional lifestyles after the Japanese government implemented an assimilation policy upon them between 1912-1968.

A 1997 law passed in Japan sought to uphold the Ainu culture, but did not identify the ethnic group as indigenous to the Japanese islands.

According to the new bill, its aim is to "realize a society where the Ainu people can live with their ethnic pride, which will be respected." In addition, the government will subsidize projects to uphold Ainu traditions and make it easier for members to gather timber from forests for their rituals and catch salmon in customary tribal ways, Japan Times reported.

Tokyo will pay for a national Ainu museum and park in Shiraoi, a town in Hokkaido, by April 2020.

"It is the first step for ensuring equality under the law," Mikiko Maruko, who represents Ainu people living in and around Tokyo, told the Japan Times.

"There are lots of things to be done, for example, creating a scholarship for families who struggle to send their children to high schools," she added.

Masashi Nagaura, chief of the Ainu policy bureau of the Hokkaido Prefectural Government, agreed calling the move a "a major step forward on policies towards the Ainu people."</s>Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The Japanese government endorsed a bill Friday to officially recognize for the first time the Ainu ethnic minority as an indigenous people of the country.

The bill supports the creation of a subsidy program for regional revitalization to help local officials implement programs to promote Ainu culture.

Japanese chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said the move was needed to make sure the Ainu people can maintain their dignity. He said the government will take steps to help the Ainu tackle potential challenges.

More than 13,000 people identify as Ainu on the northern island of Hokkaido, while smaller numbers live on the Russian island of Sakhalin and disputed Kuril Islands.

More Japanese with significant Ainu heritage may have hid over the years to avoid discrimination. The Ainu are believed to have connections with the ancient Jomon culture that dominated the islands of modern Japan from 1,400 to 300 B.C.

Japan may have been spurred to make the move due to increasing international pressure for Ainu recognition and acknowledgement of its historical treatment of the culture.

Tadashi Kato, head of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, said he was pleased with the government's first step toward improving the relationship between Japanese and Ainu. He added that Japan must do more to improve the Ainu's standard of living.

A 2017 Hokkaido government study found that 33.3 percent of Ainu went to college, compared to the overall rate of 45.8 percent of those living in the same area. More than 23 percent said they'd experienced discrimination.
The government of Japan approves a bill which officially acknowledges the Ainu as an indigenous people, following a non-binding resolution that was passed in 2008.