Ainu Policy Promotion Act: The Problem of Compliance With International Standards on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
https://doi.org/10.55105/2658-6444-2023-2-61-82
Abstract
This article is devoted to the analysis of the Act on Promoting Measures to Realize a Society in Which the Pride of the Ainu People Is Respected (Act No. 16 of 2019). The problem of compliance of Japan’s Ainu policy with international standards in the sphere of protection of indigenous peoples’ human rights is actively discussed today by foreign researchers. However, it is hardly studied in the Russian historiography. The article discusses the main provisions of the new legislation and reveals the point of view of the Ainu representatives about the measures taken by the government. It has been found out that Japan’s Ainu policy is greatly influenced by the position of international community towards the rights of indigenous peoples. International law has become the main lever of influence on the government for the Ainu people. It has been proven that the mechanisms for promotion and protection of the rights of the Ainu in Japan are imperfect and do not fully comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The main issues facing the Ainu are discrimination, collective rights, indigenous representation in the government, development of ethnic education, etc.
About the Author
E. S. Yukliaevskikh (Chekunkova)Russian Federation
YUKLIAEVSKIKH (CHEKUNKOVA) Ekaterina Sergeevna – Candidate of Sciences (History), Associate Professor, Department of Oriental Studies
19, Mira avenue, Ekaterinburg, 620002
References
1. Bazhenova, Zh. M. (2014). Okinava v kontekste politiki mul’tikul’turalizma [Okinawa in the Context of Multiculturalism]. Trudy Instituta istorii, arkheologii i etnografii narodov Dal’nego Vostoka DVO RAN [Proceedings of the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology FEB RAS], 16, 52–64. (In Russian).
2. Charbonneau, L., Maruyama, H. A. (2019a). Critique on the New Ainu Policy: How Japan’s Politics of Recognition Fails to Fulfill the Ainu’s Indigenous Rights. Focus. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.hurights.or.jp/archives/focus/section3/2019/06/a-critique-on-the-new-ainu-policy-howjapans-politics-of-recognition-fails-to-fulfill-the-ainus-indi.html
3. Charbonneau, L., Maruyama, H. A. (2019b). Japan’s New Policy on the Ainu is Misleading. Down To Earth, February 21. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/japan-s-new-policyon-the-ainu-is-misleading-63309
4. Dubreuil, C. O. (2007). The Ainu and Their Culture: A Critical Twenty-First Century Assessment. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://apjjf.org/-Chisato--Kitty--Dubreuil/2589/article.pdf
5. Frolova E. L., Takakura H., Tokuda Yu. (2010). Vzglyad na istoriyu Iaponii s tochki zreniia yeyo korennyh narodov: proshloe i nastoyasheye ainov [History of Japan from the view of its indigenous peoples: past and present of the Ainu]. Vestnik of Novosibirsk University: History and Philology, 9 (7), 164–169. (In Russian).
6. Goryan, E. V. (2017). Rol’ organov mestnogo samoupravleniya Yaponii v obespechenii prav korennogo naroda ainu [The Role of Local Government in Japan in Ensuring the Rights of the Ainu Indigenous People]. Administrativnoye i munitsipal’noye pravo [Administrative and Municipal Law], 9, 20–31. (In Russian).
7. Hasebe, K. (1946). Nihon minzoku no seiritsu [Formation of Japanese Ethnos]. Tokyo. (In Japanese).
8. Higashimura, T. (2019). No Rights, No Regret: New Ainu Legislation Short on Substance. Nippon.com, April 26. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/d00479/no-rights-no-regret-new-ainulegislation-short-on-substance.html
9. Kaizawa, K., Matsuna, T., Okuno, T., Maruyama, H. (2011). Ainu minzoku no fukken – senjūmin-zoku to kizuku aratana shakai [Restoration of the Ainu People: Building a New Society with Indigenous Peoples]. Kyoto: Hōritsubunkasha. (In Japanese).
10. Larson, E. (2008). Emerging Indigenous Governance: Ainu Rights at the Intersection of Global Norms and Domestic Institutions. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/40645236#metadata_info_tab_contents
11. Levakovskaya, A. Yu. Istoriya naroda ainu i ih sovremennoe polozeniye [History of Ainu people and their present-day conditions]. Sakhalin Regional Museum: Official Website. Retrieved January 25, 2015, from http://old.sakhalinmuseum.ru/ufile/22_Vestnik-p195-208.pdf (In Russian).
12. Lewallen, A.-E. (2008). Indigenous at last! Ainu Grassroots Organizing and the Indigenous Peoples Summit in Ainu Mosir. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://apjjf.org/-ann-eliselewallen/2971/article.pdf
13. Lie, J. (2001). Multi-Ethnic Japan. Cambridge.
14. Maruyama, H. (2013). Japan’s Post-war Ainu Policy. Why the Japanese Government Has Not Recognized Ainu Indigenous Rights? Polar Record, 49 (2), 204–207.
15. Maruyama, H. (2014). Japan’s Policies Towards the Ainu Language and Culture with Special Reference to North Fennoscandian Sami Policies. A Nordic Journal of Circumpolar Societies, 31 (2), 152–175.
16. Murphy-Shigematsu, S. (2013). Multiethnic Japan and the Monoethnic Myth. Asian Perspectives, 18 (4), 63–80.
17. Nakamura, N. (2013). Realizing Ainu Indigenous Rights: A commentary on Hiroshi Maruyama’s ‘Japan’s post-war Ainu policy. Why the Japanese Government has not recognized Ainu indigenous rights?’ Polar Record, 50, 209–211.
18. Nakamura, N. (2019). Redressing injustice of the past: the repatriation of Ainu human remains. Japan Forum, 31 (3), 358–377.
19. Okuyama, R. (1979). Ainu suiboshi [History of Ainu Collapse]. Sapporo. (In Japanese).
20. Osakada, Y. (2021). An examination of arguments over the Ainu Policy Promotion Act of Japan based on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. International Journal of Human Rights, 25 (6), 1053–1069.
21. Sugimoto, Y. (2010). An Introduction to Japanese Society. Cambridge.
22. Takakura, S. (1943). Ainu seisakushi [History of Policy Towards Ainu]. Tokyo. (In Japanese).
23. Tsunemoto,T.(2011).Ainuminzoku to `Nihon-gata’ senjūmin-zoku seisaku [The Ainu People and “Japanese-Style” Indigenous Peoples Policy]. Gakujutsu no dōkō [Academic Trends]. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/tits/16/9/16_9_9_79/_pdf (In Japanese).
24. Tsunemoto, T. (2019). Overview of the Ainu Policy Promotion Act of 2019. Foreign Press Center Japan. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://fpcj.jp/wp/wpcontent/uploads/2019/11/b8102b519c7b7c4a4e129763f23ed690.pdf
25. Weiner, M. (Ed.). (2008). Japan’s Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity. London.
Review
For citations:
Yukliaevskikh (Chekunkova) E.S. Ainu Policy Promotion Act: The Problem of Compliance With International Standards on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Russian Japanology Review. 2023;6(2):61-82. https://doi.org/10.55105/2658-6444-2023-2-61-82