Ainu rights advocates hold rally demanding recognition as indigenous people

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Ainu rights advocates hold rally demanding recognition as indigenous people

On May 22, about 250 people held a rally in Tokyo demanding that the government recognize the Ainu as indigenous people and improve their basic rights and living conditions.

A 70-year-old woman from Sapporo City in Hokkaido said, “We have been forced to endure social discrimination. Many Ainu have had difficulty exercising the right to receive education and finding a decent job. Many cannot afford to pay the pension premiums. I want the government to understand our history and take measures to improve our situation.”

Kato Tadashi, chairman of the Hokkaido Utari Association, the Ainu rights organization that organized the rally, stressed, “The task is for the Japanese government to defend Ainu people’s living conditions and secure their human rights” based on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted in 2007 by the U.N. General Assembly.

Speakers at the rally included several members of the cross-party group of parliamentarians who are calling for the establishment of an advisory panel to discuss the rights of Ainu people and have the Diet recognize the Ainu as indigenous people.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kami Tomoko said, “To defend Ainu people’s human rights is for Japan to make progress as a nation that protects the people’s human rights.”

In September 2007, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by a majority of member states, including Japan. However, the Japanese government has not recognized the Ainu as indigenous people or taken necessary measures for them.

A recent Hokkaido Prefecture government survey shows that the percentage of Ainu who are on welfare is 1.5 times the average for all Hokkaido residents. It also shows that the percentage of Ainu people who have received higher education is a half of the rate for all Hokkaido residents.

The movement to press the government to launch discussion on the issue of the indigenous people’s rights and take necessary measures for them is growing.

- Akahata, May 23, 2008