Japan’s Indigenous Ainu community don’t want a theme park – they want their rights
Fumio Kimura, in Biratori, next to the place where the remains of 34 Ainu have just been returned.
(Carmen Grau
)
10 December 2020
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Fumio Kimura, in Biratori, next to the place where the remains of 34 Ainu have just been returned.
(Carmen Grau
)
The brightly lit signs on the Hokkaido motorway in northern Japan do not inform the driver about the traffic. They are, rather, advertising Upopoy, a new tourist complex, and the Ainu National Museum. “Let’s sing together for ethnic harmony” is the motto the Japanese government has stamped on the 20-billion-yen project (€164 million, US$192 million) to revive the culture of the Ainu people, one of the archipelago’s minorities. The project showcases the heritage of the Indigenous people originally inhabiting the islands of Hokkaido, Kuril and Sakhalin. Young Ainu women dance to the tune of tradition and a controversial mem