“We Need Open-Mindedness to Accept and Know Others”－ Interview with Maya Sekine

The series, Intersectional Feminism, started this year. It was initiated with the idea that there
are differences, diversity and various aspects in ‘women’ The series, IntersectionalFeminism, started this year. It was initiated with the idea that women cannot be summed up
to one because people have multiple identities and true gender equality can only achieved
when it is equal for ‘ALL women’.
The fifth person we interviewed is Maya Sekine who was born and raised in Nibutani,Hokkaido.

What was the memorable thing during your childhood?
“In retrospect, my family enjoy eating very much. It involves processes from hunting orgathering ingredients to eating and has certain rules, but we have meals that cannot be
gotten from a supermarket. And, many people gather at night to eat together. I feel thatenjoying eating while valuing conversation is one of the ways that my hometown or family is.
Personally speaking, I vividly remember words I received from people around me. For
example, my grandmother always told me to ‘study until dying’ or ‘what doesn’t kill you
makes you stronger’.”Are those words the basis of your activity?
“Yes, I think so. I can continue my activities, not necessarily related to Ainu, thanks tointerpersonal relationships. I think my confidence in such relationships comes from myfamily's words. Also, how they live influences me. For example, my father always told me to‘know the pains’ while my mother taught me how to enjoy life by truly enjoying her own life.
All these things make who I am right now as well as my activity.”
Maya-san grew up connected to Ainu culture with a father who teaches the Ainu language, amother who is an Ainu craft artist, and a grandmother who is a leading person of Ainu
traditional fabric and runs an Ainu restaurant.

Did you join the activities of your family when you were a child?
“Yes, rather than participation, it was more like a way of life. I gathered wild vegetables daily.
I danced when a dance performance was held at a preservation society. I also sang songs inthe classes. I ate and cooked Ainu cuisine. So, from when I was a child, I had the language,
culture and spirit of the Ainu scattered around me, so much so that I didn't even have amoment to separate them. After beginning to study Ainu again, I started to categorise themin my mind like this is Ainu, this is Ainu language, this is Ainu food, and so on.”Maya-san was born and raised at 12 years old in Nibutani and went to junior high school in
Noboribetsu, high school in Sapporo and university in Kanagawa.
Did you notice any difference or discover anything while moving to different places?
“In terms of snacks or daily things, I did not feel any difference. This is because, despite its
scale, Nibutani is where diverse people come in and out and trendy snacks can be found.
However, I did observe differences in worldviews. I felt that how I see the world might be a
bit wider than usual. For example, ‘protecting nature’ comes from a thought process wherenature is perceived, distancing from oneself. That is why the sense of ‘protecting’ comes up.
Yet, for me, nature cannot be distant from me. I often questioned these slogans, words thatteachers use and among other things. It is not about which is correct but about the difference
I felt. Among different justice, I sometimes feel what I saw was different from others.”
Have you ever felt any dilemma when you encountered different worldviews?
“No, I did not. As I mentioned before, I grew up in a place where diverse people come in andout, I got to know that people have various senses. To be understood by someone else, it isnecessary to accept other views although you do not need to agree. Otherwise, we cannot
communicate. I am ignorant and cannot fully understand others, no matter how hard I try.
But due to that, we need openness to accept and know others. My roots and my childhood
environment have made me acutely aware of that. It is not perfectly done but I come to be
more aware of it as I went out of my comfort zone.”
Were you open-minded when you were a child too?
“I think so. My family saw Ainu culture in that way. At the root, there may be dissatisfaction or
hatred towards society or someone else, but my family transmitted information and first got
people to like them, and then those people wanted to work with my family, and so on. In
these ways, my family got an increasing number of allies. I have seen that, so I want to build
a relationship in a way that they want to work with me, not as Maya belonging to the Ainu
community, but as Maya Sekine. Then, I hope the people's voice will bring change to theadministration.”
Maya-san told us that she went to university with the idea that it might get her closer toestablishing her ideal society.
How do you envision a rich and ideal society?
“The world has become more convenient than ever while more people suffer from stress orlose sight of their self-worth. We live in an age where people not only live but also worry
about various things such as their position, their status, their power, and how they are seen
by others. No one knows which society is rich. No one decides the definition of happiness.
However, I think there is a way of making happiness that people can learn from Ainu culture.
That may be the power to live with just a knife, which goes against the current capital
economy. Every culture has such richness. Speaking of Ainu, recognised as IndigenousPeoples in Japan, I think Ainu might give a new perspective to embrace a different way of
thinking or living. Moreover, in the case of the Ainu people, it's sometimes seen only as an
aspect of the Ainu language being at risk or of their land being taken away from the outside.
However, in my hometown, Nibutani, some things definitely have been passed down frommy ancestors, like a sense that things can be managed, and various spiritual teachings arerooted in the Ainu people. I feel that. Even if our ethnicity as a name categorised from theoutside doesn't remain, in my opinion, it is okay as long as important core values that ourancestors had as human beings have been passed on, no matter how the languagechanges, how we look or where we live. Then I think it will be lucky if the Ainu teachings are
finally understood by the people and the government changes, recognising the Ainu way ofthinking. Therefore, I envision a future where such diversity and colourfulness in thinking andliving are naturally passed on to the next generation.”
Maya-san has been involved in various activities such as YouTube, delivering lectures andradio. Recently, she started an Ainu craft company, katak, with her mother to promote thecurrent fascination with Ainu crafts that can be used daily.
What motivated you to start katak?
“To add values. Recently, awareness of the Ainu has been spreading, and there are moreand more young people who want to study the Ainu and make a career out of it. However, inreality, as might be the case with traditional Japanese crafts and linguistics, it is difficult tobuild a career or make ends meet by it. So I would like to mediate and add value to that. At
the same time, I want to disseminate the knowledge and richness Ainu have. In a part of theworld, the art or traditional patterns created by Indigenous Peoples are not just folk art orsouvenirs but are traded as art at high prices. Despite such a world trend, Japan
experiences a lack of successors or demands although it has so many beautiful handicrafts
that, I think, built up the Japanese economy. So, for me, it is Ainu crafts, I want to increase
the number of people who can make ends meet by it.”Do you often work with people at your age?
“I work with a variety of people from grandparents’ and parents’ generations to children. Iwork with people who share goals with me regardless of age, positionality or roots. It does
not matter if the person is Ainu, but rather if the person shares the same aims or if I
intuitively want to work with that person.”Among the activities you have been involved in so far, which one has left a good
impression on you?
“There are many things, but I think the radio I recently started is interesting. This is because,on the radio, I, as an Ainu, talk about my interviews with other people having Ainu roots.
Until now, most of the media used to make programmes by having people who didn't knowmuch about the Ainu interview the Ainu. However, in this sense, I feel that this radio is aplace where Ainu people can speak their voices in the way they want to tell their stories,
even if there are some restrictions. Through our activities, we have reaffirmed theimportance of the involvement of all parties involved. I think that the media, which only seeksclarity for the majority, should be changed little by little. In that sense, I think the approach of

breaking things down from scratch and communicating in an easy-to-understand way is a bit
old-fashioned. Instead, there are more personal stories, funny stories and more interestingparts of conversations. I think it would be good if those stories could be conveyed.”
What do you value the most in your activities?
“Enjoying myself is important to me. Through learning, listening to stories, reading books,
meeting new people and among other things, I come to like myself including my roots or how
I grew up. Thus, what is significant is to continue to like myself and the environment aroundme.”