The Ainu and Japanese Archaeology: A change ofperspective
KATO Hirofumi1
ABSTRACTThe aim of my paper is to reﬂect on contemporary issues surrounding the archaeological
heritage and the Ainu in Hokkaido Island. Today, we know that archaeology is a powerfultool in the creation of cultural identities of the past. We also appreciate heritage ownershipand the relationships between cultural heritage and intellectual property rights. Creating
new relationships between indigenous peoples and archaeologists is a crucial duty for us asarchaeologists.
KEYWORDS: Ainu, indigenous archaeology, heritage ownership, research ethic

1.

Introduction

Between 15th July and 17th July 2016, twelve Ainu ancestral remains were returned totheir original homeland from Hokkaido University, and reburied at a local graveyard
after 85 years. The Ainu ancestral remains that were returned included one identiﬁed andeleven unidentiﬁed remains. This repatriation was the ﬁrst formal indigenous repatriationfrom a university to a local community in Japan.
The archaeology of Hokkaido Island has long been recognized as part of Japanesearchaeology, or as a northern variation of Japanese prehistory, without attention being
paid to Hokkaido’s particular history. This is despite the greater part of Hokkaido’shistory falling outside mainstream Japanese history. The Japanese state createdthe historical depiction of the Ainu, who do not have their own written history, asa peripheral, undeveloped population or as resister to the imperial Japanese state.
However, archaeological information accumulated over the last decade suggests thatthe archaeological cultural sequences in Hokkaido and neighbouring islands had theirown distinct and complex historical dynamism. Now, we must reconsider the normativeframework and interpretation based on new perspectives.
In this articleI will ﬁrst conﬁrm the current position of Ainu people in Japan. Next,I will explain how Japanese archaeology historically recognized the Ainu. Then, I will
1 Centerfor Ainu & Indigenous Studies, Hokkaido University, kita 8-jyo, nishi 6-chome, Kita-ku,Sapporo, Hokkaido 060-0808, Japan (h-kato@let.hokudai.ac.jp)
Category: Review Article (solicited) Received: 25 October 2016
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KATO Hirofumi

present unsolved issues confronting contemporary Japanese archaeology. Lastly, I will
suggest a possible way forward for building a new relationship between the Ainu andJapanese archaeology.

2.

The current status of the Ainu in Japan

Before examining the relationship between the Ainu and Japanese archaeology, I will
conﬁrm the current legal status of the Ainu in Japan. Ainu are indigenous peoples
who inhabit the northern region of the Japanese islands. Ethnographically, Ainu havebeen classiﬁed as three local populations: Hokkaido, Kurile (Chishima) and Karafuto(Sakhalin) Ainu. Local populations include smaller local dialect groups. Anthropologicaland ethnological interest in the Ainu arose from their recognition as the indigenous
population of the Japanese archipelago. However, the indigenous rights of the Ainu were
not recognized for many years. On 6 June 2008, a bipartisan, non-binding resolution wasapproved by the Japanese Diet, which called upon the government to recognize the Ainu
as indigenous to Japan. On the same day, ﬁnally, the Japanese government recognized
the Ainu as an indigenous people of Japan. A living condition survey in 2013 estimatedthe Ainu population in Hokkaido to be just 16,786 people (Department of Environmentand Lifestyle, Hokkaido Government 2015), but this number does not include Ainu
populations around Tokyo and Osaka on Honshu Island.
In 1868, after the Meiji Restoration, Hokkaido was ofﬁcially annexed by Japan. The
Ainu language was banned and the Ainu were forced to take Japanese names. Then,
under assimilation policies such as the Hokkaido Former Aboriginals Act of 1899, theAinu were prohibited from performing traditional activities that were necessary for theirlife and culture. This act was in force for 98 years until 1997. In 1989, two local Ainu
leaders claimed the government had illegally seized their land. In a landmark decision,
the Sapporo District Court stated that the Ainu people had established a unique culturein Hokkaido before the arrival of the Japanese (Kayano and Tanaka 1999). This decision
meant that the Ainu had rights that should be given consideration under Article 13 ofJapan’s Constitution, which protects the rights of the individual, and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

3.

Perspectives on the Ainu in Japanese Archaeology

Next, I will discuss previous academic attitudes towards the Ainu and how the Ainu
have been represented by anthropology and archaeology in Japan. In the initial stageof Japanese anthropology and archaeology the two disciplines were imported from theWest. During this stage, the Ainu were treated as a research subject and regarded as the© Japanese Archaeological Association186

THE AINU AND JAPANESE ARCHAEOLOGY“living Stone Age inhabitants” of the Japanese archipelago. Since then, many scholars
have viewed the Ainu as a resource for anthropological and archaeological studies onhunter-gatherers society. Also, Ainu society has been considered as inheriting the Jomon
traditions of the Japanese Neolithic.
Prof. Kindaichi Kyousuke (1882–1971), who was a famous linguist and ethnologistof the Ainu, explained the signiﬁcance and aim for Ainu studies as creating a “livingcatalogue of the primitive society” (Kindaichi 1924: 3–5). This point of view was not
only the view of Prof. Kindaichi, but also of other many scholars. We can see this wayof thinking presented in many works by anthropologists and archaeologists. KomaiKazuchika (1905–1971) was a founding member of the Department of Archaeology atTokyo University, and he was the ﬁrst archaeologist to use the term “Ainu archaeology”
in Japan. He repeatedly explained how the study of the Ainu was important as theresource for understanding ancient Japanese culture in his book (Komai 1952). This
stance on Ainu archaeology was not only popular during the 1950s: Fujimoto Tsuyoshi(1936–2010), who was also an archaeologist at Tokyo University, suggested the same
signiﬁcance for Ainu archaeology during the 1980s (Fujimoto 1984).
It was not until 2008 that the Ainu were recognized as an indigenous people of Japan,
despite strong earlier demands from the Ainu community owing to the government’s
delay in making such a decision. The evaluation of the historical and cultural heritageof the Ainu and the full examination of their uniqueness have also been delayed inlegal terms. This has all greatly inﬂuenced discussions about the Ainu and their placein the Japanese archipelago, As observed by Fujisawa Atsushi, this has often resulted
in sweeping observations that ignore temporal scale, assuming vague commonalities
between the Ainu and Jomon cultures, and evoking aspects of a simpliﬁed collective
genealogy (Fujisawa 2006).

4.

Recent issues surrounding the Ainu and archaeologies

Ainu studies have been undertaken ignoring the native point of view, and most studies
have depended on descriptions of Ainu culture by non-native scholars. Today scholars
should be aware of the inequality between archaeologists and Ainu people in the processof archaeological investigation, preservation and management of indigenous culturalheritage. . .
As part of the racialist-based studies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ainu
ancestral remains were collected from Ainu cemeteries in Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and theKuril Islands. Currently over 1600 Ainu ancestral remains are stored in twelve Japaneseuniversities. Ainu ancestral remains collected in this way are also stored in museums inUK, Germany, Russia and other western countries.
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KATO Hirofumi

After the policy shift outlined above, and based on the Report of the Advisory Council
for Future Ainu Policy in July 2009, the Japanese government established the Council
for Ainu Policy in December 2009. In 2013, the chief cabinet secretary decided to setup a new national museum of Ainu people and a memorial facility to store unidentiﬁed
Ainu ancestral remains, which are presently stored at universities across the country,in Shiraoi, Hokkaido (scheduled to open in 2020). The chief cabinet secretary also
recognized the need to establish set up guidelines for the repatriation of Ainu ancestral
remains and grave goods. To further promote Ainu policy, it is now necessary to consider
the perspectives and methods of the preservation and the use of indigenous heritage.
As has been pointed out world-wide, the normative perspective for the assessment ofhistorical cultural heritage based on the Western modern science cannot accurately
evaluate the sacred sites and the holy places of indigenous ideological systems.
In addition to the already mentioned initiatives, the chief cabinet secretary recognized
the need to establish guidelines for the repatriation of Ainu ancestral remains and grave
goods as soon as possible (MEXT 2014). However, some Ainu individuals, including
plaintiffs appealing to the Sapporo District Court for the return of ancestral remains,disagree with the intent to store unknown ancestral remains in a national keeping place.
Issues around repatriation are not simple. Further complicated issues are encounteredduring the handling of ancestral remains and grave goods excavated from graves ofhistorical Ainu during rescue excavation in the course of land development. Again, whatis needed, but where there has yet to be much progress, is discussion with the intentionof listening to the Ainu side, involving all stakeholders. Unfortunately, until now thediscussion involving academic societies and Ainu communities has been insufﬁcient.

5.

New collaboration with the Ainu

During recent years these problems have been compounded by the unequal relationshipbetween archaeologists and the Hokkaido Ainu. However, a new relationship is now
being established. In an interim report, presented at the end of March 2016, twoacademic societies, namely, the Anthropological Society of Nippon and the JapaneseArchaeological Association stated that they recognized and deeply regretted how past
research had been conducted, including inappropriate research resulting in the unjust
excavation on the Ainu graves (Hokkaido Ainu Association, Anthropological Society ofNippon and Japanese Archaeological Society 2016).
In November 2015, the Hokkaido Ainu Association, the Anthropological Society ofNippon and the Japanese Archaeological Association started round-table discussions
which included a critical evaluation of previous academic research and further
collaboration between the Ainu and academic communities. Through these round table© Japanese Archaeological Association

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discussions, the Hokkaido Ainu Association, the Anthropological Society of Nippon andthe Japanese Archaeological Association have identiﬁed the following points for future
discussions:a) Archaeological sites and archaeological ethnicity;b) Descriptions of Ainu culture in museum displays and history textbooks;c) Conservation and management of previous collecting of human remains from Ainu
cemeteries;d) Repatriation claims about ancestral remains and grave goods collected unjustly;e) Participation of Ainu people in preservation planning and archaeological survey.
Another outcome of the round table was the decision to establish a neutral committee
on research ethics on ancestral remains and grave goods. Ainu representatives will
participate as members of the committee. Once this committee is founded, it is strongly
recommended that professionals follow the recommendations of the committee or obtainthe committee’s approval, before starting any further research on Ainu ancestral remains
and grave goods.
As Hokkaido is home to many people with different historical backgrounds,archaeologists should strive to treat all local parties involved as equal partners to support
the development of programs for local heritage protection and management. They should
then work to establish a framework for the expression of Ainu history (e.g. Segawa
2015; Minoshima 2015; Sekine 2016). It is fully understood today that archaeology
is a powerful tool for the creation of cultural identities in the past. It should also be
understood that archaeologists cannot operate in the absence of partnerships with hostcommunities (Kato 2010, 2014, 2017).

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