The 8th World Archaeological Congress (WAC-8), Plenary Session
Presentation by Tadashi Kato, Executive Director, Ainu Association of Hokkaido
September 1, 2016 (Thursday), 11:30 – 13:30
Kambaikan Hardy Hall, Doshisha University Muromachi Campus
Distinguished members of the World Archaeological Congress from around the world,
ladies and gentlemen, irankarapte! Irankarapte is an Ainu greeting meaning “hello.”
I am very honored and pleased to be given this opportunity to speak at this session asa representative of the indigenous Ainu people.
The Ainu Association of Hokkaido has continued its activities in view of the historyof nearly 150 years during which the Ainu people and their lives, including their land,resources and culture, were subjected to restrictions under Japanese and international
legal frameworks. The restrictions started when the Japanese government implemented aland reclamation policy for Hokkaido in the name of national modernization, forcing theAinu people to assimilate into the Japanese society, discriminating against them andappropriating their land as terra nullius, a Latin term meaning “nobody’s land.”
Like indigenous peoples in other countries, the history of the Ainu represents thesufferings of a minority group that cannot be wiped from their memories.
At the outset of my presentation, I’d like to stress that it is impossible to completely
overcome those sufferings by the Ainu people alone, no matter how hard they work ortry.
With this in mind, I’d like to offer my views based on my experience today. That is,in order to clarify the positions of indigenous peoples in their countries, academic
societies in the concerned research fields should engage in practical studies and actively
share related information with society in consideration of ethical, social and human rights
implications. It means that they should return the results of their interdisciplinary studies
to society to provide assessments and positively influence all educational fields and legal
systems while maintaining the fairness and impartiality of their research.
Particularly, the results of archaeological and anthropological studies may provide
empirical evidence essential for the development of an ethnic identity of indigenous Ainu
people. Such research results also add diversity and richness to the history of mankind.

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In the past, archaeologists, physical and cultural anthropologists, historians, linguists
and other scholars in Japan were engaged in research within their own disciplines. They
were also categorized into the areas of the humanities, science and medicine.
Their research interests were not what the Ainu people had been wishing for andcaused major divisions between the researchers and the subjects of their studies.
Accordingly, the relationship between researchers and the Ainu people was viewed as therelationship between subjects and objects. In fact, this viewpoint was considered to be
entirely natural and became a stereotype.
As a result, the skeletal remains of Ainu people, their funerary objects and othermaterials were disinterred and collected for research purposes without regard for their
human dignity. In the 1930s, the collection of such remains was promoted as part of anational project, and concerns stemming from such collection have remained unansweredto date.
In late July this year, the Japanese government announced that the remains of 1,636
Ainu individuals are presently housed at 12 universities, and that those of at least 73
individuals are kept at 13 museums in Hokkaido and elsewhere in the country. This wasfound as a result of an investigation involving the national government, universities andother related organizations. However, a complete picture of the situation and the specificconditions of those funerary objects have yet to be clarified. In fact, many of the skeletal
remains and materials are stored under conditions that make it impossible to return themto their Ainu communities. There are not clear records of how they were collected, inmany instances the skulls are kept separate from the other bones, and funerary objects
have also been separated from the skeletal remains.
Furthermore, private-sector investigations into records that had been made by worldleading researchers in Europe as far back as the 1870s revealed that the skulls of 72 Ainu
individuals had been transferred from Japan, which in those days included Sakhalin, toGermany and Russia.
According to the oldest existing record of the collection of Ainu remains, an 1865
case of grave robbery in southern Hokkaido escalated into a diplomatic row with GreatBritain. The whole picture of how Ainu skeletal remains and funerary objects werecollected and handled, as well as their position in the legal framework, has not yet been
elucidated.

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It seems that research in those days was performed to obtain one-sided scientificvalues in the name of the pursuit of truth, and that the ultimate goal of sharing results forthe common good was neglected.
Clear evidence of such negligence is the nominal restoration of Ainu rights; The
Japanese government recognized them as an ethnic minority only 25 years ago and as an
indigenous people as recent as eight years ago.
The government refused to recognize the indigenous nature of the Ainu people andeven legalized discrimination against them despite the fact that they had continued to livein Hokkaido, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands for generations. As a result the researchinterests did not satisfy the Ainu people’s expectations, and were not fair or impartial
either.
The Japanese Archaeological Association was established after World War II. Before
the war, anthropologists and other scholars were engaged in studies that transcended theboundaries of academic disciplines. However, the postwar establishment of academic
societies in individual disciplines fragmented the research, increasing the ambiguity
concerning the fundamental question of why research is performed and for whom.
Consequently, researchers lacked a fundamental perspective with which to consider
challenges facing the Ainu as indigenous issues, and therefore their research failed to help
boost Ainu peoples’ self-esteem.
The lack of such a perspective is not only seen in the delayed recognition of the Ainu,
but also in the ambiguity of the name of Japan’s majority ethnic group. The group usedto call itself the “Yamato people,” and this name even appeared in government-designatedschool textbooks before World War II. However, it became obsolete after the war, andthe group’s name still remains ambiguous.
The ethnic majority group still has not recognized its origins or clarified its ethnic or
racial framework. Its perception is limited to a government-installed framework, forexample, whether the people speak the Japanese language and whether they haveJapanese nationality.
It is essential that Japan develops a common view of the attributes and lineages of its
ethnic majority and minority groups. The interpretation of the fundamental human rights
stipulated in the Japanese Constitution should also essentially be consistent with that of
the human rights stipulated by international human rights laws.

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Therefore, research of these matters, including studies on initiatives to protect humanrights and eliminate discrimination, must be conducted with due consideration for society.
Most Japanese people don’t know that a 1910 Japanese law that allowed landownership by aliens exempted Hokkaido because of its status as a colony of Japan like
Sakhalin and Taiwan. Most Japanese people also don’t know that under the international
convention on the preservation and protection of fur seals that was concluded in 1911
between Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, the Ainu wereconsidered as aborigines, just like the Indians and Aleuts, and were given comparable
hunting rights
Most Japanese people also don’t know that the Japanese government suddenly
changed its stance after World War II, refusing to recognize the Ainu people as an ethnic
group, and continued discriminatory measures from 1945 to 1991.
During the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, Ainu representatives
participated in the Anthropology Days event, in which they competed withrepresentatives of other indigenous peoples from around the world. This was eight years
before Japan first participated in the Olympics. Japanese people should be aware of thebackground of this event and it meaning.
In 1956, when the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conducted a 98-item
questionnaire on the living and working conditions of indigenous populations inindependent countries, the Japanese government provided answers that were far removed
from the truth, making the indigenous Ainu people virtually non-existent under thepresent constitution.
Against this background, we at the Ainu Association of Hokkaido requested theJapanese Society of Cultural Anthropology, formerly known as the Japanese Society ofEthnology, and the Historical Science Society of Japan to announce statements in supportof the enactment of a new Ainu law. We also informed the Japanese Archaeological
Association and the Anthropological Society of Nippon how their past research activities,
public education initiatives and efforts to share research results for the common good
have not been adequate.
We hope to improve the situation and make greater efforts through discussion andconsensus-building with the representatives of those organizations. A report on thediscussion is scheduled for publication in March next year.

4Similarly, to improve public education in Japan, we submitted a written request to theMinistry of Education so that necessary improvements will be made when the government
revises the curriculum guidelines for elementary and lower secondary schools that arecurrently under discussion.
We’d also like to continuously call on academic societies in history, linguistics,
sociology and other fields to actively share their research results to benefit public
education and other aspects of society.
The Ainu Association of Hokkaido believes that the use of international human rights
systems is the answer to addressing the challenges facing the Ainu people. Since 1987,
the year after the prime minister at the time called Japan a mono-ethnic nation,
representatives of the association have participated in the U.N. Working Group on
Indigenous Populations, continuously reporting on the human rights situation of the Ainu
people in Japan.
Despite such efforts, the situation still needed improvement. In 1992, even when theexecutive director of the association made a speech as the representative of the Ainu
people during the ceremony marking the International Year of Indigenous People held at
the U.N. General Assembly Hall, the Japanese government refused to recognize the Ainu
as an indigenous people, saying that the definition of indigenous people was not clear.
In 1997, the government enacted a new law to promote Ainu culture, and implemented
a range of measures to enhance public understanding of the culture. They produced some
visible effects, but comprehensive indigenous policies have yet to be established.
The domestic situation changed after the 2007 adoption of the U.N. Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. After the Japanese Diet adopted the Resolution toRecognize the Ainu as an Indigenous People in 2008, the Chief Cabinet Secretary
established an advisory group called the Advisory Council for Future Ainu Policy. Thegovernment is now studying indigenous policies based on recommendations made in thefinal report of that council
The government clearly stated its basic approach to the development of indigenous
Ainu policies in a document prepared for the meeting of the Council for Ainu Policy

5Promotion held on July 28 this year. At the behest of Chief Cabinet Secretary YoshihideSuga, the document stated that new Ainu policies should be developed from thestandpoint of the Ainu people, and by eliminating past stereotypes and preconceived
notions. We hope that the examination of fundamental issues facing the Ainu people will
pick up speed toward the development of comprehensive indigenous policies.
To promote the transmission and revival of indigenous cultures and improve the social
status of indigenous peoples, it is imperative to establish legal foundations to support theirlivelihoods, including education and employment. By implementing legally binding
measures based on the certification of Ainu ethnicity of individuals, we can breathe life
into policies and achieve the goal of ethnic coexistence as well as the revival of Ainu
culture.
Such measures will bestow true meaning to the national center for the revival of Ainu
culture, which the Cabinet has decided to build by the time of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
and Paralympics. The national center will be named the Symbolic Space for Ethnic
Harmony, and will include a National Ainu Museum, a National Ethnic Harmony Parkand a memorial facility that will allow dignified memorial services for the unclaimedskeletal remains of Ainu people.
With the support of academic societies and the public at home and abroad, we canhelp the Ainu people develop their ethnic identity as an indigenous people and lay thefoundations for a society of ethnic harmony.
When the Japanese government ensures that all relevant organizations will makesincere efforts to return the skeletal remains of Ainu ancestors and funerary objects totheir condition prior to disinterment, we can pay our respects to our ancestors in an idealway. We believe that it will become increasingly realistic to solve the issues, including
the return of skeletal remains, without sowing seeds of future problems.
I hope all members of the World Archaeological Congress will continuously supportand monitor Japan’s efforts to implement comprehensive indigenous policies, and thatyou will consider developing a system whereby the results of research on archaeologicalsites, structural remains and traces of ancestral activities can help indigenous peoples lookback on and revive their spiritual and philosophical values, and improve their lives in theyears and decades to come.

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To help address the challenges, indigenous peoples have been involved in thedevelopment of national frameworks and the promotion of public understanding of race,ethnicity and the relationship with neighboring countries and the U.N. system. Morerecently, they have also given their best efforts to promote international forest
certification systems. We at the Ainu Association of Hokkaido hope to share with you
information on how indigenous peoples, particularly the Ainu, who had once been caught
up in the country’s rapid modernization, have promoted their human rights. We believe
this will provide an opportunity for our collective consideration and mutual
understanding, which we sincerely hope will encourage you to help protect human rights
and create a multiethnic society where the rights of minorities are protected.
I hope my presentation has helped you and the members of Japanese and internationalarchaeological organizations understand some of the causes for which the indigenous
Ainu people have worked. I would like to conclude my speech by asking once again foryour warm support. Thank you.

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