SAPPORO - A panel exhibition held in Sapporo this year has reignited debate over what many experts and Ainu activists describe as a new form of discrimination—one that denies the Indigenous status of the Ainu people and seeks to reinterpret the history of discrimination they endured in Japan.
The controversy emerged in March when a public panel exhibition was held in an underground passage connected to Sapporo Station. Around 20 police officers were deployed to monitor the event, creating an unusually tense atmosphere.
The exhibition was organized under the theme of learning about Ainu history. However, some displays described the former Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act as an "extremely generous" law, a characterization that angered many Ainu visitors.
Among them was 76-year-old Ainu activist Yasuko Yamashita, who carefully examined the exhibits before becoming emotional while reading one panel.
"When I saw it described as a generous law, I was furious," Yamashita said. "I realized this is how history gets rewritten."
Yamashita was born and raised in Biratori, Hokkaido, an area with a large Ainu population. Her ancestors were leaders of traditional Ainu communities, and she grew up hearing stories about her family's history.
The Ainu are an Indigenous people who have lived in Hokkaido and surrounding regions for centuries. Maintaining exchanges with northern peoples in places such as Sakhalin, they developed a distinct culture centered on hunting, fishing, and gathering.
After the Meiji government established the Hokkaido Development Commission in 1869, large numbers of settlers were sent to the region. The government incorporated the Ainu into the Japanese state, appropriated their land and natural resources, encouraged Japanese-style names, promoted the use of Japanese, and prohibited many traditional customs, including hunting practices.
In 1899, the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act was enacted. Although it provided land to Ainu families, much of the land was unsuitable for agriculture. The law also included discriminatory provisions, including shorter periods of schooling compared with ethnic Japanese children.
As a result of widespread discrimination, Yamashita spent much of her life concealing her identity.
"When I worked as a nurse, colleagues would tell me patients were asking whether the hospital employed foreigners," she recalled. "At the time, I couldn't tell people I was Ainu."
Although the protection law was abolished in 1997, discrimination persisted. Yamashita said she only became comfortable openly identifying herself as Ainu after turning 70.
She noted that many people question why some Ainu no longer speak the Ainu language or practice traditional customs.
"But people need to understand history before saying that," she said. "My parents' generation was oppressed. The government prohibited those traditions. We didn't choose not to pass them on. The environment to preserve our culture was taken away."
Yamashita also recalled feeling frustrated when elements of Ainu culture that had been suppressed became commercialized as tourist attractions.
A major milestone came in 2008 when the Japanese parliament formally recognized the Ainu as an Indigenous people with a distinct language, religion, and culture.
However, activists say a new challenge soon emerged online. Social media posts began claiming that "pure Ainu no longer exist" or that there are no genuine Ainu people today.
In 2014, a Sapporo city assembly member sparked controversy by posting on social media that "there are no Ainu anymore."
Japan's 2019 Ainu Policy Promotion Act became the first law to explicitly recognize the Ainu as Indigenous people. While it does not include criminal penalties, it prohibits discrimination against Ainu people.
During parliamentary deliberations, government officials cited statements denying the existence of the Ainu as examples of hate speech.
Critics argue that the panel exhibitions represent a more sophisticated form of discrimination than traditional racial slurs.
One exhibit portrayed the Former Aborigines Protection Act as a benevolent measure intended to assist the Ainu. Others questioned whether the Ainu should be considered Indigenous at all.
Outside the exhibition venue, demonstrators gathered to protest.
"Don't spread misinformation," protesters chanted.
Among them was Mark Winchester, a scholar of modern Ainu thought.
"What concerns me is the way these displays revive and reproduce past discrimination in the present day," Winchester said. "They present historical distortions in a public space where anyone can see them."
A similar exhibition had been held in September at another underground public space connected to Sapporo Station. Clashes erupted between critics and organizers, prompting police intervention.
Winchester argued that the exhibits falsely suggested that Ainu people had been privileged or favored by the government.
"The reality is that much of the land allocated to Ainu communities was unsuitable for farming," he said.
The exhibitions were organized by a group calling itself the Association for Learning About Ainu History. The group is supported by the Hokkaido chapter of the conservative organization Nippon Kaigi.
Asked why the exhibition was held, a representative said it was intended to share the results of the group's research.
Regarding criticism that the displays denied Ainu Indigenous status, the organizer said, "I've never met this person and don't know whether they're Ainu. I don't even really understand what Indigenous means."
The exhibits drew criticism from academics and specialists.
Professor Takuro Segawa, who studies the origins of the Ainu people, said the Ainu clearly meet internationally accepted definitions of Indigenous peoples.
"Indigenous peoples are generally understood as groups with distinct languages and cultures that became incorporated into modern nation-states," Segawa said. "Under that definition, the Ainu are unquestionably Indigenous."
In December last year, three academic organizations, including the Anthropological Society of Japan, issued a statement declaring that the Indigenous status and cultural distinctiveness of the Ainu are clear based on current academic knowledge.
Attorney Wataru Shimada, an expert on hate speech, described the exhibitions as a modern form of racism.
"Modern discrimination rarely appears as straightforward insults," Shimada said. "Instead, it claims people weren't discriminated against at all, or argues they are actually receiving special treatment."
He said the exhibits reflected a common contemporary narrative portraying minorities as beneficiaries of unfair privileges.
"That is textbook modern racism, which is why these displays are so problematic," he said.
The underground passage where the exhibition was held is owned by the City of Sapporo. The Sapporo Ainu Association urged the city not to permit future exhibitions, but officials argued that they could not legally deny access unless there was a clear violation of the law.
In January, the organizers announced through a publication issued by Nippon Kaigi Hokkaido that they had secured reservations for another exhibition in March. They stated that the displays merely presented information they had learned and were not intended to attack anyone.
As the March exhibition approached, Yamashita and other activists appealed to city officials to prevent what they viewed as discriminatory displays.
Following public criticism, Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto commented on the issue for the first time.
He stated that questioning Ainu Indigenous status and portraying the Former Aborigines Protection Act as an overwhelmingly positive law did not reflect the city's understanding of history. However, he also said it remained difficult to determine whether the displays constituted discrimination under existing rules.
The exhibition ultimately went ahead. Although some wording was modified, critics said the overall message remained largely unchanged.
One display suggested that Ainu people themselves preferred land that was poorly suited to farming, rather than acknowledging that such land had been assigned by the Meiji government.
Yamashita said the argument echoed longstanding attempts to justify historical injustices.
"For years people have said the government gave us land and that should have been enough," she said. "To claim that Ainu people simply disliked wetlands and chose that land themselves is itself discriminatory."
Some visitors questioned the organizers directly after hearing concerns from Ainu attendees.
"We never intended to hurt anyone," one organizer responded. "If something is wrong, we'll correct it. This is an amateur research presentation."
Nine days after the exhibition ended, Mayor Akimoto said Sapporo would begin considering concrete measures, including guidelines for determining whether events should be permitted in public facilities.
Activists later submitted approximately 16,700 signatures to the city, arguing that ethnic hate speech constitutes a human rights violation.
On June 1st, Yamashita joined a demonstration in Sapporo opposing anti-Ainu hate speech.
"Hate speech is becoming something people think is acceptable," she said. "We need to show citizens that it is not."
Despite decades of activism, Yamashita believes progress depends on broader public involvement.
"There will always be people who use the word 'Ainu' as a weapon against others," she said. "But this isn't an Ainu problem. It's the problem of those who discriminate."
Sapporo is currently preparing guidelines that would help determine whether events can be approved for use in public facilities. A committee established this week to draft those guidelines does not currently include any Ainu members, prompting calls from activists for Indigenous voices to be represented.
The issue, Yamashita argues, extends far beyond one exhibition.
"Discrimination doesn't just hurt people," she said. "Throughout history it has also led to violence, persecution, and war."
Experts interviewed for the program emphasized that while those who engage in discrimination bear responsibility, combating prejudice cannot be left solely to those targeted by it. They argued that learning accurate history and speaking out against distortions and discriminatory rhetoric remain essential steps in preventing discrimination from taking root in society.
Source: TBS
