Changes

Ainu migration to Tokyo and other mainland urban areas picked up in the 1950s-1960s, with many Ainu relocating to such areas in search of work, or for other typical modern immigrant reasons. In these decades, roughly 30% of Ainu in the Kantô worked as day laborers or seasonal workers. Most of these Ainu individuals relocated to Tokyo alongside friends, or in order to join relatives already resident there. However, it was not until more recent decades that any significant number of people seem to have begun to identify with a broader "Ainu in Tokyo" or "Ainu diaspora" community, beyond the immediate circles of their friends and family.<ref>Watson, 76.</ref> The first such group, the Tokyo Utari Association, was founded in the early 1970s, and though it collapsed by 1980, it was replaced by the Kantô Utari Association. By 1997, there were four major Ainu associations in Tokyo, which came together to negotiate with the metropolitan government for the establishment of a formal Ainu community center.<ref>Watson, 77-80.</ref>

Ainu migration to Tokyo and other mainland urban areas picked up in the 1950s-1960s, with many Ainu relocating to such areas in search of work, or for other typical modern immigrant reasons. In these decades, roughly 30% of Ainu in the Kantô worked as day laborers or seasonal workers. Most of these Ainu individuals relocated to Tokyo alongside friends, or in order to join relatives already resident there. However, it was not until more recent decades that any significant number of people seem to have begun to identify with a broader "Ainu in Tokyo" or "Ainu diaspora" community, beyond the immediate circles of their friends and family.<ref>Watson, 76.</ref> The first such group, the Tokyo Utari Association, was founded in the early 1970s, and though it collapsed by 1980, it was replaced by the Kantô Utari Association. By 1997, there were four major Ainu associations in Tokyo, which came together to negotiate with the metropolitan government for the establishment of a formal Ainu community center.<ref>Watson, 77-80.</ref>

Ainu organizations held a series of high-profile protests outside the [[National Diet]] in 1992, demanding the revocation of the Former Natives Protection Law of 1899.<ref name=watson80>Watson, 80.</ref> This came after Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro, in 1986, made comments asserting Japan's ethnic homogeneity, angering many in Ainu, Okinawan, Zainichi Korean, and other communities. The Former Natives Protection Law was finally repealed in 1997, and replaced with a Cultural Promotion Act, recognizing for the first time minority ethnicities within Japan, and acknowledging the importance of promoting Ainu culture and ethnic pride. However, this Cultural Promotion Act mandated no specific actions, and guaranteed no special privileges or rights.<ref name=watson79>Watson, 78-79.</ref> Japan was a signatory in 2007 to the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but like many countries added stipulations that the Declaration did not apply to their own (Japanese domestic) situation. It was only the following year, on 6 June, 2008, that both houses of the Japanese Diet unanimously adopted a resolution to recognize the Ainu as an indigenous people, and nominally at least entitled to the rights the UN Declaration stipulates. A Council for Ainu Policy Promotion was formed in 2009.<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center Gallery, Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8523752824/sizes/l]</ref>

Ainu organizations held a series of high-profile protests outside the [[National Diet]] in 1992, demanding the revocation of the Former Natives Protection Law of 1899.<ref name=watson80>Watson, 80.</ref> This came after Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro, in 1986, made comments asserting Japan's ethnic homogeneity, angering many in Ainu, Okinawan, Zainichi Korean, and other communities. The Former Natives Protection Law was finally repealed in 1997, and replaced with a Cultural Promotion Act, recognizing for the first time minority ethnicities within Japan, and acknowledging the importance of promoting Ainu culture and ethnic pride. However, this Cultural Promotion Act mandated no specific actions, and guaranteed no special privileges or rights.<ref name=watson79>Watson, 78-79.</ref> Japan was a signatory in 2007 to the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but like many countries added stipulations that the Declaration did not apply to their own (Japanese domestic) situation. It was only the following year, on 6 June, 2008, that both houses of the Japanese Diet unanimously adopted a resolution to recognize the Ainu as an indigenous people, and nominally at least entitled to the rights the UN Declaration stipulates. The 1899 Former Natives Protection Law was formally reversed at that time as well.<ref name=soas/> A Council for Ainu Policy Promotion was formed in 2009,<ref>Gallery labels, "Ainu Treasures," East-West Center Gallery, Feb 2013.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8523752824/sizes/l]</ref> but it was not until 2017 that the Ainu were officially recognized by the national government as an "indigenous people ''of Japan''."<ref name=soas/>

The chief Ainu communities in Hokkaidô today are located at Lake Akan, [[Shiraoi]], and [[Nibutani]].<ref name=soas/> Some sources estimate that roughly 10,000 Ainu live in the [[Kanto|Kantô region]] (the greater metropolitan & suburban area around [[Tokyo]] and [[Yokohama]]) today, and that there are likely more Ainu outside of Hokkaidô than within the prefecture. Mark Watson estimates that only about forty Ainu individuals are particularly active in Ainu cultural/political organizations in Tokyo, but is sure to point out that, as is the case for people of any ethnic identity, this does not make the others - whose lives are more strongly dominated by the demands of family, work, and other social associations & activities - any less Ainu.<ref name=watson80/> While Ainu in Hokkaidô continue to face numerous serious challenges, and while issues of colonialism, displacement, and dispossession remain serious and worthy of both political and academic attention, scholars such as Mark Watson argue that a truer appreciation of Ainu identity, livelihood, and culture in the 20th-21st centuries requires attention to the "diaspora" as well. Considering the Ainu people in this way also means not dismissing Ainu issues as being only of local concern (i.e. in Hokkaidô), and seeing them instead as being of national, or even international, importance.<ref name=watson69>Watson, 69-71.</ref>

The chief Ainu communities in Hokkaidô today are located at Lake Akan, [[Shiraoi]], and [[Nibutani]].<ref name=soas/> Some sources estimate that roughly 10,000 Ainu live in the [[Kanto|Kantô region]] (the greater metropolitan & suburban area around [[Tokyo]] and [[Yokohama]]) today, and that there are likely more Ainu outside of Hokkaidô than within the prefecture. Mark Watson estimates that only about forty Ainu individuals are particularly active in Ainu cultural/political organizations in Tokyo, but is sure to point out that, as is the case for people of any ethnic identity, this does not make the others - whose lives are more strongly dominated by the demands of family, work, and other social associations & activities - any less Ainu.<ref name=watson80/> While Ainu in Hokkaidô continue to face numerous serious challenges, and while issues of colonialism, displacement, and dispossession remain serious and worthy of both political and academic attention, scholars such as Mark Watson argue that a truer appreciation of Ainu identity, livelihood, and culture in the 20th-21st centuries requires attention to the "diaspora" as well. Considering the Ainu people in this way also means not dismissing Ainu issues as being only of local concern (i.e. in Hokkaidô), and seeing them instead as being of national, or even international, importance.<ref name=watson69>Watson, 69-71.</ref>