Learn about the journey of Japan's indigenous people from racism and marginalization to recognition and change
The Ainu people still struggle against racial discrimination and social and economic inequality. After suffering from generation after generation, Ashizawa Mitsuru of the Ainu group Etekekampa says Japanese society is finally starting to change.
Arata Yuki began attending the Etekekampa Society of Tokachi, a private school for Ainu students residing in Obihiro City, Hokkaido, because his older brother went to the same school. The school, known as Eteke, was established in 1990 to provide a place of learning and interaction for local Ainu youth. “We used to meet with Ashi,” Arata recalls, referring to Ashizawa Mitsuru, one of the founding members and current president of the association.
Sakai Manabu graduated from Eteke School and has similar fond memories of Ashizawa. “If it wasn't for Ashi's favor, I wouldn't have succeeded,” he says. “I stayed at his house to study. He cared more about me than my teachers at school and understood what I was going through.”
Manabu's wife Sakai Mari, also a former student of Eteke's school, remembers having a falling out with Ashizawa for neglecting her schoolwork. “I went to Eteke just to play, but Ashi kept me interested in studying,” she recounts. “I was upset at the time, but now that I’m older I’m grateful for what he did for me.”
Ashizawa Mitsuru.
Searching for oneself
Ashizawa grew up in the city of Nairo in northern Hokkaido. When he was a high school student, it broke his heart to see images of famine occurring in Africa as a result of humanitarian crises in countries like Ethiopia. Inspired by the efforts of high-profile charitable groups such as Band Aid and USA for Africa, he dreamed of providing agricultural support as a solution to alleviate the suffering of people in the affected areas.
In 1987, after two years of studying at Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, he attended an agricultural seminar in Sapporo attended by many from all over Hokkaido. There he saw a performance by an elderly Ainu woman that changed the course of his life. “She covered many topics,” Ashizawa recalls, “but what I remember most was that she ended her speech by saying, ‘Japanese, get out of Hokkaido!’” Because I was not Ainu, I felt angry.
The following summer, Ashizawa traveled to Canada where he worked various agricultural jobs and worked at a Christian organization's research center to support himself. He then traveled to the United States and stayed there until his savings ran out. He says that during this period he did not think much about the Ainu woman's words, but when he found himself alone in New York at Christmas time, those words came back to haunt him again. “It was the first time it occurred to me that by being born in Hokkaido, I might be complicit in the persecution of the Ainu, and the thought disturbed me so much that I lost the will to live. There is no doubt that that woman’s words left a deeper wound in me than I imagined.”
In 1989, he met two Japanese exchange students in Minnesota by chance, and they brought up the film Cry Freedom, set in apartheid South Africa. He recounts how one student argued that black South Africans should accept the white population residing in the country. “The words hit me like a hammer and I felt that if I were accepted by the Ainu, I could return to Hokkaido with peace of mind. Later, I learned that the woman herself belongs to the Ainu race.”
Uniting efforts to combat discrimination
After returning to Japan, a teacher at a private high school in Obihiro contacted Ashizawa to ask him to tutor two Ainu students attending the institution. Through his involvement with the students, he met Ms. Kimura Masai, who at the time was helping to arrange financial support for single-parent Ainu families. The future couple – 41-year-old Kimura and 24-year-old college student Ashizawa – will help found Eteke School.
Kimura Masai.
Cases of discrimination against the Ainu were common in local schools and both Kimura and Ashizawa were busy dealing with the incidents. Kimura remembers confronting the teacher of a class in which a girl had stopped attending class because she was being bullied. “We immediately went out and asked if the teacher thought it was okay for the girl to not be able to attend school just because she was Ainu, but I didn’t get a straight answer.” Angered by the teacher’s reticence, she became even more heated. “I told the teacher that it was clear they didn’t care about the girl’s plight,” she said. “Otherwise, they would have taken action instead of encouraging the bullies by remaining silent about their actions and not punishing them.” Faced with Kimura's indignation, the teacher burst into tears.
As a university student, Ashizawa used to visit the homes and schools of Ainu children. Although he held on to his dream of working abroad, these encounters were unknowingly directing him down a different path. In 1991, his college teacher helped him get a teaching position at a private high school in Obihiro. Although he was busy with his new position, he continued his work at Eteke, and sometimes had to excuse himself during school hours to deal with urgent problems.
He remembers once arriving at school to find an Ainu child who had been bullied and looking at the ground with sadness and brokenness. “Someone wrote ‘Dee, Aino!’ on the board,” he explains. “We found the same words written in a park near where I used to live,” this was a recurring theme. The incident disturbed him greatly, but Ashizawa also had to deal with the difficulties teachers faced inside the classroom. “Teachers would express to me their confusion about the best approach to dealing with Ainu students.”
Early on, Ashizawa says many mothers insisted that Eteke not teach their children Ainu-related content. He was amazed by this. “I was convinced that Ainu children needed above all a solid education,” he says. This will enable them to appreciate their heritage and confront bullying and ostracism. They can therefore continue studying all the way to high school and even university. “I wanted to provide them with a solid education that would open them to new opportunities, help them find happiness, and guarantee their natural right to live a dignified life.”
Communicate with other indigenous peoples
Later, at Ashizawa's insistence, Eteke expanded its activities as the school organized overseas trips for Ainu children to meet other indigenous people. The groups traveled to Canada in 1995, 1998, and 2001 and to Taiwan in 2010.
Arata Yuki participated in the third trip to Canada, an experience that he says had a huge impact on him. “I made friends with a boy my age who belonged to the Heiltsuk nation,” he recounts. “We had a lot in common, including our bad experiences at school.” As the different groups performed traditional dances for each other, Arata was impressed by his new friend’s enthusiasm. “He was dancing shirtless and screaming. “I belonged to a famous society for the preservation of Ainu culture, but I came for fun and when I saw him I began to question the seriousness of my motives.” He says that after the trip he began to take his involvement more seriously.
Ashizawa says the impact of the trips on the children has exceeded his expectations. “Everyone said they felt connected by being Indigenous. This is something I cannot relate to because I am not Ainu, but it is enough for me to see the children developing their awareness as indigenous people through their participation.
Sakai Manabu and his wife Mary also visited Canada with Eteke. Their twin sons have attended the school since they were in first grade. Now that the boys are in high school, the couple hopes that their two sons will also visit Canada and have the same unforgettable experiences.
Changes locally and across the community
Thirty years have passed since Eteke was founded. Many of the student students lived in the local public housing complex, called the Azura Apartments. But the numbers of residents inside the complex and similar buildings are declining throughout the city, affecting student enrollment. About 30 children attended Eteke School in its heyday, but due to Japan's low birth rate and other factors, there are currently only about 10 students between elementary and high school ages. They all go to school regularly, which is a source of pride that we could never have dreamed of achieving in the past.
“Society has changed,” says Ashizawa. “Every year I see Ainu children joining school and proudly declaring their own identity and heritage, something that would not have happened in the old days.”
Students at Eteke School. The group meets every Thursday, with regular events for children and their families including camps, sports days and trips.
In 1997, Japan replaced the previous Aborigines Protection Law, an old legislation dating back to 1899, with the Ainu Culture Promotion Law. Ashizawa believes that the law has greatly affected education. “After the law was passed, primary schools in Hokkaido began including Ainu cultural content in the curriculum,” he says. Ainu people are now invited to give lectures to students, and some primary schools even have children perform traditional dances at their art festivals. “Teachers who previously struggled to include Ainu-related content now have more options.”
Ashizawa is excited about the changes he sees in society. “It's hard to believe, but even mothers who once prevented me from teaching their children indigenous culture now attend Ainu embroidery classes at the community center.”
In October 2020, in recognition of Eteke's history of providing educational support to the group, the Ainu Culture Foundation presented the Ainu Culture Promotion Award. Ashizawa doesn't try to hide his feelings. “Even now, I feel grateful and happy every Thursday when I see the children,” he says. “Meeting energizes students and teachers and brings closer ties.”
The struggle and effort of people over the years to address the discrimination faced by the Ainu has succeeded in bringing about gradual and visible social change. However, there is still much to be done. A stark reminder of this occurred in March of this year when a morning news program broadcast racial slurs against the Ainu people on national television. The broadcast sparked a slew of posts on social media filled with bigoted comments, offensive language and misinformation.
When I visited Eteke, the children shared their thoughts and dreams with me during recess. I was touched by the innocence of their aspirations, such as working at McDonald's, playing badminton, and playing with their classmates. I wonder how we can ensure these children are happy. Victims alone must not solve the problem of bigotry, but perpetrators must also be part of the solution. We must all help.
(Originally published in Japanese, translation from English. Banner photo: A student from Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine teaches children at the Etekekampa Association. All photos by Ikeda Hiroshi)
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