Ainu Assessment

Throughout history, the Ainu people have undergone extensive trials that have tested their ability to assimilate into contemporary Japan. Their perseverance has ultimately enabled them to make huge strides in maintaining their native culture while breaking down stereotypes that have longed plagued them. To increase their agency in larger society, many Ainu have taken to politics to effect change. By creating political groups, the Ainu have unified their people in the pursuit of gaining recognition from the government as an ethnic minority. This paper will delve into the ways that despite the emergence of other political Ainu groups, the Utari Kyokai – called the Ainu Association by Westerners – has served as a focal point for catalyzing the development of Ainu nationhood during the last half-century.

After being forcibly assimilated into larger Japanese society by the Meiji government in 1868, many Ainu were banned from farming and hunting, and they fell into extreme poverty (Abrahamian, 2006: 256). Since then, the Ainu have constantly battled with discrimination and have fought to promote their cultural heritage and ethnic pride. The first significant step in improving the quality of life for Ainu took place in 1946 with the establishment of the Hokkaido Ainu Kyokai, later renamed the Hokkaido Utari Kyokai in 1961 (Ainu Association, 2010). The role of the Utari Kyokai is to improve the "social status of Ainu people" through the provision of loans, redistribution of state welfare, and the promotion of education (Ainu Association, 2010). However, while membership in the Utari Kyokai is available to all Ainu, only those living in Hokkaido are entitled to the welfare redistributions.

Throughout the 1960s, young Ainu were very critical of the Utari Kyokai. They strongly felt it was a puppet used by the government to keep the Ainu in check from rebelling against unjust rule. Since its creation, Utari Kyokai has been the centerpiece of controversy amongst Ainu activists; many of the original leaders were wealthy farmers and businessmen who had strong ties to the then reigning Liberal Democratic Party. Activists believed that the government was failing to provide for the Ainu, and they also felt that the rural-based elite of the Utari Kyokai had become detached from the people whom they were representing (Siddle, 1996: 172). In response to what they believed as a failure of the Utari Kyokai to properly fulfill its role to unite the common Ainu, young student activists established the Ainu Mondai Kenkyukai, otherwise known as the Society for the Study of Ainu Issues, to perform the duties the Utari Kyokai was failing to do (Siddle, 1996: 259). Another group known as the Peure Utari no Kai – Young Utari Society – came into existence around the same time (Siddle, 1996: 259). These political organizations were able to act separately from the Utari Kyokai. For example, in 1962, fifty young Ainu spoke out against the commercialization