Ainu people in Hokkaido, Japan, assert Indigenous culture
by editors@theworld.org (Rebecca Rosman) from The World: Latest Stories on (#6V6K2)
In Japan, the Indigenous community known as the Ainu has been struggling to assert a 21st century identity after decades of erasure. About 20 years ago, the government officially recognized them as Indigenous for the first time. That inspired members of the small community to take up old practices that they once had to abandon under assimilation laws. But not everyone has the same vision of how to revive the Ainu culture. Reporter Rebecca Rosman brings us the story from the Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido.