EASC Readings | K-14 Global Fellowship Program

The Ainu, the Indigenous People of Japan

Dr. Kinko Ito

September 21, 2024

My presentation will introduce the audience to the modern history and culture of the Ainu with special attention to the relationships between the indigenous people and the Japanese government. Their ancestors used to live in the southern Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Hokkaido, and the northern part of Honshu. Today, they live mainly in Hokkaido and the Tokyo metropolitan areas. The history of the Ainu is a history of exploitation and oppression as well as inequality, prejudice, and discrimination by the Wajin (non-Ainu Japanese). The assimilation policies of the Japanese government in the 19^th century were basically a process of ethnic cleansing, and they still have much implication in contemporary Japan. The Ainu live just like anyone else, but some encounter certain problems in their everyday life. We will learn about the topics above, and we will have a Q & A session at the end of my presentation.

To learn more about the Ainu, please choose one from any of the following background readings or films:

An Elderly Ainu Man’s Story: Ethnography (19 pages)
An Oral History of a Young Ainu Mother (18 pages)
Golden Kamuy (14 pages)

Or you could watch part of all of either of Prof. Ito’s films about the Ainu:

2024 Ohio State Global Indigenous Peoples Culture (presentation slides)

A Short Bio – Dr. Kinko Ito

Kinko Ito received her B.A. in American and British Studies from Nanzan University in Japan and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from The Ohio State University. She is a professor of sociology in the School of Human Inquiry at University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She published numerous articles and book chapters on manga (Japanese comics), anime (animation), and the Ainu in such journals as Japan Studies Review, Journal of Popular Culture, International Journal of Comic Art, and SOCIAL SCIENCE AND MODERN SOCIETY. Her books include A Sociology of Japanese Ladies’ Comics: Images of Life, Loves, and Sexual Fantasies of Adult Japanese Women and Today’s Ainu: Tales from Hokkaido. Her documentary films “Have You Heard about the Ainu? Elders of Japan’s Indigenous People Speak” (2016) and “Have You Heard about the Ainu? Part 2 Toward a Better Understanding and World Peace” (2018) are available on YouTube. She also published several Kindle books for general audiences about her world travels, family, and grievance with her pen name K.I. Peeler. She is currently working on her third documentary film about the Ainu.