The Ainu People

The cultural group that I choose to investigate is the Ainu people. The Ainu were the original indigenous group of Japan, specifically northern Japan. However, they are now primarily inhabiting the island of Hokkaido. They have had to fight to maintain their culture as the Japanese government has been attempting to assimilate them.“So Ainu (culture) is on the verge of collapse”(Schorow). According to the textbook colonization is “the more or less organized system of occupation and exploitation of foreign territories through settlement and conquest” (Eller 8).

One negative impact of colonization occurred from the Aborigines Protection Act.
“In 1899 the Japanese parliament enacted the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act, a law designed to achieve the assimilation of the Ainu population of …show more content…
After some time, the Japanese presences grew more intrusive and brought on much resistance from the Ainu people. After the Battle of Kunashir-Menash in 1789, the Ainu spoke their own languages and maintained their traditions even then the Japanese were trying to force theirs onto them. However, the establishment of the modernized state of Japan, the government decided to claim Hokkaido as national territory. “While asserting Japan's right to independent nationhood, Japanese scholars adopted notions of "progress" and "civilization" which defined the Ainu as "prehistoric hunter gatherers," destined either to extinction or to assimilation into the majority population” (Morris-Suzuki). This resulted in the Ainu being forced to adopt Japanese names and speak the Japanese language. Additionally, the Ainu were moved to make room for new Japanese towns and villages. By the 1880’s the Ainu population of Hokkaido was outnumbered significantly by Japanese