Reconsidering Resistance: Ainu Cultural Revival as Protest

This article aims to explore how different Ainu groups have resisted continual control and assimilation by the Japanese government in the late twentieth century. First, it provides a brief analysis of early resistance strategies of ethnic groups to colonial power, contrasting it with contemporary methods of protest in the post-war era. This is to show the different modes of resistance and to analyse why and how they changed over time. The article highlights the period between the 1970s and 1990s, during which violent resistance committed by Japanese progressive activists in the name of Ainu liberation was gradually succeeded by peaceful protest enacted by Ainu themselves, resulting in a movement using artwork in pursuing their political goals. The article argues that this latter kind of resistance represents the core of Ainu activism. I will analyse cultural resistance efforts such as literary publications, commemorative monuments, and educational programmes since the 1970s. Special attention will be given to three children’s books produced by prominent Ainu activist Kayano Shigeru to discuss how the author’s cultural activism during this period shaped Ainu methods of contesting authority through cultural pride and maintenance.