Ainu to form new political party

[Dr. MJ Hardman]

Indeed!  MJ

On 11/16/11 4:52 AM, "Huang,Chun" <huangc20 at UFL.EDU> wrote:

> Thanks, Jen! and Go Ainu!!
> 
>  
> 
> Jimmy
> 
>  
> 
> On Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:59:54 +0900, Jennifer Teeter wrote:
>> 
>> Hello everyone,
>> I thought this news from Ainu Mosir might interest you.
>> In solidarity,
>> Jennifer
>> http://tenthousandthingsfromkyoto.blogspot.com/2011/11/ainu-political-party.h
>> tml 
>> "We are not right-wing, we are not left-wing~ We are Ainu": First ever Ainu
>> political party to be launched
>> Saturday, October 29th, 2011 marks a revolution in Japanese politics: the
>> first time in Japanese history a minority group has announced it will form
>> its own political party. After witnessing the success of minority and
>> indigenous political parties around the world, members of the Ainu community
>> in Hokkaido decided to create their own party to campaign for their issues.
>> 
>> Led by Shiro Kayano, the President of the Kayano Shigeru's Nibutani Ainu
>> Museum (named after his late father), Hokkaido Ainu Association Board Member
>> Hideo Akibe, Hokkaido Ainu Association Ebetsu City-branch head Yuji Shimizu
>> and their supporters made the announcement at theSymposium on Multicultural
>> Education in Japanhosted by the World Indigenous People's Network-Ainu
>> <http://www.win-ainu.com/>  in Sapporo. The party is not affiliated with the
>> Hokkaido Ainu Association and will start functioning in January.
>> 
>> (Photo)
>> Flyer for Symposium on Multicultural Education with photos of Shiro Kayano
>> (top left), Yuji Shimizu (center left), Hideo Akibe (center right), and
>> Nomoto Hiroyuki (bottom left)
>> 
>> Shiro Kayano stated at the symposium:
>>> What is needed for the Ainu people is unity. We need to unite the Ainu
>>> people and our supporters. Some people say that because we were
>>> traditionally hunters and gathers so we can not unite as one. However, we
>>> also practiced fishing and small-scale agriculture, so this argument holds
>>> no ground. We can unite.
>> The Ainu people have been no stranger to politics. Kayano's father, Shigeru
>> Kayano, served as a House of Councilor's member from 1994 until 1998. While
>> Shigeru Kayano was the only Ainu person that won a seat in parliament, other
>> Ainu people have campaigned for seats including Kaori Tahara, a former member
>> of the New Party Daichi.
>> 
>> Hideo Akibe added:
>>> Having Shigeru Kayano in the parliament played a huge role in the enactment
>>> of the Ainu Culture Law in 1997. I feel it may be destiny, after the passing
>>> of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and us
>>> holding the 2008 Indigenous Summit in Hokkaido, that this move to form a
>>> political party has come about.
>> Shiro Kayano further elaborated on the necessity for Ainu people to have
>> their own political party where their issues are not overshadowed or ignored:
>>> Ainu issues are put on the back burner while other issues gain more
>>> attention in Japan. Many people believe that the 1997 Ainu Cultural Law and
>>> 2008 parliament resolution to recognize Ainu as indigenous people solved the
>>> issues that Ainu people have faced, but in reality, they have not not. So,
>>> we need to rise up! Similar to the Arab Spring, maybe this marks the
>>> beginning of an Ainu Spring!
>> A member of the Planning Committee for the Ainu Party who wished to remain
>> nameless explained that current governmental policies, laws, and panels on
>> Ainu policy do not take adequate steps to realize any of the inherent
>> indigenous rights to which the Ainu are entitled, nor any other priorities
>> that Ainu have, including issues related to poverty and education. He also
>> noted:
>>> We hope that with an Ainu political party, not only can we push for policies
>>> that realize Ainu rights, but we can draw attention to the multicultural
>>> nature of Japan while pushing for policies that address a variety of Ainu
>>> issues.
>> Hiroyuki Nomoto, Tokyo Metropolitan University associate professor and member
>> of the Planning Committee for the Ainu Party explained that although the
>> policy stances of the party have not been decided, discussions have revolved
>> around the following points:
>> * the restoration of Ainu rights
>> * the realization of the coexistence of multicultural groups in Japanese
>> society 
>> * the creation of a sustainable society based on harmony with Nature
>> The Ainu Party which is aiming to bring at least ten candidates to parliament
>> in 2013, will help bring Ainu issues to the forefront of Japanese policy
>> deliberations. It may also provide a platform for other minority groups, such
>> as Zainichi Koreans in Japan to raise their voices against violations of
>> their rights. Currently, Zaiinichi Korean organizations are campaigning for
>> their schools to become accredited by the government. At present, with
>> "international" English schools as an exception, any school that does not use
>> Japanese as its main language cannot become accredited, forcing its students
>> to jump through countless hurdles to matriculate into universities.
>> 
>> The idea behind the Ainu party is for Ainu people to unite to promote their
>> own issues, while taking steps towards a multicultural Japan where all
>> minorities can live in harmony. As Hideo Akibe explained: "We are not
>> right-wing, we are not left-wing~ We are Ainu."
>>  
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> 
>> Dr. MJ Hardman
>> Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology
>> Department of Linguistics
>> University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
>> Doctora Honoris Causa UNMSM, Lima, Perú
>> website:  http://grove.ufl.edu/~hardman/ 

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