Two Ainu men sit in front of an altar during a memorial service for Ainu people killed by wajin (ethnic Japanese) in a 15th-century battle in Kaminokuni, Hokkaido, in 2019. | REUTERS
Jul 20, 2026
SAPPORO – Nearly two decades after Japan’s parliament unanimously passed a resolution in June 2008 calling on the government to recognize the Ainu as an Indigenous people, recent legal disputes show that securing Ainu rights remains an ongoing challenge.
In May, the Shibechari Ainu Tribe, an Indigenous community in Hokkaido, filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government with the Sapporo District Court, seeking the return of the remains of 279 Ainu ancestors.
The remains, which were taken from Ainu graves by researchers between the late 19th and 20th centuries, are being held at a memorial facility at the National Ainu Museum and Park, commonly known by its Ainu name, Upopoy.
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