Ainu people hold ritual in Hokkaido

Ainu people hold ritual in Hokkaido

Indigenous Ainu people take part in a "kotan-nomi" ritual to celebrate the autumn harvest on Nov. 1, 2015, at a museum dedicated to the ethnic minority group in the Hokkaido town of Shiraoi, northern Japan.

Ainu dagger and manga focusing on Ainu culture

Ainu dagger and manga focusing on Ainu culture

Photo taken on Nov. 18, 2019, in Hokkaido, northern Japan, shows a traditional Ainu knife called a "makiri" with a carved wooden sheath by craftsman Toru Kaizawa, alongside a volume of the popular Japanese manga "Golden Kamuy." The manga series, written and illustrated by Satoru Noda, focuses on the indigenous Ainu people in Hokkaido and their culture.

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Traditional dance of Ainu indigenous people performed at the World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, on May 17, 2025.

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Traditional dance of Ainu indigenous people is performed at the World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, on May 17, 2025.

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Traditional dance of Ainu indigenous people is performed at the World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, on May 17, 2025.

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Traditional dance of Ainu indigenous people is performed at the World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, on May 17, 2025.

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Traditional dance of Ainu indigenous people is performed at the World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, on May 17, 2025.

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Ainu dance performance at Osaka expo

Traditional dance of Ainu indigenous people is performed at the World Exposition in Osaka, western Japan, on May 17, 2025.

University of Edinburgh returns Ainu skulls

University of Edinburgh returns Ainu skulls

Executive Director Masaru Okawa (L) and other representatives from the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, a group representing the Ainu indigenous people in the northern Japan region, receive the remains of three Ainu from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland on April 30, 2025. The skulls were kept by the university for about 110 years for research purposes.

Ainu-themed museum in northern Japan

Ainu-themed museum in northern Japan

Yoshitaka Ito (R), Japanese minister for Ainu-related policies, visits Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park in Shiraoi on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on Nov. 21, 2024.

Ainu-themed museum in northern Japan

Ainu-themed museum in northern Japan

Yoshitaka Ito, Japanese minister for Ainu-related policies, meets the press after visiting Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park in Shiraoi on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on Nov. 21, 2024.

Ainu-themed museum in northern Japan

Ainu-themed museum in northern Japan

Yoshitaka Ito (2nd from R), Japanese minister for Ainu-related policies, visits Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park in Shiraoi on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on Nov. 21, 2024.

Australia returns Ainu remains to Japan after 80 years

Australia returns Ainu remains to Japan after 80 years

Masaru Okawa, head of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, signs a document during a ceremony held in Melbourne, Australia, on May 6, 2023, as the remains of four indigenous Ainu were returned to Japan more than 80 years since they were sent to the Pacific nation for research purposes.

Australia returns Ainu remains to Japan after 80 years

Australia returns Ainu remains to Japan after 80 years

Masaru Okawa, head of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, speaks during a ceremony held in Melbourne, Australia, on May 6, 2023, as the remains of four indigenous Ainu were returned to Japan more than 80 years since they were sent to the Pacific nation for research purposes.

Ainu museum in northern Japan

Ainu museum in northern Japan

Photo taken July 15, 2023, shows the interior of Kawamura Kaneto Ainu museum in Asahikawa in Hokkaido, northern Japan, reopened the same day after renovation. Established in 1916, it is Japan's oldest museum dedicated to the Ainu indigenous people.

Ainu museum in northern Japan

Ainu museum in northern Japan

"Kamuinomi," a ritual of the Ainu indigenous people, is performed in Asahikawa in Hokkaido, northern Japan, on July 15, 2023, ahead of the reopening of Kawamura Kaneto Ainu museum after renovation.

Ainu museum in northern Japan

Ainu museum in northern Japan

Photo taken July 15, 2023, shows Kawamura Kaneto Ainu museum in Asahikawa in Hokkaido, northern Japan, reopened the same day after renovation. Established in 1916, it is Japan's oldest museum dedicated to the Ainu indigenous people.

Australia returns Ainu remains to Japan after 80 years

Australia returns Ainu remains to Japan after 80 years

Masaru Okawa, head of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, signs a document during a ceremony held in Melbourne, Australia, on May 6, 2023, as the remains of four indigenous Ainu were returned to Japan more than 80 years since they were sent to the Pacific nation for research purposes.

Australia returns Ainu remains to Japan after 80 years

Australia returns Ainu remains to Japan after 80 years

Masaru Okawa, head of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, speaks during a ceremony held in Melbourne, Australia, on May 6, 2023, as the remains of four indigenous Ainu were returned to Japan more than 80 years since they were sent to the Pacific nation for research purposes.

Statue of Ainu elder erected at JR Sapporo Station

Statue of Ainu elder erected at JR Sapporo Station

SAPPORO, Japan - A wooden statue of an elder of the indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaido, northern Japan, is set up at JR Sapporo Station on Feb. 2, 2014, as part of efforts to introduce the ethnic group's culture.

Photographer documents life of ethnic Ainu for 30 years

Photographer documents life of ethnic Ainu for 30 years

KUSHIRO, Japan - Taka Maesawa, a photographer from Nakashibetsu, Hokkaido, speaks in nearby Kushiro on Oct. 24, 2014, about her 110-page photo book documenting the life of the Ainu ethnic minority in the northernmost prefecture for more than 30 years since 1983.

Ainu's traditional 'shishamo' smelt festival

Ainu's traditional 'shishamo' smelt festival

KUSHIRO, Japan - The Ainu people's traditional "Shishamo" smelt festival is held in Shiranuka Town, Hokkaido, on Nov. 2, 2014, to pray for a bountiful catch and safe fishing.

68-year-old woman gets doctoral degree in Ainu attire

68-year-old woman gets doctoral degree in Ainu attire

SAPPORO, Japan - Photo shows Nobuko Tsuda, a 68-year-old curator of the Hokkaido Ainu Center who received a doctoral degree in the transition of embroidery in Ainu traditional attire from the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Kanagawa Prefecture in September 2014. Receiving a doctoral degree is rare for an Ainu woman.

1st U.N. indigenous peoples' conference

1st U.N. indigenous peoples' conference

NEW YORK, United States - Kazushi Abe, vice president of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, speaks with reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 22, 2014, the day the two-day World Conference on Indigenous Peoples began there. Delegates for indigenous peoples from around the world, including Ainu and Okinawans from Japan, attended the first U.N.-backed conference of its kind to discuss measures aimed at ensuring their political representation and freedom from discrimination.

1st U.N. indigenous peoples' conference

1st U.N. indigenous peoples' conference

NEW YORK, United States - Keiko Itokazu, a member of Japan's House of Councillors elected from Okinawa Prefecture, speaks at the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 22, 2014, wearing a traditional outfit of Okinawa. Delegates for indigenous peoples from around the world, including Ainu and Okinawans from Japan, attended the first U.N.-backed conference of its kind to discuss measures aimed at ensuring their political representation and freedom from discrimination.

1st U.N. indigenous peoples' conference

1st U.N. indigenous peoples' conference

NEW YORK, United States - Delegates for indigenous peoples from around the world, including Ainu and Okinawans from Japan, attend the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 22, 2014 to discuss measures aimed at ensuring their political representation and freedom from discrimination. The conference, running through Sept. 23, is the first U.N.-backed conference of its kind.

Traditional Ainu dance performed at Ainu Museum

Traditional Ainu dance performed at Ainu Museum

SAPPORO, Japan - Women perform a traditional dance of the indigenous Ainu people in a traditional house at the Ainu Museum in Shiraoi town in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Aug. 10, 2014, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the museum's opening.

Women perform Ainu dance for 30th anniversary of museum

Women perform Ainu dance for 30th anniversary of museum

SAPPORO, Japan - Women perform a traditional dance of the indigenous Ainu people in a traditional house at the Ainu Museum in Shiraoi town in Japan's northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Aug. 10, 2014, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the museum's opening.

Ainu vocal group performs with ethnic instrument player

Ainu vocal group performs with ethnic instrument player

SAPPORO, Japan - Marewrew, a four-member female vocal group performing ethnic Ainu songs, performs with Oki (L), a player of the "tonkori," a string instrument played by the Ainu people, during a music festival in Sapporo, Hokkaido, on Aug. 1, 2014.

Ainu people's traditional formal attire

Ainu people's traditional formal attire

ASAHIKAWA, Japan - A man wears traditional formal attire of the indigenous Ainu people made from processed Lobed Elm bark in Toma, Hokkaido, on June 17, 2014.

Bark for traditional Ainu textile collected in Hokkaido

Bark for traditional Ainu textile collected in Hokkaido

ASAHIKAWA, Japan - A craftsman collects Lobed Elm bark in Toma, Hokkaido, on June 17, 2014. The tree bark will be used for making a traditional textile of the indigenous Ainu people.

Bark for traditional Ainu textile collected in Hokkaido

Bark for traditional Ainu textile collected in Hokkaido

ASAHIKAWA, Japan - A craftsman collects Lobed Elm bark, used to make a traditional textile of the indigenous Ainu people, in Toma, Hokkaido, on June 17, 2014.

National center for ethnic Ainu culture to be built

National center for ethnic Ainu culture to be built

SAPPORO, Japan - A national center for handing down the culture of the Ainu indigenous people of northern Japan to future generations is planned to be built in the tract of land where the Ainu Museum sits in Shiraoi, Hokkaido. The photo was taken in May 2014.

Gov't panel meets to mull Ainu ethnic policy promotion

Gov't panel meets to mull Ainu ethnic policy promotion

TOKYO, Japan - Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga (2nd from front R) talks with Ainu Association of Hokkaido head Tadashi Kato (extreme L) at a meeting of the government's Council for Ainu Policy Promotion at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on June 2, 2014. Ainu are the indigenous people of northern Japan.

Non-Ainu high school girl becomes Ainu dancer

Non-Ainu high school girl becomes Ainu dancer

KUSHIORO, Japan - Photo taken Feb. 6, 2014 shows Ayaka Ono, an Ainu dance performer, holding the stringed Tonkori, one of the indigenous ethnic group's traditional musical instruments. Despite not being an Ainu, Ono decided to become a performer of the traditional Ainu dance in the spring of 2013.

Ainu party gives up fielding candidates

Ainu party gives up fielding candidates

SAPPORO, Japan - Shiro Kayano, leader of the Ainu Party of Japan, is pictured in Biratori, Hokkaido in northern Japan, on June 28, 2013. His party, launched in January 2012 to better represent Japan's indigenous Ainu people, has given up its plan to field 10 candidates in the July 21 House of Councillors election after failing to collect sufficient campaign funds.

Ainu descendants sue university for ancestral remains

Ainu descendants sue university for ancestral remains

SAPPORO, Japan - Ryukichi Ogawa (R) holds a press conference in Sapporo on Sept. 14, 2012. Ogawa and two other descendants of the Ainu, an indigenous ethnic group in northern Japan, filed a lawsuit earlier the same day against Hokkaido University for damages and the return of the remains of their ancestors, saying the university removed the remains from a cemetery for research without permission and infringed on their freedom of faith to honor their forebears.

CD book expected to deepen awareness on Ainu culture

CD book expected to deepen awareness on Ainu culture

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken in Tokyo on Sept. 6, 2012, shows a songbook explaining the meanings and backgrounds of the lyrics of traditional Ainu pieces as well as their vocalism, with accompanying CDs. Photos are also provided enabling readers to visualize how Ainu people dance to the songs.

Indigenous Ainu launch party

Indigenous Ainu launch party

SAPPORO, Japan - Shiro Kayano (L), leader of the Ainu Party of Japan, speaks during a meeting in Ebetsu, Hokkaido, on Jan. 21, 2012, as members of the Ainu indigenous group, who primarily reside in Hokkaido, launch the party, aiming to field 10 candidates in the House of Councillors election in 2013. To the right is vice leader Shizue Ukaji.

Indigenous Ainu launch party

Indigenous Ainu launch party

SAPPORO, Japan - Shiro Kayano (2nd from L), leader of the Ainu Party of Japan, speaks during a meeting in Ebetsu, Hokkaido, on Jan. 21, 2012, as members of the Ainu indigenous group, who primarily reside in Hokkaido, launch the party, aiming to field 10 candidates in the House of Councillors election in 2013.

'Ainu' traditional dried salmon

'Ainu' traditional dried salmon

SHIRAOI, Japan - A woman holds dried salmon at the Ainu Museum in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, as making of a traditional Ainu preservative food began at the museum. The Ainu are indigenous people of Japan.

'Ainu' traditional dried salmon

'Ainu' traditional dried salmon

SHIRAOI, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 23, 2010, at the Ainu Museum in the town of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, shows thousands of salmon hanging to dry as part of a process of making a traditional Ainu preservative food. The Ainu are indigenous people of Japan.

Yukie Chiri memorial hall founded

Yukie Chiri memorial hall founded

SAPPORO, Japan - Members of the Ainu indigenous group perform a ceremony at a newly built hall to commemorate the work of Yukie Chiri, a pioneer in making written records of Ainu oral tradition, in Noboribetsu, Hokkaido, on Sept. 17, 2010. The hall named ''Chiri Yukie Gin no Shizuku'' is scheduled to open from Sept. 19.

Hatoyama launches Ainu policy promotion panel

Hatoyama launches Ainu policy promotion panel

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama (R) talks with Tadashi Kato (C), head of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, on Dec. 25, 2009 at the prime minister's office. The government launched a panel aimed at devising policies to support the indigenous Ainu people.

Twin polar bear cubs named 'Ikor' and 'Kiroru'

Twin polar bear cubs named 'Ikor' and 'Kiroru'

SAPPORO, Japan - Twin polar bear cubs (R and C) play near their mother ''Rara'' at the Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo, Hokkaido, on Sept. 6, 2009. The twins, born in December, were recently named ''Ikor'' and ''Kiroru.'' Ikor means ''treasure'' while Kiroru means ''road'' in the language of the Ainu, an indigenous people of Japan's northernmost main island Hokkaido.

2-week old Hokkaido dog puppies

2-week old Hokkaido dog puppies

SAPPORO, Japan - An amateur breeder shows two-week-old puppies of the Hokkaido dog breed, also known as the Ainu dog, designated as a Japanese natural treasure in 1937, in Sapporo's Kiyota Ward on Sept. 2, 2009. The dog, of the Spitz type, is rarely seen outside Japan. It was named after Japan's indigenous Ainu people who live in Hokkaido. The breed has been largely unchanged for tens of thousands of years. By the time of its 1937 designation, it was in danger of extinction.

Wives experience Ainu dance in Hokkaido

Wives experience Ainu dance in Hokkaido

SHIMUKAPPU, Japan - Wives of leaders from Japan and 16 Pacific island nations and regions perform an Ainu dance in Shimukappu, Hokkaido, on May 23 while their husbands held their closing summit meeting. (Pool photo)

Wives experience Ainu dance in Hokkaido

Wives experience Ainu dance in Hokkaido

SHIMUKAPPU, Japan - Wives of leaders from Japan and 16 Pacific islands nations and regions perform an Ainu dance in Shimukappu, Hokkaido, on May 23 while their husbands held their closing summit meeting. (Pool photo)

Diet adopts resolution seeking to recognize Ainu as indigenous

Diet adopts resolution seeking to recognize Ainu as indigenous

TOKYO, Japan - Tadashi Kato (R), director of the Hokkaido Utari Association, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on June 6 after both lower and upper houses of the Diet unanimously adopted a resolution at their plenary sessions, urging the government to recognize the Ainu as indigenous people.

Ainu candidate Tahara set to lose in election

Ainu candidate Tahara set to lose in election

SAPPORO, Japan - Kaori Tahara (L), an indigenous Ainu woman candidate backed by the local opposition New Party Daichi, speaks to reporters in Sapporo on July 29 after her defeat in the day's House of Councillors election appears certain. To her right is Muneo Suzuki, a member of the House of Representatives who heads the party.