2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
The Ainu indigenous people of Japan, facing the challenges of identity reconstruction
| Project/Area Number |
19K13453
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 04030:Cultural anthropology and folklore-related
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| Research Institution | Hokkaido University |
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Principal Investigator |
CLERCQ Lucien 北海道大学, メディア・コミュニケーション研究院, 特任教授 (30749578)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
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| Keywords | Ainu / Identity / Multiculturalism / Miscegenation / Hafu / Hybridization / Reconstruction / Nukishio Kizo |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
During these three years of research, we have uncovered the efforts to reconstruct socio-cultural events based on ancient Ainu rituals. We have also shown the importance of Nukishio Kizo, a writer who in 1934 wrote the first indigenous manifesto written by an indigenous person, calling for the survival and recognition of his people.
These Ainu claims and strategies show how the Ainu people have managed to reconstitute a community concerned with preserving the fundamental notion of “Ainupuri” in a context of strong racial discrimination. It is a parallel space with which they return through the practice of all traditional activities, and an animist spirituality intimately linked to the Hokkaido environment.It is indeed marked by an indigenous arrangement of vernacular places, symbolized by the presence of nusa altars revering the ancestors and the kamuy. This continuity is also used during events honoring the ainupuri to strengthen community ties by bringing the Ainu together.
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| Free Research Field |
Anthropology
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
社会正義に向けたアイヌの要求は、日本社会におけるマイノリティたちの要求とも通底し、社会を構成する複数のアイデンティティを、その細かな差異と特異性と共に認めることを求めている。アイヌは、アイデンティティが完全に固定されたり決定的に閉じられたりすることはなく、伝統の更新と新たな混血によって常に変化することを教えている。また、ナショナリズムとは異質な生存戦略によって練磨されたアイヌのアニミズム的なメッセージは、自然や人の支配ではなく、穏やかでバランスのとれた関係を環境との間に保つことの重要性を教えている。多様性の尊重と地球の保全という将来的課題を考察する上でも本研究の意義は小さくないと考える。
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