Japan’s Ainu people have a new museum. Many feel it omits a lot
The history of Hokkaido’s indigenous folk has been cruel
FROM A DISTANCE, the National Ainu Museum glistens. When the sleek concrete-and-glass structure opened in 2020, it became the first national museum dedicated to the oft-forgotten indigenous people of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost big island. “Visitors come knowing next to nothing about the Ainu,” says Tamura Masato, a curator. The museum promotes a message of “ethnic harmony” and takes its name from an Ainu word, upopoy, meaning “singing together in a large group”.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “The stories we tell”
Asia June 26th 2021
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- A political memoir has South Koreans asking whom politicians serve
- Japan’s Ainu people have a new museum. Many feel it omits a lot
From the June 26th 2021 edition
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