지금도 차별과 멸시의 시선을 받는 일본의 원주민 '아이누족'

7. Hokkaido Today's story is about Ainu, a native of Japan who was discriminated against by Tanaka. Hokkaido is located in the northernmost part of Japan. Hokkaido is also known as Bukkaido to us. Hokkaido is famous for its unique climate and landscape in the northern region. It's not just a place where nature is cool, it's a complex and long-standing area. In Korea, Jeju Island, and Japan, it's similar to Okinawa. Just as there are native Americans in the United States, there are native Japanese in Japan. Today's topic is Ainu of Hokkaido, a native of Japan. The meaning of Ainu is simple. It means human. In other words, there is a Kamui that means God. Ainu are a minority of the Kurel River, a Russian forest, centered on Hokkaido, Japan. Like the word native gives us, Ainu have been united for 600 years. Japan tried to erase Ainu's culture and traces by avoiding the so-called fairy tale policy. Relatively recently, Japan has begun to recognize Ainu as indigenous people. Ainu are also trying to preserve their culture, which has been almost wiped out. Why did Japan annex Ainu, who live in a country called Japan? Let's get started. It is estimated that the Ainu have been living in Japan since about 26,000 years ago. However, they did not achieve a unified country and lived as a tribe. Not only Japan, but also the Kurel River, a Russian forest, was scattered on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Like Americans are different from American natives, Ainu also have a very different appearance from Japanese. Like white people, the outline of the eyes, nose, and mouth is clear, and the skin color is dark like Southeast Asians. Small height is also one of the characteristics of Ainu. Men have a tradition of growing a long beard, and the Japanese used to call this Ainu tribe Emishi. Emishi is a word that compares Ainu, which has more hair than Japanese. Even the intellectuals of Joseon knew about the existence of Ainu. In 1756, when Yeongjo was the king, a scholar named Lee Ji-yang wrote a book called Pyoju-rok. This book contains a record of Ainu. He had a long beard with dark blue hair and a black face. When he was hungry, he just put fish soup in a small bowl and showed the rice in the boat, but they didn't know what it was. Through this record, it can be seen that Ainu ate meat and hunting rather than farming. It is also interesting that the Japanese are a farming nation and the Ainu are a hunting nation. However, in 1756, it was the Edo period, which was called the golden age of Japan. Even in the Edo period, the Ainu lived in a different isolated state from other Japanese. It was during the Edo period of the 17th century that there was a disaster for the Ainu, a minority of Ainu people who formed their own culture and lived using their own language Ainu. At that time, Dokugawa and Makfu gave the Ainu an exclusive right to education to the area where they lived. Masumaebon used force to force an unfair education to the Ainu. As Masumaebon's rampage continued, the Ainu, who became angry, began the so-called Shakushain Rebellion in 1669. However, the Ainu, who used traditional weapons, died a terrible death to Masumaebon, who used gunpowder. The Ainu chief, Shakushain, was killed, and the Shakushain Rebellion ended in failure. And in fact, it feels like a colony in Japan. The rebellion against the Ainu reached its peak in the Meiji period of the 19th century. In the 1870s, Japan won the war with the expansion of its colonial territory in the Western Heian period and accepted imperialism. Japan began to advance into the North in earnest under the name of reformation. So Hokkaido was forced into Japan and the Ainu were reformed by Japan. In 1899, Japan passed a law called Hokkaido Gutoin Protection Act. When you hear the name, it doesn't seem so cruel or problematic. But the name alone is a protection law, but in fact, it was a policy to exterminate the Ainu in a word of Korean politics. Japan was the first to start with the Ainu land. The native people gave the Ainu land, but they only picked and gave it to them. When the Japanese Empire settled down a little later, the Ainu were completely misunderstood. The education of Japanese and Japanese was to erase the identity of the Ainu. If you think about what happened in the Japanese colonial era, it will be easy to imagine. If the Ainu tried to protect their identity, they would die right away. At this time, many Ainu were starved to death or killed. In the Edo period, the Ainu, which was hundreds of thousands of people, has now decreased to about 20,000. In fact, it is expected to be more, because they hide that they are Ainu. According to the Ainu ethnographer Jeffrey Gamer, if you hide that you are an Ainu, or if you include people who don't even know your origin, the actual population is expected to be 10 times the official record. The reason why the Ainu live by hiding their roots is because discrimination and exploitation continue to this day. In a survey conducted by the Ministry of the Interior of Japan against the Ainu, 72.1% of the Ainu responded that they had been discriminated against. They were called Ainu on the way to school, and they were sold out. When it was known that they were Ainu, they were divorced. When it was known that they were Ainu's bloodline, they were not my children from their in-laws and husbands. There have been many cases of discrimination in which children were divorced without being born. Like Japan's characteristics, they don't discriminate, but most of them prevent Ainu people from entering their boundaries. In both work and family. The university admission rate and income are relatively low, but Ainu people are lazy and stupid. Because of this, the basic living wage of Ainu people is six times the average in Japan. Because of this, Ainu people are criticized as a low-income class that does not help society and does not cause trouble to others. Then, in 2008, Japan officially announced that Ainu people were recognized as a minority. In 2019, Ainu people were recognized as Japanese indigenous people after 600 years. Suddenly, I felt guilty. There was a reason. It's because of the territorial dispute with Russia surrounding the Kuril Islands. Kuril Islands are four islands located between the north of Hokkaido and the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. This is where Russia has been ruling since the end of World War II. Japan continues to demand a return of territory to Russia. The reason why the Japanese government recognized Ainu people as indigenous people is because Ainu people still live in the Kuril Islands. In other words, Ainu people, the indigenous people of Japan, still live in the Kuril Islands, so the Kuril Islands are historically a unique territory of Japan. Of course, Russia didn't sit still. Russia also announced that Ainu people were recognized as indigenous people of Russia. When Russia announced it, Japan passed a policy to implement a society where Ainu people are respected. Ainu people announced a variety of measures to support the promotion of Ainu culture and tourism intelligence. Ainu people thought, finally, Japan recognizes us. But now, the Japanese government has pushed the policy without even discussing it with them. Ainu people have expressed their dissatisfaction that they have not apologized for the past. But in fact, Ainu leaders' demands are not difficult. They ask for permission from the local government to fish for salmon, which can only be done in special cases. In the early 20th century, Japanese researchers dug graves and asked them to rebel against the rituals they took to each university. The Ainu people of Hokkaido do not want to live independently. They just want to inherit their own culture. But if they admit all this, they will be punished by the Kuril Islands, and they will be persecuted by the Ainu people, and they will be massacred by the Ainu people, and they will be invaded by the Ainu people. In Japan, discrimination against Ainu is not officially recognized. Even in the past, even now. Even if you search in Japanese, there is a saying that the story of Ainu is a lie made abroad. There is too much evidence to say that discrimination against Ainu is a lie. Native Americans are still living in the lower classes of society, but at least they are recognized and apologized. There is still discrimination, but we are trying to recognize and change it socially. However, Ainu people are still exposed to discrimination. This is the end of the story about Ainu people, the native people of Japan, who are still being discriminated against.