February 27, 2023
Japan’s Indigenous youth fight to reclaim identities
In a forest in Japan’s northern Hokkaido, Atsushi Monbetsu kneels on the moss in the thick morning fog and begins to pray in a language that has nearly disappeared. Monbetsu belongs to the Ainu indigenous group that traditionally lived in what is now northern Japan, as well as territory now in Russia. Growing up, the stigma of his ethnic origins was so great that his mother banned him from using the word “Ainu.” The identity forgotten long back but the Ainu youth are now on the path to revive and preserve their heritage and bolster their true indigenous identity.
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