* FEATURE : Japans Ainu fight for their cultural survival Nov 16, 2009
FEATURE : Japans Ainu fight for their cultural survival ... Haruzo Urakawa, right, former chairman of the Tokyo Ainu Association, and other Ainu community members perform a spiritual ceremony called the Kamui-nomi at the Charanke Festival in Tokyo on Nov. 1 ... Japans native people, the Ainu, once hunted bears and fished for salmon in the wild forests of the countrys far north, but today they are an ethnic minority fighting for their cultural survival. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
The first Japanese Apr 11, 2009
For a taste of Ainu culture, head to the Ainu Memorial Museum, in Asahikawa, Hokkaido ... Such is the case of the Ainu, the original settlers of Japans Hokkaido Island, now numbering around 25,000 ... Recognition of the Ainu as the indigenous people of Hokkaido came as late as June 2008, just before the G8 summit at Hokkaidos Lake Toya-ko. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
* Japan wants foreigners to go home Apr 3, 2009
Many Japanese consider their culture homogenous, even though there are sizeable minorities of Koreans and Chinese, as well as Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan. In the early 1990s, Tokyo relaxed its relatively tight immigration laws to allow special entry permits for foreigners of Japanese ancestry in South America to make up for a labor shortage. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Sports)
Japan pays jobless foreigners to go home Apr 2, 2009
Many Japanese consider their culture homogeneous, even though there are sizable minorities of Koreans and Chinese, as well as Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan. In the early 1990s, Tokyo relaxed its relatively tight immigration laws to allow special entry permits for foreigners of Japanese ancestry in South America to make up for a labour shortage at this nation's then-booming factories. (Globe and Mail -- Business)
