"Kamuy," he begins, addressing the gods of the Ainu Indigenous people, as he starts a small fire with birch bark. Monbetsu belongs to the Ainu Indigenous group that traditionally lived in what is now northern Japan, as well as in territory now part of Russia. But in 1869, Japan's imperial government annexed Ainu lands and banned "barbarian" practices like facial tattoos for the community's women. Counting Japan's other main Indigenous people, the Ryukyu, is even more complicated, as the central government does not recognise them. The growing confidence of Japan's young Indigenous people in their identities mirrors a global movement, according to Oguma, a historical sociologist.

Source: The Guardian February 19, 2023 08:05 UTC