The Japanese government will promote inbound tourism to a major cultural complex in Hokkaido dedicated to the indigenous Ainu people, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Sunday.
Matsuno, who also heads the government's Ainu policy promotion headquarters, visited the Upopoy complex in the town of Shiraoi on the northern main island, his first trip since assuming the post of top government spokesman in October. He also held talks with Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki and local people preserving Ainu culture.
Upopoy, situated on a site of approximately 100,000 square meters adjacent to Lake Poroto, comprises the National Ainu Museum, the National Ainu Park and a memorial site, among other facilities. Upopoy means "singing in a large group" in the Ainu language.
During a meeting with Suzuki, Matsuno stressed the government's stance of supporting the Ainu people in maintaining their culture, and called Upopoy, which opened in 2020, "a symbol" of their culture.
The ethnic group has lived for centuries in areas that became northern Japan, notably Hokkaido, as well as on neighboring Sakhalin, now part of Russia.
Beginning with the government's assimilationist policy in the Meiji Era (1868-1912), the ethnic minority suffered discrimination and land dispossession, spilling over into ongoing income and educational disparities.
The Ainu also struggled to maintain their culture due to Japan's assimilationist efforts that prohibited them from speaking their native language.
The Japanese government only recognized the group as an "indigenous people that have their own language, religious and cultural identity" in 2008.
The park in Upopoy has a hall for Ainu dance and musical performances, workshops for Ainu cuisine and instruments, a studio for craft demonstrations and a traditional Ainu village.
The memorial site has buildings for the performance of memorial services and keeping the remains of displaced Ainu people, along with a monument. In the past, Ainu remains and related burial items were excavated, collected and stored at universities all over Japan.
