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kissy

Japan's Ainu people have their own history, languages and culture. But, as the victims of colonialism, assimilation and discrimination, much

As a young boy in school, Masaki Sashima would be dragged out of his classroom and beaten by his fellow students.

Masaki, now 72, was different to the other kids.

He was Ainu, an Indigenous people from the country's northern regions, most notably the large island of Hokkaido.

"During recess, the hallway door would open, and several guys would yell at me to come out," he said.

"I clung to my desk in the classroom and kept quiet.

"Everyone would surround me and beat me."

Japan has long portrayed itself as culturally and ethnically homogenous, something that some have even argued is a key to its success as a nation.

More than 98 per cent of Japanese people are descendants of the Yamato people.

But the Ainu are distinct, with their own history, languages, and culture.

But, as the victims of colonialism, assimilation, and discrimination, much of that identity has been lost.

andnowanowl-deactivated20260413

An Ainu woman named Chiri Yukie wrote down some of her people's oral traditions into Japanese because, as a child, her people were being displaced by Japanese settlers in Hokkaido. Her language was disappearing, so she (ironically) saw translating the stories into Japanese as a way to preserve them. She died at age 19.

rumade

Some of the objects from the Ainu exhibition at Japan House in London this year, showcasing traditional Ainu skills and culture. There is a campaign to get Ainu recognised as an official language, at least in Hokkaido, and small steps are happening, for example, bilingual bus stops. It reminds me of the struggle for Welsh to be revived after suppression for centuries.

snow-nose

second image ID: the cover of The Song The Owl God Sang: The collected Ainu legends of Chiri Yukie, Translated into English by Benjamin Peterson. end ID

mizoguchi

Also, this is a good short ~25 minute documentary that shows Ainu people fighting to recover their ancestral bones and bodies from Hokkaido University that's worth a watch.

nightingem

really incredible website just dropped where you larp being an ai and respond to people's "prompts."

Be an AI, answer prompts, trigger a RAM crisis

some fun responses i have gotten so far.

littleguysdaily

Great website

#this is so fun

Sometimes I feel like such a dumbass but then I call and make a doctors appointment in Japanese and I’m like yeah… I could not have done that a few years ago. I really HAVE gotten somewhere

#japanese

vikhytherm

goodbye chiikawa

oil paint on board, 2026

royaltyfreeramblings

@tamacross

alpin-the-floof

it's so funny to me that japanese speakers can change their i pronoun to sound more confrontational. bro you're pissing me off so bad you've unlocked my angrysona

mrghosttheman

This may or may not be canon

movementnudge

Movement nudge! Just do something!

X

Not gonna lie. Everytime I see her face on my insta feed, I immediately get up and do something. She has me trained.

#I needed this #fine I’ll take a walk even though I feel like shit!!!#being pregnant fucking sucks I’m so nauseous #stealth pregnancy announcement I guess

kajayume

New Golden Kamuy Collab Café and first of all, Shiraishi is as charming as ever<3 but also! Vasily!! In like, modern clothes!!

I love how they all have their Zodiac signs but Vasily who doesn't have a canon borthday. I really love stars in general so I'm very jealous I'm not in Japan :c

Goodies under the cut:

#OSAKA LETS GOOOOOO!!!!

human-pet-they

girl who has at most irritated another person: i'm evil i actually deserve to die

guy who is responsible for derailing at least a dozen separate people's lives: the way john wick reloads his gun looks badass but it's actually also really efficient

I’m drowning in vocab ;-;

I’m going to take the N1 this summer and my vocab score was atrocious on the N2 so I’m starting studying now, but idk if I should just focus on finishing the last 8 levels of WaniKani or do that PLUS the 日本語総まとめ vocab book

#and I have so much stuff I want to read gahhhhh #HOW DO I PRIORITIZE ;-;

I had a first grader cry out in frustration because we had to skip question time at the end of English class. After class I went up to him to see what it was he wanted to ask so badly and he was like “Have you ever seen a shark in America?”

#I should post the master list of all the random questions they ask

strawbsonmars

good morning

chocoboco

I think he really needs it guys

I got back into my WaniKani ~flow state~ hell yeah! I had it on vacation mode for like a month because I was overwhelmed with life stuff and really dreaded starting again but I just had to do it for a few days before things started to “click” again.

This is basically a reminder post for me—it sucks to get “back into” something but if you don’t do it you’ll never get that ~flow~ back.

#wanikani