A film inspired by the story of a young Ainu woman who translated into Japanese an epic poem passed down orally among the indigenous people of Hokkaido will soon have a wide domestic release. The ...

SAPPORO, JAPAN — For someone who grew up ashamed of her ethnic identity, they are powerful words. “You are beautiful just as you are. Don’t be afraid,” Mina Sakai sings to a young, enthusiastic crowd ...

In 2009, UNESCO in its “Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger” designated the Ainu language as being critically endangered. As the most dire of the five categories — only extinct is worse — used in ...

KUHN: Today, many younger Ainu know of their language in culture only from recordings, like this one at the cultural center. After years of lobbying by Sawai and other community leaders, Japan's ...

More than a century after colonisation, the Ainu language almost vanished. Now machines are listening to hours of old recordings and learning to give it a new voice. The cassette player would catch ...

For someone who grew up ashamed of her ethnic identity, they are powerful words. “You are beautiful just as you are. Don’t be afraid,” Mina Sakai sings to a young, enthusiastic crowd in the language ...

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido is well known for its world-class powder snow, delicious food and unspoiled nature. Few people outside the country, however, are ...

The ainu of japan have long been almost invisible in a society that likes to consider itself racially homogenous. Often they hide themselves. Yuki Hasegawa, for instance, grew up thinking she was ...