Project Summary
While Japan is not one of the eight Arctic countries, the Indigenous Ainu live in northern Japan and the Russian Far East. Ainu have had limited exchange opportunities with other Arctic Indigenous Peoples (Duncan 2023). Yet exchanges with Maori in Aotearoa New Zealand have profoundly impacted and encouraged some Ainu to start identifying and living as Ainu (NHK News 2023; Yomiuri Shimbun n.d.). This workshop will introduce the Arctic science landscape to Ainu with the leadership of Hiroshi Maruyama and ECRs Seira Duncan and Olivia Doyle. It gives the floor to local Ainu to identify local Indigenous interests and research priorities. Ultimately, this workshop aims to catalyse Ainu involvement in the Arctic research community in the years to come and will build momentum for Ainu engagement in the context of the IASC-organised Arctic Science Summit Week planned in Hokkaido, Japan in 2027
Date and Location:
TBC, Japan
IASC Working Groups funding the Project:
Project Lead
Seira Duncan (University of Eastern Finland, Finland)
Year funded by IASC
2025
Project Status
Upcoming