Remains of three Ainu people returned from Britain to Japan

Asahi Shimbun

05-05-2025

The traditional Ainu ritual of Kamuynomi is performed at the Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, on May 3, after Ainu people's remains are returned from Britain. (Yuto Ota)
SHIRAOI, Hokkaido—The skulls of three Ainu individuals were returned from Britain to Hokkaido, the third repatriation of the indigenous people's remains from overseas.
So far, eight sets of Ainu remains have been moved back to Japan.
Kamuynomi, a traditional Ainu ritual of offering prayers to gods, was performed at the Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park here on May 3 after the skulls returned by the University of Edinburgh were stored in the Memorial Site at the facility.
Masaru Okawa, executive director of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, described the remains as 'our brethren and ancestors.'
When he received the skulls at a ceremony at the University of Edinburgh on April 30, Okawa said he thought, 'At long last, we have been able to come to greet them.'
He added, 'I was filled with a desire to rightfully take them back to where they were born and raised and console their souls in a dignified manner.'
Remains of the Ainu, who inhabit the northern part of the Japanese archipelago, mainly Hokkaido, were collected by domestic and overseas institutions for research purposes.
In previous repatriations, the remains of an Ainu individual were brought back from Germany in 2017 and four more from Australia in 2023.
The total number of Ainu people's remains that were taken out of Japan is still unknown, said Hirofumi Kato, a professor of indigenous archaeology at Hokkaido University's Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies.
He said the three skulls returned from Britain are only a small part of them.
Japan has also been calling on Britain to return three Ainu remains preserved at the National History Museum in London.
The skulls were kept at the University of Edinburgh's Anatomical Museum, according to the Ainu Policy Promotion Headquarters of the Cabinet Secretariat.
A catalog of the museum's collection indicates that the specimens derive from the present-day Urakawa town, Erimo town and Kushiro area.
The remains will be placed in the Upopoy Memorial Site until they are taken over by organizations in Hokkaido.
A group in the Kushiro area has applied for taking custody of the skull from the area.
According to the University of Edinburgh, the remains were donated to the university in 1913 by Neil Gordon Munro, an anthropologist and doctor who provided free medical care to the Ainu community in the town of Hiratori in Hokkaido.
Kato said the remains of indigenous populations were collected around the globe for research purposes from the 18th century, largely without consent from those concerned.
He said calls from indigenous groups have led to gradual repatriations to their rightful owners, although some institutions are reluctant to give up what they consider research materials.
The University of Edinburgh returned the skulls of four indigenous individuals to Taiwan in 2023.
In a statement, Principal Peter Mathieson, who attended the April 30 repatriation ceremony, said, 'Repatriations are part of the university's important ongoing work to review its colonial past, and we are committed to returning remains in our care to their rightful descendants.'