Remains of Ainu people in Edinburgh to be repatriated to Japan
The remains of three Ainu indigenous people, which had been kept at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, were returned to Japan's Ainu Association of Hokkaido on Wednesday.
The move was the third instance of Ainu people's remains that had been taken abroad being repatriated to Japan, following the first such repatriation in 2017 from Germany and the second in 2023 from Australia.
The remains were donated to the university in 1913 by Neil Gordon Munro (1863-1942), an Edinburgh graduate and Scottish physician, who was living in Japan at the time. The Japanese government has requested their return.
Munro lived in Hokkaido in his later years, providing medical services to the Ainu people. He was also known as an anthropologist whose research focuses included the Ainu culture.
"My heart is filled with emotions," Masaru Okawa, head of the Ainu association, said at a handover ceremony held at the university Wednesday, adding, "We will take the remains home and pray for them before the gods."
"It has been a privilege to welcome representatives from the Ainu community and to work with them during this process," said Peter Mathieson, principal of the University of Edinburgh. "Repatriations are part of the university's important ongoing work ... and we are committed to returning remains in our care to their rightful descendants," he added.
After arriving in Hokkaido on Saturday after an absence of 112 years, the remains will be placed at a memorial facility in the National Ainu Museum and Park, or Upopoy, in the town of Shiraoi.
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