Ainu Soldiers Recall War and Discrimination

While enduring discrimination each at residence and on the battlefield, some Ainu troopers held on to a hope for equality by way of their service. The tales of those that had been swept up by the nation’s insurance policies reveal the hardships and complicated feelings they skilled through the struggle.

In the city of Nibutani in Hokkaido’s Hidaka area, the place Ainu traditions stay robust, 65-year-old Kiyotaka Hamada shared the story of his father, Hiroshi, who served as an Ainu soldier through the struggle. Hiroshi, the eldest son in a farming household, labored on a ranch whereas finding out arduous. Yet, he was continuously subjected to discrimination merely for being Ainu.

Hamada recalled how his father as soon as obtained an ideal rating in class however was advised by a trainer, “There’s no way an Ainu like you could score 100.” On one other event, when Hamada was in fifth grade, his father woke him late at evening and requested him to shave his physique hair—one thing Hamada believed stemmed from internalized disgrace about being visibly Ainu.

In 1941, when the Pacific War started, Hiroshi, then 20, was deployed to Manchuria. There too, he confronted deep prejudice. “An officer once said, ‘I hear there’s an Ainu in our unit. Come out, Ainu! Do you eat raw meat?’ It was public humiliation—bullying, really,” mentioned Hamada.

However, amongst Hiroshi’s belongings was a self-made document of his navy service, which reveals that regardless of the hardship, he discovered a stronger sense of camaraderie throughout the navy than in day by day civilian life. Skilled with horses, he earned the respect of his superiors and rose from non-public to sergeant.

“Of course, he believed war should never happen,” mentioned Hamada, “But being in the unit, training together, he said he actually made some good memories—though maybe he shouldn’t have said that.”

Mark Winchester, an assistant professor on the National Museum of Ethnology and knowledgeable in trendy Ainu thought, famous that many Ainu could have seen conscription as a approach to achieve equal standing in Japanese society, having lengthy suffered marginalization as a result of colonization of Hokkaido. Yet this hope usually collided with a grim actuality, as some had been handled as curiosities or positioned on the entrance traces as a result of their searching abilities—an unequal burden masked by a superficial promise of equality.

During the struggle, the federal government shifted from attempting to assimilate the Ainu beneath the previous Protection Act to utilizing their service as propaganda, hailing them as heroes for morale functions.

In Biratori, Hokkaido, 76-year-old Fumio Kimura, an Ainu neighborhood chief concerned in campaigns to return struggle stays, shared the story of his father, Kazuo, who served in a unit based mostly in Asahikawa. He mentioned his father not often spoke of struggle or discrimination, although he was identified for his distinctive bodily skills. Whether this silence mirrored a scarcity of discrimination or a call to defend his youngsters from painful reminiscences stays unknown.

Still, Kimura believes that passing on the story of Ainu historical past, together with their position in struggle, is crucial. “I bark louder than the Ezo wolf,” he mentioned. “We must all learn, especially the younger generation. The government must help us look back at the past—not just for the Ainu, but for all of Japan and our children.”

Today, there are not any exact information of what number of Ainu had been conscripted or died within the struggle as a result of assimilation insurance policies and insufficient documentation. Much of their wartime expertise stays absent from historical past textbooks, elevating the pressing query of protect and cross down these ignored narratives.

Both Hamada and Kimura emphasised the significance of studying from historical past to create a future freed from discrimination.

Source: HBCニュース　北海道放送