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Abstract
In 2013, Japan, along with four other Asian countries, was admitted to the Arctic Council (AC) as an observer. Japan’s admission to the AC is noteworthy because of the expansion of its interests in the Arctic region. Japan’s admission, as with the other observers in the AC, has been met by its willingness to pay due respect to the core values the AC holds, including respect for the rights of the indigenous peoples of the region. In this way, Japan has essentially agreed to respecting indigenous rights as part of its Arctic engagement. Japan has its own indigenous peoples within its own territory to whom it is committed. The main question this article examines is how the rights of indigenous peoples, as permanent participants in the AC to which Japan has committed to pay due respect as part of its Arctic engagement, are compatible with Japan’s commitment at the national level to protect the rights of its own indigenous peoples, especially the Ainu.
Notes
1 The AC is an intergovernmental body of the eight circumpolar Arctic states, in which IPOs of these countries are involved as “permanent participants”. In addition, a number of non-Arctic states, as well as other inter-governmental and nongovernmental bodies, participate as observers and play a significant role in legitimising the decisions made by the AC.
2 AC Declaration.
3 Tennberg, Arctic Environmental Cooperation, 74.
4 Bailes, “Understanding the Arctic Council.”
5 Official Statement.
6 Ibid.
7 Official Statement b.
8 Arctic Council Rules of Procedure.
9 Bennett, “Ahead of Arctic Council Meeting.”
10 UNDRIP.
11 The memoranda on questions are official documents that only Diet members are entitled to use for the purpose of obtaining information about the Japanese Government’s opinions on the matters at hand.
12 These observers included both non-Arctic states and a number of organisations, including three IPOs: the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, the Nordic Saami Council and the USSR Association of Small Peoples of the North. The founding document of the AEPS is the Declaration on the Protection of the Arctic Environment, which clearly mentions that IPOs will be invited to the future meetings as observers. While the status of the IPOs was not separated from that of the other entities in the AEPS, indigenous peoples were recognised in the Declaration as entities that provide unique contributions to the protection of the Arctic Environment. It should also be noted that the AEPS was established partly because of the initiative taken by IPOs to protect the Arctic environment.
13 AEPS.
14 Graczyk, Observers in the Arctic Council, 590.
15 Ibid, 594. The structure of the AC is hierarchical; there are three sets of actors: Arctic states, which are the primary actors; IPOs, which are named PPs; and observers which include both non-Arctic states and other global and regional intergovernmental and interparliamentary organisations, as well as nongovernmental organisations (AC Declaration, 1996). Indigenous peoples play a crucial role in Arctic-related issues because of their profound knowledge of the region and because of their stewardship of the region’s natural environment. Considering their unique contribution to the sustainable management of the Arctic and its natural resources, the AC has integrated them into its structure. Apparently, there are six institutionally organised indigenous peoples’ bodies located across the region that represent their interests in the AC.
16 Duyck, “Polar Environmental Governance and Nonstate Actors,” 25.
17 Hong, “Arctic vs. South China Sea,” 113.
18 Official Statement b.
19 Arctic Council Rules of Procedure.
20 Ibid.
21 Japan’s Official Arctic Policy.
22 Amino, Nihon toha nanika, 26.
23 Takakura, Shinban Ainu seisakushi, 563.
24 Ibid, 564–6.
25 Siddle, “The Ainu: Indigenous People of Japan,” 451.
26 Emori, Ainu minzoku no rekishi, 440–7.
27 Ibid, 508–12.
28 Siddle, Race, Resistance and the Ainu of Japan, 177–8.
29 Larson et al., “Emerging Indigenous Governance,” 55.
30 Maruyama, “Japan’s Post-war Ainu Policy,” 204.
31 Ibid.
32 Siddle, “The Ainu: Indigenous People of Japan,” 33.
33 UNDRIP.
34 Stevens, “The Ainu, Law and Legal Mobilization,” 220.
35 Siddle, “The Ainu: Indigenous People of Japan,” 34.
36 Ibid, 34.
37 Stevens, “The Ainu and Human Rights,” 195–6; Porter, “After the Ainu shinpo,” 215; Emori, “Ainu no sengosi wo megur shomondai,” 18–20; Savage and Longo, “Legal Frameworks for the Protection of Ainu Language and Culture,” 109–12; Maruyama, “Japan’s Post-war Ainu Policy,” 162–5.
38 Scheinin, “Indigenous Peoples’ Land Rights,” 3.
39 Wiessner, “Re-enchanting the World,” 261.
40 Scheinin, “Indigenous Peoples’ Land Rights,” 3.
41 Anaya, Indigenous Peoples in International Law.
42 Ibid, 58.
43 The Prefectural Consultative Committee, 115.
44 CERD.
45 The Prefectural Consultative Committee, 115.
46 The Prefectural Consultative Committee, 115–7.
47 Savage and Longo, “Legal Frameworks for the Protection of Ainu Language and Culture,” 108.
48 The National Consultative Committee, 2.
49 The National Consultative Committee, 4.
50 The National Consultative Committee, 6.
51 The National Consultative Committee, 2–3.
52 The National Consultative Committee, 2.
53 The National Consultative Committee, 4.
54 Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro, “Suzuki muneo kun teishutsu no ainu minzoku no senjuken ni kansuru shitsumon shuisho ni taisuru tobensho.”
55 Deputy Prime Minister Machimura Nobutaka, “Kami Tomoko kun teishutsu no senjuminzoku”; Prime Minister Kan Naoto, “Asano Takahiro kun teishutsu.”
56 Suzuki, “Ainu minzoku no senjuken ni kansuru saishitsumon shuisho.”
57 Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro, “Suzuki muneo kun teishutsu no ainu minzoku no senjuken ni kansuru saishitsumon shuisho.”
58 Deputy Prime Minister Machimura Nobutaka, “Kami Tomoko kun teishutsu no senjuminzoku.”
59 Suzuki, “Ainu minzoku no senjuminzoku toshiteno kenri kakuritsu wo shingisuru yushikishakondankai secchi ni kansuru shitsumonshuisho.”
60 Kami, “Ainu minzoku no seikatsu wo mamori kenri wo kakuritsusuru sisaku no suishin ni kansuru shitumonshuisho.”
61 Advisory Committee for Future Ainu Policy, 21.
62 Council for Ainu Policy Promotion.
63 Yoshida, Higashiajia minpogaku to saigai/kyoju/minzokuhosho, 227.
64 Maruyama, “Japan’s Policies Towards the Ainu Language and Culture,” 162.
65 Winchester, “On the Dawn of a New National Ainu Policy,” 5.
66 Fact Sheet 2013.
67 UNESC, 11.
68 UNPFII.
69 The Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, 11.
70 The Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
71 IACHR.