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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Japan’s Native Ainu Fight to Restore a Last Vestige of Their Identity | Japan’s Native Ainu Fight to Restore a Last Vestige of Their Identity |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Masaki Sashima gazed through the fog one recent afternoon onto the gray waters of the Tokachi River in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. From here, his Indigenous people, the Ainu, once used spears and nets to catch the salmon they regarded as gifts from the gods. | Masaki Sashima gazed through the fog one recent afternoon onto the gray waters of the Tokachi River in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. From here, his Indigenous people, the Ainu, once used spears and nets to catch the salmon they regarded as gifts from the gods. |
| Under Japanese law, river fishing for this salmon, an essential part of Ainu cuisine, trade and spiritual culture, has been off limits for more than a century. Mr. Sashima, 72, said it was time for his people to regain what they see as a natural right, and restore one of the last vestiges of a decimated Ainu identity. | Under Japanese law, river fishing for this salmon, an essential part of Ainu cuisine, trade and spiritual culture, has been off limits for more than a century. Mr. Sashima, 72, said it was time for his people to regain what they see as a natural right, and restore one of the last vestiges of a decimated Ainu identity. |
| “In the past in our culture, the salmon were for everybody to enjoy within the community,” he said. “The salmon is here for us, and we want to ensure our right to be able to take this fish.” | “In the past in our culture, the salmon were for everybody to enjoy within the community,” he said. “The salmon is here for us, and we want to ensure our right to be able to take this fish.” |
| Mr. Sashima is leading a group that is suing the central and prefectural governments to reclaim salmon fishing rights, four years after Japan’s Parliament passed a law recognizing the Ainu as the nation’s Indigenous people. | Mr. Sashima is leading a group that is suing the central and prefectural governments to reclaim salmon fishing rights, four years after Japan’s Parliament passed a law recognizing the Ainu as the nation’s Indigenous people. |
| For centuries, Japanese assimilation policies have stripped the Ainu of their land, forced them to give up hunting and fishing for farming or other menial jobs, and pushed them into Japanese-language schools where it was impossible to preserve their own language. |