6月29日(日)に仙台で行われるCultual Typhoon のパネルディスカッションの趣旨を英文で紹介しておきます。
◆テーマ=「アイヌ、沖縄、奄美----まつろわぬ民たちの系譜〈記憶の更新・再構築〉」
■日程:6月29日(日) 13:00~15:30
■会場:仙台メディアテーク 7階 セッションf
Ainu, Amami, Okinawa: RE-collection of Occupied Memories
We discuss a recent evaluation of the uniqueness of these ethnic groups and/or local residents. The lands of Ainu, Amami, and Okinawa are, to mainland Japan, the marginal territories, while they created their own cultures. A series of modern Japanese administrations have made each region to be a part of Japan and enforced assimilation. However, the illusion of Japan as a homogenous country is now controversial both for the mainland Japanese and for the Ainu people, Amamians, or Okinawans. In June 2008, the Diet adopted a resolution urging the government to recognize the Ainu as an indigenous group. The history of Amami and Okinawa are also under review, approaching the quarter centenary of the invasion by the Shimazu feudal clan in 1609. Such a movement is the “memory update” to raise their historical consciousness as well as the “memory reconstruction” to define their regional identity for the future.