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May 31, 2026
 

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INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous Chief Bepdjo Mekragnotire, of Kayapo ethnic group, speaks during interview at the Village of Pykany, Menkragnoti Indigenous Territory, southwestern Para State, Brazil, on May 21.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
May 30, 2026
New gold rush threatens indigenous havens in Brazil¡¯s Amazon
"We have to expel them, otherwise, they'll just keep pushing in," said Indigenous chief Bepdjo Mekragnotire.
Members of the Hokkaido Ainu Association place returned remains in a cemetery at the national Ainu cultural facility and perform a memorial service on Friday in Shiraoi, Hokkaido.
JAPAN
May 9, 2026
Ainu indigenous group demands return of ancestors¡¯ remains
The group filed a lawsuit demanding that the remains of 279 Ainu ancestors held by a state facility be returned to their descendants.
Hmong volunteer firefighter Mongkol Yingyotmongkolsaen flies standard and infrared drones to monitor for fires from above, track any flames that are spreading and detect heat at night.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Mar 27, 2026
Tech-equipped Indigenous firefighters protect Thai forests
Hmong villagers zip through forested slopes and cut through brush with machetes while others scan for smoke on live feeds from their phones.
Akinosuke Owada, a graduating student at Akan Ainu Craft Center Harikiki, poses next to one of his works at the school in Kushiro, Hokkaido.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 26, 2026
Ainu craft school aims to pass on culture to students
Students in the Hokkaido center's inaugural class are set to graduate soon, after completing their training to acquire skills of the Indigenous ethnic group.
A delegate in an ethnic minority costume arrives before the closing session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 13, 2026
China¡¯s new ethnic unity law could target Taiwanese, Taipei officials warn
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, already has laws and regulations against Taiwanese independence supporters.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang arrive for the closing session of the Chinese People¡¯s Political Consultative Conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 12, 2026
China passes ethnic unity law to advance Xi¡¯s assimilation push
For critics, the law adds to pressure on minorities across the Han Chinese-majority country.
Though Okinawa accounts for only 0.6% of Japan¡¯s total land, it hosts 70.3% of exclusive-use U.S. military bases.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Mar 2, 2026
Recentering Okinawa, one story at a time
Through conferences, films and publications, international scholars and journalists are building bridges with Okinawan communities and amplifying the voices of local residents.
Lights illuminate the village of Kapisillit, Greenland. The concept that ownership is shared collectively is central to the Inuit identity.
WORLD / Society
Jan 30, 2026
For Greenland¡¯s Inuit, no one owns the Arctic land
The concept that ownership is shared collectively is central to the Inuit identity, they say.
Lykke Lynge and her children in Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 19
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2026
Faced with Trump, Greenlanders try to reassure their children
As early as a week after Trump¡¯s inauguration, the Greenlandic authorities published a guide entitled ¡°How to talk to children in times of uncertainty?¡±
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (center, right) and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen (center, left) in Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday.
WORLD / Society
Jan 24, 2026
Greenland and Denmark set aside troubled history to face down Trump
Greenland, a Danish colony for three centuries, still has a complicated relationship with Denmark, but Trump has helped unite them.
Artificial intelligence holds promise for preserving endangered languages, but without meaningful community involvement, speakers of indigenous and regional dialects risk further marginalization as their languages vanish from the digital world.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2025
Can AI save dying languages?
A report from Stanford¡¯s Institute for Human Centered Artificial Intelligence earlier this year found that most major large-language models, or LLMs, underperform in non-English.
A vessel is pictured during a handover ceremony of a skull from a member of an Ainu tribe taken by German researchers at the end of the 19th century in Berlin in July 2017. The Japanese government has said that the remains of five Ainu will be returned from the Natural History Museum in Britain to Japan.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 29, 2025
Five sets of Ainu remains to be returned from Britain
It will be the fourth time that Ainu remains have been returned to Japan from abroad.
A Maniq man rests on a rock during a hunting expedition in Phatthalung in southern Thailand on Aug. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 26, 2025
Thailand¡¯s last hunter-gatherers seek land rights
The Maniq are facing a familiar predicament ¡ª under pressure to abandon traditional lifestyles and fighting for rights to land they have long called home.
An Indigenous man holds a sign reading "The death of the forest is the end of our lives" during what was called the "Great People's March" on the sidelines of the COP30 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para State, Brazil on Nov. 15.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 25, 2025
Indigenous peoples¡¯ demands got more than lip service at COP30
Indigenous peoples had unprecedented visibility at the COP30 summit, with about 3,000 in Belem and more than 400 representatives from 361 ethnic groups accredited for the event.
Before Japanese encroachments onto their native land, the Ainu people in what is present-day Hokkaido lived hunter-gatherer lifestyles supplemented by fishing.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Nov 15, 2025
Timeless tales throw the march of ¡®progress¡¯ into relief
Maybe the Ainu had it right after all? Maybe humankind should have remained in that state? What if we had?
An Indigenous demonstrator is held by security staff after protesters forced their way into the venue hosting the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belem, Brazil, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
Protesters force their way into COP30 summit venue and clash with security
Shouting angrily, protesters demanded access to the U.N. compound where thousands of delegates from countries around the world are attending this year's U.N. climate summit.
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 11, 2025
Ghost of Yotei¡¯s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Set in Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido), the highly anticipated samurai action-adventure game contains familiar thrills but subpar substance.
Paulina ¡°Jedda¡± Puruntatameri with Antonia Burke and Tiwi fisher Clinton offshore of Melville Island, one of the Tiwi Islands, in Australia's Northern Territory. Together with other Tiwi, Jedda has been campaigning for years to stop Australian company Santos and its backers, including Japanese investors, from drilling for natural gas at the Barossa gas field.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Sep 21, 2025
As Japan keeps buying gas, Aboriginal Australians pay the price
Japan is Australia¡¯s second-largest export market for energy and natural resources, giving Tokyo a certain political weight when it comes to Australian energy matters.
A demonstrator holds the Mohawk Warrior Flag during a protest in front of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario against the federal government¡¯s Bill C-5, as members of the Canadian Armed Forces fire cannons in the background during a celebration marking Canada Day in Toronto on July 1.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2025
Indigenous people in Canada challenge fast-track mine and energy projects
The tensions between the government and Indigenous communities reflect longstanding concerns over consultation and the environmental impact of mining projects in Canada.
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 6, 2025
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
Some scholars and activists are raising concerns that Indigenous voices are not being heard amid the debate over whether to host nuclear waste storage facilities.
Japan¡¯s 2025 census reflects steepest fall in population on record, data shows
Japan's population saw the largest decline on record in 2025, but Tokyo continued to mark a rise in the number of residents.
Sony takes final bow as standalone TV maker with new Bravia sets
The newest Sony Bravia TVs are likely the brand's final high-end television sets before its TV and home theater business merges with TCL next year.
Japan enacts bill to drastically raise visa-related fees
Haneda Airport in April 2025. An immigration bill enacted Friday includes plans to introduce an electronic travel authorization system by March 2029.
Deeply entrenched gender roles a key factor in Japan¡¯s low birthrate
Hiroya Masuda (center), head of the Forum for the Future We Choose, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in March.
Japan national volleyball player arrested over suspected cannabis possession
Executives of the Japan Volleyball Association bow in apology during a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday following the arrest of Shunichiro Sato, a member of the national volleyball team, on suspicion of cannabis possession.
Japan enacts bill to drastically raise visa-related fees
Haneda Airport in April 2025. An immigration bill enacted Friday includes plans to introduce an electronic travel authorization system by March 2029.
Meet the Japanese mayor seeking to normalize maternity leave in public office
Yawata Mayor Shoko Kawata recently announced that she will take maternity leave, making her the first sitting mayor in Japan to do so.
Labor shortage fuels ramp-up of humanoid robot development
A humanoid robot is displayed at the Humanoids Summit in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kore-eda¡¯s sci-fi film ¡®Sheep in the Box¡¯ fuzzy at edges
Bereaved parents Kensuke (the mononymous Daigo, right) and Otone (Haruka Ayase, left) have their late son resurrected as a humanoid robot in Hirokazu Kore-eda¡¯s ¡°Sheep in the Box.¡±
Built for speed: Inside Japan¡¯s child protection system
The Children and Families Agency says language should not be a barrier to calling the 189 hotline.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Community programs and tracking systems are expanding across Japan as local governments search for ways to prevent dementia-related disappearances.
He told his wife he was ¡®coming home.¡¯ Then he disappeared.
By Alex K.T. Martin

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