In 2023 the Raporo Ainu Nation started a legal battle with the Japanese state over traditional salmon fishing rights in the Raporo river. The Raporo Ainu Nation has justified their claim on several hundred years of inhabitation around the Raporo river and customs claiming under international law as an indigenous rights claim. They claim that the ban on ethnic Japanese and Ainu fishermen in the river is an inherent assimilation strategy.
April 18th 2024, The Japanese court dismissed the Raporo Ainu Nation's claim to fishing rights. Stating: "River fishing, even in a limited way, was not their inherent right." (https://www.barrons.com/news/japan-court-denies-fishing-rights-to-ainu-people-02f58d11)
In Russia the Kamchatka Ainu, Kuril Ainu and Sakhalin Ainu are still not recognized by the Russian government as indigenous inhabitants and continue to fight for their rights, with the leader Alexei Nakamura stating: "perhaps because it is convenient for the government to say there weren't natives in the Southern Kurils, in terms of resource development, for example. Under the Soviet regime, efforts to restore ethnic traditions were practically prohibited. And many Ainu people nearly lost their identity." (https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Russian-Ainu-leader-calls-for-greater-respect2)
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