ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how Ainu ethnicity was formed and gendered in the process of transforming the Ainu into citizens from two perspectives: that of the Japanese nation-state, and that of the Ainu community itself. It believes that this be instrumental in further elucidating the historical background of the current position of the Ainu. The chapter discusses how the Ainu were positioned by the nation-state. It explores how, Ainu men created and maintained an ethnicity which meant 'becoming Ainu who are not inferior to Wajin'. Female Ainu ethnicity was, thus, relegated to the sphere of the home and was concealed in the process of transforming Ainu women into Japanese citizens, as be discussed below with reference to Ainu social movements. Yet, such gendered ethnicity has been given a role to play in multiculturalism as a result of the 1997 enactment of the Cultural Promotion Act (CPA), and the chapter addresses the issues involved in the CPA.
