Abstract: The Ainu people, as indigenous inhabitants of the northern regions of the Japanese archipelago and surrounding areas, have long suffered from the neglect of their ethnic identity and rights. In recent years, Japan has sought to rectify its past policies of forced assimilation towards the Ainu people by enacting the Ainu Ethnicity Support Law. This marks the first legal recognition of the Ainu people as indigenous inhabitants, emphasizing a notion of ethnic “symbiosis”. The shift can be attributed not only to pressure from the Ainu people for their rights but also to international public opinion and pragmatic interests. Despite the Japanese government’s changes in Ainu policies, the focus has primarily been on cultural and touristic aspects, with substantive granting of indigenous rights yet to be fully realized. In the future, the Japanese government still faces challenges in restoring Ainu indigenous rights, acknowledging historical aggression, and eliminating ethnic discrimination.

Key words: Japan, Ainu, ethnic policy, assimilation, symbiosis