Iboshi Hokuto: The Legacy of the Ainu Poet-Activist
He was spurred by colonialist propaganda that called his people “a dying race.”
By Alyssa Pearl Fusek
At the beginning of the 20th century, Japan was quickly settling into its new incarnation as an urban, modernizing nation. However, for the indigenous Ainu in Hokkaido, the twentieth century heralded further erosion of their culture and ways of life.
The Ainu growing up under stricter assimilation policies included writers and activists constantly questioning their Ainu identities in a modernizing Japan. Of these Ainu, three stood out as renowned poets: Batchelor Yaeko, Moritake Takeichi, and Iboshi Hokuto.
The work of Iboshi and others was integral to a greater movement keen on eliminating the dying race rhetoric perpetuated by the Japanese. Through his poetry and activism, Iboshi sought to dismantle long-held Ainu stereotypes and rekindle pride in Ainu culture and identity.
The state of Ainu in the new century
The 17th-century Matsumae domain’s policies decimated Ainu agrarian ways, forcing many Ainu into wage labor and commercial fishing. The 1868 Meiji Restoration, lead to a renewed effort to tame Hokkaido and establish a stronger foothold against Russian interests.
