Report on "Ainu People and Expositions: 150 Years of Experience" (National Museum of Japanese History). Tracing Individual Voices Beyond the "Exhibited" History
A report on the exhibition "Ainu People and Expositions" at the National Museum of Japanese History, tracing Ainu experiences through personal voices.Summary
The exhibition "Ainu People and Expositions: 150 Years of Experience," co-organized by the National Museum of Japanese History and the National Ainu Museum, is being held at the National Museum of Japanese History in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture, until November 29. It traces 150 years of Ainu history in relation to expositions, from the 1872 Yushima Seido Exposition to Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai. Expositions served as places to spread new knowledge but also to compare and rank people and cultures, and the history of Ainu people being exhibited under discrimination and prejudice cannot be avoided. However, this exhibition does not portray the Ainu solely as passive subjects; it also focuses on the circumstances and decisions of those involved in participation and exhibits, as well as new experiences and relationships born through expositions. One highlight is the "voices" of those involved, presented alongside historical materials. Through four chapters, it follows the experiences of people involved, from late Edo-period product fairs to postwar local expositions, Expo '70, and recent dance performances at Expo 2025. Additionally, the museum fully renewed its Permanent Exhibition Room 5 "Modern" in March for the first time in about 30 years, and the section "Modernity for the Ainu" shares themes with this exhibition, offering a more three-dimensional view of modern Ainu history when seen together.
(Source：Tokyo Art Beat)