Despite the decision of the Nibutani Dam Case that stated the Ainu, who have inhabited Hokkaido and its neighbouring islands since time immemorial, were entitled to have the right of enjoyment of culture as indigenous people, the Biratori Dam Project is underway in the heart of Ainu culture in Hokkaido. The legal system which includes the Environmental Impact Assessment and the Amended River Act allows the authorities to give priority to river development. In 1997 the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act, which represented the Japanese assimilation policy, was replaced by the New Ainu Law. However, Japan's current Ainu policy has yet to take firm steps toward the protection of Ainu indigenous rights. This paper looks at the legal system surrounding the Saru River Development Project in light of the conservation of both Ainu culture and the environment. Further, the current Ainu policy is discussed in its domestic and international contexts.
AiuchiT. (1999). Shonin chosho [Witness statement]. In KayanoS., & TanakaH. (Eds.), Nibutani damu saiban no kiroku [Documents of the Nibutani Dam Case], (pp. 407–426). Tokyo, Japan: Sanseido.
5.
AnayaJ. (2011). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. UN doc. A/HRC/18/35/Add.2. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations.
6.
Biratori Cho [Town]. (2006). Ainu bunka kankyo hozen taisaku chosa sokatsu hokokusho [The comprehensive report on the research on measures for the conservation of Ainu culture and the environment]. Biratori Cho, Japan: Author.
7.
DaesI. E. (2009). The contribution of the working group on indigenous populations to the genesis and evolution of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In ChartersC., & StavenhagenR. (Eds.), Making the declaration work (pp. 48–77). Copenhagen, Denmark: Eks-Skolens Trykkeri.
8.
Government of Finland. (2009). Mid-term evaluation second international decade of the world's indigenous people 2005-2014. Questionnaire presented to Government/reply of Finland. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
9.
Government of Japan. (2009). Mid-term evaluation second international decade of the world's indigenous people 2005-2014. Questionnaire presented to Government/reply of Japan. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
HeinamakiL. (2009). Protecting the rights of indigenous peoples—Promoting the sustainability of the global environment?International Community Law Review, 11(1), 3–68.
12.
HenriksenB. J. (2001). Implementation of the rights of self-determination of indigenous peoples.Indigenous Affairs, 3, 7–21.
13.
HenriksenB. J. (2009). Sámi self-determination. Autonomy and self-government: Education, research and culture.Gáldu Cála, No. 2.Kautokeino, Norway: Gáldu.
14.
Hokkaido Development Bureau (HDB). (2000). Sarugawa ryuiki iinkai secchi yoryo [Document to set up the Board of Saru River Basin].Sapporo, Japan: Author.
15.
ShimbunHokkaido (2002, 12 April). Hokkaido shinbun shukusastu ban 2002 4 [The April 2002 compact edition of the Hokkaido Shimbun], p. 532. Retrieved from https://t21.nikkei.co.jp/g3/p01/LCMN0F11.do/doshin/
HossainK. (2008). Hunting by indigenous peoples of charismatic mega-fauna: Does human rights approach challenge the way hunting by indigenous peoples is regulated?International Community Law Review, 10(3), 295–318.
18.
IwasakiM. (2005). Shakai eikyo hyoka no shuho to Nibutani Damu no jirei [Methods of social impact assessment and the Case of the Nibutani Dam].Kaihatsu Ronshu, 76, 89–109.
19.
IwasakiM. (2007). Damu kensetsu to Sarugawa Ryuiki no hitobito no seikatsu [The construction of dams and the life of local residents in the Saru River Basin].Kaihatsu Ronshu, 79, 61–78.
20.
Kayano and Kaizawa v. Hokkaido Expropriation Committee, 1598 Hanrei Jiho 1997, p. 33.
21.
MaruyamaH. (2006). Naihatsuteki hatten to chiiki shakai no kanosei [Endogenous development and possibilities of a local community].Kyoto, Japan: Horitsu Bunka Sha.
22.
MaruyamaH. (2011). Nibutani damu no ihosei to ainu bunka [The illegality of the Nibutani Dam Project and publicness of Ainu culture in Hokkaido, Japan]. In KaizawaK., MaruyamaH., MatsunaT., & OkunoT. (Eds.), Ainu minzoku no fukken [Restoration of the Ainu as indigenous people] (pp. 53–73). Kyoto, Japan: Horitsu Bunka Sha.
23.
MaruyamaH. (2012). Ainu landowners’ struggle for justice and the illegality of the Nibutani Dam project in Hokkaido Japan.International Community Law Review, 14(1), 63–80.
24.
MindeH. (2003). The challenge of indigenism: The struggle for Sámi land rights and self-government in Norway 1960-1990. In JentoftS., MindeH., & NilsenR. (Eds.), Indigenous peoples: Resource management and global rights (pp. 75–106). Delft, The Netherlands: Eburon.
25.
MindeH. (2008). The destination and the journey: Indigenous peoples and the United Nations from 1960s through 1985. In MindeH. (Ed.), Indigenous peoples: Self-determination, knowledge, indigeneity (pp. 49–86). Delft, The Netherlands: Eburon.
Research Group. (1976). Sarugawa mizushigen mondai ni kansuru chosa hokokusho [Report of problems with water resource of the Saru River].Biratori, Japan: Biratori Town Office.
30.
RisethJ. A. (2005). “So the last shall be first, and first last?” Sámi reindeer management vs. other land users in Mid-Scandinavia. In CantG., GoodallA., & InnsJ. (Eds.), Discourses and silences: Indigenous peoples, risks and resistance (pp. 35–55). Christchurch, New Zealand: Department of Geography, University of Canterbury.
31.
SiddleR.1996. Race, resistance and the Ainu of Japan.London, England: Routledge.
32.
TanakaH. (1999). Bobiroku ni kaete [A memo to keep in mind]. In KayanoS., & TanakaH. (Eds.), Nibutani damu saiban no kiroku [Documents of the Nibutani Dam Case] (pp. 57–77). Tokyo, Japan: Sanseido.
33.
United Nations Commission on Human Rights. (2009). Standard setting: Legal commentary on the concept of free, prior and informed consent.Geneva, Switzerland: Commission on Human Rights.
34.
United Nations General Assembly. (2007, 13 September). General Assembly adopts Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; ‘major step forward’ towards human rights for all, says President. UN doc. GA/10612. New York, NY: United Nations.
35.
UzawaK., & LundM. (2008). Japan. In WessendorfK. (Ed.), The indigenous world 2008 (pp. 248–255). Copenhagen, Denmark: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs.
