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Ainu Exclusive Fishing Rights Lawsuit and Sustainable Development: Climate and Environmental Background, Historical Background, and the Meaning of Sustainable Development

  • Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies
  • Abbr : JAPS
  • 2024, 31(2), pp.51-68
  • DOI : 10.18107/japs.2024.31.2.003
  • Publisher : Institute of Global Affairs
  • Research Area : Social Science > Social Science in general
  • Received : May 19, 2024
  • Accepted : June 13, 2024
  • Published : June 30, 2024

Seokhee Kim 1

1경희대학교 국제지역연구원

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This article aims to reconsider the meaning of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of the recent ruling in Japan regarding the Ainu people’s losing the legal battle over exclusive fishing rights against Hokkaido and the Japanese government, based on the environmental and historical background. First, the environmental context of the case is deeply linked to rising water temperatures and declining fish stocks due to climate change and historically linked to the Japanese government’s arbitrary and violent industrial restrictions and colonization since the 13th century. The Japanese government recognizes the indigenous rights of the Ainu in the context of sustainable development, which is a global issue. However, the recent ruling to reject the Ainu’s claim lawsuit reveals that the Japanese government is very conservative and centralized in economic terms (as opposed to language and traditional culture). The ultimate goal of multiculturalism is not to simply lock indigenous peoples in the past and use them as tourist resources. The loss of the Ainu people’s lawsuit for exclusive fishing rights not only illustrates the barriers between cultural identity and autonomous economic rights, but also points the way toward the idea that true indigenous rights must include political and economic independence.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.