Overview
- On December 15, the presidents of three major societies issued a joint statement opposing discrimination that denies Ainu indigeneity and rejecting the misuse of research as supposed scientific justification for hate speech.
- The Japanese Anthropological Association delivered its first formal apology, acknowledging that past collection, storage, and research practices caused harm to Ainu people.
- The Japanese Archaeological Association also apologized for inappropriate collection of human remains and grave goods connected to Ainu communities.
- The Japan Association for Cultural Anthropology had previously apologized in 2024 over improper handling of Ainu remains within academic research.
- Repatriation continues under national guidelines issued in 2018, returning remains to descendants or transferring them to the Upopoy memorial facility in Shiraoi, Hokkaido.