Giichi Nomura (野村義一, October 20, 1914 – December 28, 2008) was an advocate and activist for the

Ainu people The Ainu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Khabarovsk Krai, before the arrival of the Y ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Born in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, Nomura, of Ainu descent, became a career fisheries executive. In 1960 he joined the

Hokkaido Utari Association The is an umbrella group of which most Hokkaidō Ainu and some other Ainu are members. Originally controlled by the government with the intention of speeding Ainu assimilation and integration into the Japanese nation state A nation stat ...

, an Ainu advocacy group. Nomura represented the organization in several positions, including executive director from 1964 to 1996. In 1992, Nomura spoke at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

concerning Ainu issues including Japan's policy of forced assimilation. Nomura spoke of the Japanese government's attitude towards the Ainu people: "In the eyes of the government, we are a people whose existence must not be admitted."''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

'', "r.i.p", January 30, 2009, p. 7. Nomura died in Noboribetsu, Hokkaido on December 28, 2008.

References

1914 births 2008 deaths Japanese Ainu people People from Hokkaido Japanese human rights activists Ainu activists {{ainu-bio-stub