Nibutani ( ja, 二風谷), or Niptani ( ain, ニㇷ゚タニ), is a district in the town of Biratori in

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

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 ...

. It was once known as ''Pipaushi,'' which means "a place rich in shells." The population as of 2010 was 395 people. A particularly large proportion of the population of the district is of the indigenous Ainu ethnicity. As of 2000, over 80% of the residents were Ainu, making it the settlement with the largest percentage of its residents being Ainu in the country. It is also the site of the

Nibutani Dam is a dam on the Saru River in Hokkaidō, Japan, which stands at Nibutani in Biratori town, Saru District. Work on the dam began in 1990. It was completed in March 1997, despite objections from the local Ainu people. Controversy The building of ...

, and the hometown of

Shigeru Kayano was one of the last native speakers of the Ainu language and a leading figure in the Ainu ethnic movement in Japan. Early life Kayano was born in Nibutani village in Biratori, Hokkaidō, Japan. His family name at birth was Kaizawa, but he ...

. Nibutani is also the site of two Ainu museums "Kayano Shigeru Nibutani Ainu museum" and the "

Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum opened in the Nibutani area of Biratori, Hokkaidō, Japan in 1992. The collection includes 919 items relating to the daily life of the local Ainu that have been jointly designated an Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property; a further 202 ...

", as well as the Nibutani Family Land.

History

In the Edo period, Hokkaidō was assigned to the provincial government of the

Matsumae clan The was a Japanese clan that was confirmed in the possession of the area around Matsumae, Hokkaidō as a march fief in 1590 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and charged with defending it, and by extension the whole of Japan, from the Ainu "barbarians" ...

. Ainu were forced into laboring for one-seventh to one-fifth pay by Matsumae retainers, which the Ainu regarded as slavery. Nibutani Ainu were taken as slaves to Atsukeshi, over 350 kilometers away on the other side of the island. Work-related deaths had reduced the eastern population of Ainu, leading to labor relocation from the

Saru The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board a ...

and Yufutsu areas. In 1858, according to

Matsuura Takeshirō was a Japanese explorer, cartographer, writer, painter, priest, and antiquarian. During the late Edo period and Bakumatsu he journeyed six times to Ezo, including to Sakhalin and the Kuriles. In the early Meiji period he was an official in the ...

's "Saru Journal" quoted by

, the combined populations of Niputani (as it was called then), Pipaus and Kankan villages were 116 villagers among twenty-six households. Of that number, 43 were drafted for forced labor, including Kayano's grandfather Totkaram at the age of 11. Detailed information about the names, ages and households of each village were provided by the Saru Journal. Kayano relates that it was Matsuura Takeshirō "who, angered by the cruelty of the Matsumae province and the 'location' contractors, made repeated proposals that eventually led to the abolition of forced labor."

References

Ainu geography Geography of Hokkaido Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples Biratori, Hokkaido {{ainu-stub