Five sets of Ainu remains to be returned from Britain

The government has said that the remains of five Ainu people will be returned from the Natural History Museum in Britain to Japan.

In early fiscal 2026, which begins next April, officials from the Japanese government and the Ainu Association of Hokkaido will travel to Britain to receive four of the five sets of remains, the government said Friday. The locations where the four sets were excavated are known.

The remains were taken out of Japan for reasons such as research.

It will be the fourth time that Ainu remains have been returned to Japan, after a set of remains was returned from Germany in 2017, four from Australia in 2023 and three from Edinburgh University in April this year.

Of the five sets of Ainu remains, three were discovered in the town of Yakumo and one in the town of Mori in Hokkaido. Records show that the remains were dug up in 1865 in both locations.

It is unknown when and where the fifth set of remains was found.

After their return, the remains will be housed at a memorial facility in the National Ainu Museum and Park, or Upopoy, in the Hokkaido town of Shiraoi.

“It will finally be possible to commemorate them in their homeland once they are returned,” Hitoshi Kikawada, Japanese minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs, who is in charge of Ainu issues, told a news conference.

“We would like to firmly proceed with the return process, while making sure that the pride of the Ainu people is respected,” Kikawada added.