Editing Ainu people (section)

===Legal action===
[[File:AinuSan.jpg|thumb|Ainu people in front of a traditional building in Shiraoi, Hokkaido.]]
On March 27, 1997, the Sapporo District Court decided a landmark case that, for the first time in Japanese history, recognized the right of the Ainu people to enjoy their distinct culture and traditions. The case arose because of a 1978 government plan to build two dams in the [[Saru River]] watershed in southern Hokkaidō. The dams were part of a series of development projects under the Second National Development Plan that were intended to industrialize the north of Japan.{{sfnp|Levin|2001|pages=445–446}} The planned location for one of the dams was across the valley floor near [[Nibutani]] village,{{sfnp|Levin|1999}} the home of a large community of Ainu people and an important center of Ainu culture and history.{{sfnp|Levin|2001|pages=419, 447}} When the government commenced construction on the [[Nibutani Dam]] in the early 1980s, two Ainu landowners refused to agree to the expropriation of their property. These landowners were Tadashi Kaizawa and Shigeru Kayano—well-known and important leaders in the Ainu community.{{sfnp|Levin|2001|page=443}} After Kaizawa and Kayano declined to sell their land, the Hokkaidō Development Bureau applied for and was subsequently granted a Project Authorization, which required the men to vacate their land. When their appeal of the Authorization was denied, Kayano and Kaizawa's son Koichi (Kaizawa died in 1992) filed suit against the Hokkaidō Development Bureau.

The final decision denied the relief sought by the plaintiffs for pragmatic reasons (the dam was already in place), but the decision was nonetheless heralded as a landmark victory for the Ainu people. Nearly all of the plaintiffs' claims were recognized. Moreover, the decision marked the first time Japanese case law acknowledged the Ainu as an indigenous people and contemplated the responsibility of the Japanese nation to the indigenous people within its borders.{{sfnp|Levin|1999|p=442}} The decision included broad fact-finding that underscored the long history of the oppression of the Ainu people by Japan's majority, referred to as {{lang|ja-Latn|wajin}} in the case, and discussions about the case.{{sfnp|Levin|1999}}{{sfnp|Levin|2008}} The decision was issued on March 27, 1997. Because of the broad implications for Ainu rights, the plaintiffs decided not to appeal the decision, which became final two weeks later. After the decision was issued, on May 8, 1997, the Diet passed the Ainu Culture Law and repealed the Ainu Protection Act—the 1899 law that had been the vehicle of Ainu oppression for almost one hundred years.<ref name="ainushinpou">{{cite journal |last=Yoshida Hitchingham |first=Masako |title=Act for the Promotion of Ainu Culture and Dissemination of Knowledge Regarding Ainu Traditions – A Translation of the Ainu Shinpou |journal=[[Asian–Pacific Law & Policy Journal]] |volume=1 |issue=1 |year=2000 |url=http://blog.hawaii.edu/aplpj/files/2011/11/APLPJ_01.1_hitchingham_masako.pdf |access-date=June 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713190741/http://blog.hawaii.edu/aplpj/files/2011/11/APLPJ_01.1_hitchingham_masako.pdf |archive-date=July 13, 2015 |url-status=live}}<br />The law's original Japanese text is available at [[:ja:s:アイヌ文化の振興並びにアイヌの伝統等に関する知識の普及及び啓発に関する法律|Wikisource]].</ref>{{sfnp|Levin|2001|page=467}} While the Ainu Culture Law has been widely criticized for its shortcomings, the shift that it represents in Japan's view of the Ainu people is a testament to the importance of the Nibutani decision. In 2007, the "Cultural Landscape along the [[Saru River|Sarugawa River]] resulting from Ainu Tradition and Modern Settlement" was designated an [[Cultural Landscapes of Japan|Important Cultural Landscape of Japan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/412/00003550 |title=Database of Registered National Cultural Properties |publisher=[[Agency for Cultural Affairs]] |access-date=April 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223144454/https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/412/00003550 |archive-date=December 23, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> A later action seeking the restoration of Ainu assets held in trust by the Japanese government was dismissed in 2008.<ref>Levin & Tsunemoto, ''Oklahoma Law Review''.</ref>