Japan

Okinawans or Ryūkyūans are the Indigenous Peoples of the Ryūkyū Islands, which make up the current Okinawa prefecture in Japan. The Ainu are the Indigenous People of Hokkaido, the second largest island in Japan.

The Japanese government has adopted the UNDRIP, although it does not recognize the unconditional right to self-determination and has not ratified ILO Convention 169.

Indigenous Peoples in Japan

Okinawans, or Ryūkyūans, live in the Ryūkyū Islands, which make up the current Okinawa prefecture in Japan. They comprise several groups of Indigenous languages with different cultural features. Although there has been some migration of ethnic Japanese to the islands, the population is largely Indigenous Ryūkyūans.

The island is home to 1.1 million of the 1.4 million inhabitants of Okinawa who live throughout Ryūkyūs. The Japanese government does not recognize the inhabitants of Okinawa as Indigenous. The most recent government surveys put the Ainu population in Hokkaido at 13,118 (2017) and in the rest of Japan at 210 (2011), though experts estimate the actual population to be much higher.