An Ainu woman is no longer remaining silent but speaking out against a lawmaker’s continued discriminatory remarks toward the Ainu indigenous people, which have been officially recognized as human rights violations.

“I’m terrified of what will happen to a society that silently watches a Diet member who incites discrimination,” said Ryoko Tahara, an Ainu activist, citing recent comments by Mio Sugita, a lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who has a history of uttering offensive remarks.

Tahara, who filed a petition with the Sapporo Legal Affairs Bureau for violation of human rights, participated in a hearing held by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on Nov. 15.

The issue originated from a 2016 blog post in which Sugita mocked ethnic Korean residents and Ainu indigenous people who wore traditional costumes at a meeting of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in Geneva.

Sugita derided them as “middle-aged women” who were “completely devoid of dignity” when they appeared at the session in “cosplay of Chimageogori and Ainu ethnic costumes.”

Tahara, who attended the session as a member of a nongovernmental organization, was speaking about the plight of Ainu women who have suffered many indignities such as ethnic discrimination, male chauvinism and patriarchy.

She said Ainu women have limited educational opportunities and high rates of non-regular employment, as well as often becoming victims of domestic violence.

Sugita, who had lost in the 2014 Lower House election, was also an attendee.

She posted on her blog photos of Tahara and other Ainu people, saying they are “a disgrace to Japan” and “the enemy is right in front of us! A large group of leftists.”

Tahara read Sugita’s posts after returning to Japan. At that time, she chose to remain silent.

Hate speech against Koreans residing in Japan and the Ainu was intensifying in Japan.

“I was gripped by fear and a sense of powerlessness,” Tahara said. “I didn’t know how to fight back.”

Six years later, Sugita, now a Diet member, was appointed as the parliamentary vice minister for internal affairs and communications.

After being grilled about her blog in an extraordinary Diet session in autumn, Sugita apologized and retracted her discriminatory descriptions following instructions from the internal affairs ministry.

Tahara then agreed to an interview and shared her thoughts publicly.

Soon after, discriminatory posts flooded online such as “Ainu? Middle-aged women in cosplay, right?” and “(Sugita) was criticizing an activist who is demeaning Japan. What’s wrong with that?”

Many posts echoed Sugita’s views, perpetuating discrimination.

“I can’t stay silent anymore. We must not forgive the lawmaker who demeans others and the discriminators who hang around her,” Tahara said.

This year, she asked the legal affairs bureau to delete 658 posts as discriminatory ones.

In March, she filed a complaint of human rights violations, and in September, the Justice Ministry recognized Sugita’s posts as a human rights violation.

Tahara now hopes for a “more just society.”

SUGITA CONTINUES DEFIANT COMMENTS

Sugita continued to express her opinion publicly.

On Nov. 1, on a YouTube channel for the monthly magazine Seiron, she criticized the system for recognizing human rights violations.

“There are no regulations that provide the basis for the definition of human rights,” Sugita said.

On Nov. 9, she appeared on a YouTube channel for the monthly magazine, WiLL. Sugita touched on the estimated budget of 6.6 billion yen ($43 million) for Ainu policy in fiscal 2024.

She then expressed her opinion that there is misappropriation in a government project related to Ainu culture and accused those involved of exploiting public funds, saying, “They are sucking up public money.”

During the CDP’s hearing on Nov. 15, Tahara urged the Justice Ministry, which oversees the human rights violation system, and the Cabinet Secretariat, which manages Ainu policy, to respond firmly to Sugita’s remarks.

“Otherwise, they will lose credibility,” she said.

Officials at the ministry and the Cabinet Secretariat refrained from commenting on Sugita’s statements.

A Cabinet Secretariat official acknowledged some misappropriation of public funds in the past but said, “Currently, there is no improper accounting.”