Dr. Kanako Uzawa initiated AinuToday in 2021. Dr. Uzawa is an Ainu scholar, advocate, and performer who is a child of global Indigenous communities. AinuToday is a knowledge-sharing platform, consisting of three parts: scholarship, advocacy, and art.

We welcome anyone who is interested in the Ainu people, culture, art, and rights. The Ainu are an Indigenous people of Japan who are known as the people of the North, and have a rich knowledge in nature, art, and people. Just like many other Indigenous peoples, the Ainu have been marginalized and assimilated into Japanese society, resulting in an existential threat to the Ainu people and their culture.

However, the Ainu people have maintained their culture to the present day and draw from it inspiration for their future. AinuToday offers a place and space for Ainu people to express their voices and expressions through their scholarship, advocacy, and art. It introduces their firsthand narratives and stories, along with the worldview of the Ainu.

AinuToday is a unique change from most of the representations of the Ainu in the past, introducing a new way to learn about Ainu people and culture. It focuses on the contemporary aspects of Ainu livelihood and expression, which goes beyond the stereotyped or essentialized view of the Ainu people in the past.