Breaking News English

The Japanese government has introduced a [bell / bill] to recognize the country's [ethnic / ethnicity] Ainu minority group as an "indigenous" people. It is the first time for Japan's government to [do / done] this. It comes after decades of [lobbying / lobbing] and campaigning by Ainu people to be [recognized / recognition] . The Ainu are an indigenous people of Japan [paginating / originating] in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, north-eastern Honshu, and islands [among / between] Japan and Russia. Their official number today is around 25,000, but many [observers / lookers] estimate a more accurate [figure / numeral] to be around 200,000. Many Ainu have been completely assimilated into Japanese society and have no knowledge of their ancestry or historical [stems / roots] , traditions and culture.

The Japan Today website wrote about the [hardcopy / hardships] the Ainu have faced. It said: "The Ainu people...have long suffered the [affects / effects] of a policy of forced [maximization / assimilation] , and while discrimination has receded [gradual / gradually] , income and education gaps with the [rest / calm] of Japan persist." Japan's government spoke about the importance [of / at] passing the new legislation. It said: "It is important to protect the [honor / honest] and dignity of the Ainu people and to hand those down to the next generation to realize a [vibrant / vagrant] society with diverse values." Ainu spokesman Tadashi Kato said: "It feels like we woke up now from a [truth / truly] deep sleep....It will lead to building a society where we cohabit together. We think this is the first [step / stair] ."