Japanese team visits ISU in Melbourne

The team at University Of Melbourne's Indigenous Studies Unit (Onemda at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health) was pleased to host Professor Hirofumi Kato and colleagues during their visit to Australia.

Professor Kato is Professor of Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies (CAIS) at Hokkaido University and director of the Global Station for Indigenous Studies and Cultural Diversity (GSI). He is a prominent archaeologist and academic whose work focuses on the Indigenous Ainu people of northern Japan.

Professor Kato's team has collaborated with the ISU (headed by Professor Marcia Langton AO) on Japanese and Australian perspectives on Indigenous rights and research.

Hokkaido University this year celebrates its 150th anniversary. The Indigenous Ainu people traditionally lived primarily on the islands of Hokkaido, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

The discussion during their visit focussed on the ongoing work being conducted at the National Ainu Museum, which in June 2025 appointed its first Indigenous Ainu Executive Director, Mr Masahiro Nomoto.

Also discussed at the lunch were some of the challenges faced in both Aboriginal Australian and Japanese Ainu communities in repatriating human remains held in museums and universities back to community.

The Indigenous Ainu people traditionally lived primarily on the islands of Hokkaido, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

Professor Kato was accompanied on his trip by students Ms Aki Narumi, Ms Riu Sugimoto and Dr Nahid Uz Zaman.

The delegation also visited University of Melbourne's Melbourne Poche Centre for Indigenous Health and Murrup Barak, Melbourne Institute for Indigenous Development.