On September 24th, Sucker Punch Productions announced Ghost of Yōtei, the follow-up to the 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima. Set in 1603, more than 300 years after the first game, players will follow the new Ghost Atsu in the region surrounding Mt. Yōtei in Ezo, present-day Hokkaido.
1603 was a tumultuous time of infighting among Japanese domains and rising tensions with the Ainu, Hokkaido’s indigenous people. The Ainu weren’t mentioned at all in the trailer or game summary, which is likely very intentional rather than dismissive.
But it also has some wondering what the game’s Ainu representation will look like — and whether it will mirror the real history of discrimination that continues to this day.
Clues in the announcement trailer
Right away, we hit a stumbling block with the game’s title. First off, it’s inaccurate relative to the time period. The mountain in question wouldn’t be renamed Yōtei until the 1960s.
But this inaccuracy is intentional, right? Ainu researcher Tangiku Itsuji thinks so. He posted on X/Twitter his conviction that Mt. Yōtei was called Machineshir, or “female mountain” by the Ainu.
To the Yamato Japanese, Machineshir was Kouhou Yoteizan or Shiribeshi. Tangiku speculates the usage of Yōtei in the title represents the days of early contact between the Ainu and Japanese and the strict assimilation policies during the Meiji period, forgoing everything beforehand. While he sees this as a dig at colonialism, the name is most likely for marketing purposes.
The appearance of the Ezo wolf in the trailer is also telling. The Ezo or Hokkaido wolf, declared extinct in 1889, called Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands home. The Ainu called the wolf horkew kamuy (howling or hunting god) and treated it with great respect. Ainu hunters would leave part of their kills for the wolves, and occasionally sacrificed wolves in traditional iomante or “sending away” ceremonies.
Speculating on the Ainu involvement
Infighting and political maneuvering were happening among the established Japanese domains, but it’s possible the new Ghost will also become embroiled in tensions between the Japanese and Ainu.
In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu officially became shogun. The following year, he granted the Matsumae domain exclusive rights to oversee all trade in Ezo. Ainu superiority would decline as a result. 1603, then, would be the last time the Ainu had the upper hand — but they certainly wouldn’t submit without a fight.
Depicting the Ainu during this time with sincerity and accuracy without veering into cultural appropriation requires input from the Ainu themselves, not just academics and researchers. Sucker Punch hopefully took notes from studios like Firaxis.
The makers of the Civilization series collaborated with the Native American Shawnee tribe to create a playable character modeled off their leader Tecumseh for the series’ seventh installment. The partnership benefited Firaxis in helping them move on from the game’s past inaccurate depictions of Native Americans. It also benefited the Shawnee tribe, who received sorely needed funds for language revitalization programs.
If Sucker Punch did their due diligence, what did that behind-the-scenes collaboration look like? What aspects of the Ainu language and culture will players experience? Will audio options include Ainu characters speaking Ainu and Japanese, or exclusively Japanese? And honestly, how cool would it be to hear Ainu language?
A history of struggle
Some suggest the colonization of Hokkaido started with a smattering of trading posts as far back as the 700s. Taming the frontier became more of a prerogative in the Heian period.
The Japanese gradually expanded to the northernmost tip of Honshu and into southern Hokkaido through the conquest of ethnic groups collectively called the Emishi. From 1185-1568, Japan called the lands north of the Tsugaru Peninsula Ezogashima, or “barbarian islands”. To the Ainu who called it home, it was Ainu Mosir.
The Ainu were no stranger to trade. Their high-quality goods prompted the lords of Dewa province (Yamagata and Akita prefectures) to vie for exclusive trading rights. During the Kamakura shogunate, Ezo was largely outside the government’s purview. Trade flourished outside the restrictions of tariffs, ushering in a new era of Ainu material culture.
But the Ainu were also quick to rebuff further expansion efforts by the Japanese families they traded with. The most well-known bloody conflict was Koshamain’s War in 1456, sparked by a minor dispute that ended with Ainu chief Koshamain destroying twelve forts before being defeated. Further conflicts ensued over the next century, straining social and economic relations.
Still fighting for rights
As they had before and after 1603, the Ainu continue to fight against the erasure of their culture and history. The 2019 Ainu recognition bill was seen by many as a step towards official recognition of the Ainu’s struggles. Yet its vague wording and failure to grant indigenous rights displeased many Ainu. The bill passed later that year, and the government did follow through with providing grants for Ainu cultural preservation.
Unfortunately, discrimination against Ainu is also still very much a present-day issue. In a 2023 survey, 29% said they experienced discrimination for being Ainu, while 38% knew an Ainu person close to them who’d experienced discrimination. Most discrimination occurred online (42%), but respondents also reported experiencing it at work (13%) and school (10%). The top reasons for discrimination included racial prejudice (70%), misunderstanding of the Ainu’s ethnic historical and social background (55%), and a lack of understanding of Ainu culture (46%).
Some academic institutions are attempting to redress their past unethical treatment of the Ainu. Last year, the Melbourne Museum of Australia returned ancestral remains stolen nearly a century ago to the Ainu for proper burial. Tokyo University also returned ancestral remains in 2020.
The Golden Kamuy manga, which features Ainu culture and language, has also helped bring awareness to the Ainu and their way of life. Nakagawa Hiroshi, Ainu language researcher and consultant for the popular Golden Kamuy manga, just released a 657-page Ainu language and grammar handbook, marking a monumental achievement in language preservation and education.
Beyond the game
Japan is no stranger to anime tourism, or seichi junrei (聖地巡礼) promoting visiting real-life landmarks to hardcore fans of a piece of media. While the game title is inaccurate, it’s a gateway to exploring the real-life locations. For example, following the release of Ghost of Tsushima, the Nagasaki Prefectural Government and a Tsushima tourism association teamed up with the game creators for a tourism collaboration to promote pilgrimages to locations featured in-game.
Today, Mt. Yōtei is considered the Mt. Fuji of Hokkaido. It sits in Shikotsu-Toya National Park and attracts avid hikers and skiers. It’s not unthinkable for a similar collaboration to happen with Ghost of Yōtei, ideally with the cooperation of the Ainu.
Given this game’s setting, to not include the Ainu would only further diminish the struggles they face today. But it also would be inaccurate to depict them as passive, completely assimilated, and beaten down by centuries of oppression. They were, and are, still very much their own people.
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Sources
Tweet by @itangiku. X
Walker, Brett L.. The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion, 1590-1800. Ukraine, University of California Press, 2001.
Civilization 7 makers work with Shawnee to bring sincere representation of the tribe to the game. AP News
約３割が“アイヌを理由に差別受けた“ 道のアンケート調査で. NHK
Tweet by @hakusuisha_G. X
Ghost of Tsushima – About Tsushima. Sony Interactive Entertainment
