Eriko Yamamoto, Ph.D., is a historian specializing in Japanese American history, ethnicity and Oral History. Currently she is an American Studies Center adjunct researcher and on the Global and Regional Studies adjunct faculty of Doshisha University. Formerly she was a professor of American Studies at Sugiyama Jogakuen University in Nagoya (1989-2003) and a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at UCLA Asian American Studies Center (1998-99). In 2003-4, she was on the Discover Nikkei international project at the Japanese American National Museum to launch a new website on the Japanese diaspora. A native of Ishikawa Prefecture, Yamamoto received her BA in English from Kobe City University of Foreign Studies. While pursuing an MA in American Studies at the Univ. of Tsukuba, she went to Claremont Graduate School on a Sankei Scholarship, receiving an MA in American Studies in 1983 and followed with an East-West Center Grant to further her study on Japanese immigration history at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her Ph.D. was awarded in 1988 in American Studies. In her effort to promulgate oral history in Japan, she has co-founded the Japan Oral History Association in 2003. A life member of Oral History Association (U.S.), she is the first Japanese to be elected Council member for the International Oral History Association (2004-6). Her publications include “Miya Sannomiya Kikuchi: A Pioneer Nisei Woman's Life and Identity,” Amerasia Journal (1997), “Cheers for Japanese Athletes: The 1932 Los Angeles Olympics and the Japanese American Community,” Pacific Historical Review (2000), “Oral History in Japan: The Need for Collective Effort and Communication among Practitioners,” Words and Silences (2002). She serves as the president of the East-West Center Chubu Chapter and the vice-president of the Nagoya Fulbright Association. She is also an amateur folk singer who admires Joan Baez and performs in Kyoto/Osaka to promote world peace.

Oral History and the Ainu Message to the World:
Through Shizue Ukaji’s Documentary, Daichi-yo!

Eriko Yamamoto, Ph.D.
Doshisha University Adjunct Researcher

Shizue Ukaji is a 92-year-old Ainu woman who is speaking up to express her concerns for world peace and the environment, offering her Ainu heritages and wisdom as her last testament. Her message to younger generations of Ainu and non-Ainu herald regained ethnic pride that shines out especially in her 2023 documentary film, Daichi-yo, produced by Fujiwara Shoten and directed by Kin Taii. The film is a rare product of oral history in Japan, depicting a minority group from their own perspective with dignity and respect for their culture. The film’s successful use of oral history interviews represents a case of “shared authority”: Ukaji’s oral expressiveness of her indigenous heritage, intermingled with Fujiwara’s social consciousness as an academic publisher and Kin’s adherence to accurately represent Ukaji’s narratives and her world. Additional factors in the success are her advanced age and the new law that respects Ainu culture, as well as interactions with other indigenous peoples in the world. The film is a highly educational contribution as it shows Japan’s multicultural history arising from the Meiji government’s annexation of Hokkaido and yet hidden because of its assimilation policy and oppression toward the Ainu. The analysis of Ukaji’s documentary film and her messages show how one minority woman’s memories and thoughts can be recorded, preserved and spread through Oral History interviews in an audiovisual format. As Japan and the world are becoming more inward-looking and hostile toward people of different origin or culture in recent years, the film can provide a precious perspective and serve as an educational tool, while showing researchers how to center the minority’s perspective and identity when recording their history.