The Regenesis of an ‘Ainu Heart’ through the Performance of Ainu Heteroglossia in Tokyo

Using a case study approach, this thesis explores the ways in which Ainu individuals living in Tokyo are able to celebrate their Indigeneity in the 21st century. The adoption of traditional yet innovative ancestral ways connected to their homelands in the northern island of Hokkaido enables them to (re)connect with their Ainu cultural inheritance and spirituality in new and exciting ways in the urban environment of Tokyo. Three peripheral multilingual spaces have emerged in this cityscape as examples of how Ainu living in the present can express their 'Ainu heart' alongside contemporary sociolinguistic realities.