Dr Kanako Uzawa

2026 Visiting Scholar

Dr. Kanako Uzawa is an Ainu scholar, artist, museum curator, and advocate dedicated to amplifying Indigenous voices worldwide. As the founder of AinuToday and CEO of K. Uzawa Consult, she bridges academic and public platforms to celebrate Indigenous identity. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Global Station for Indigenous Studies and Cultural Diversity at Hokkaido University and an affiliated researcher at the Historical Museum of the University of Oslo, Norway.

Dr. Uzawa holds an MA in Indigenous Studies and a PhD in Community Planning and Cultural Understanding from UiT Arctic University of Norway. Her work spans academia and art, focusing on Indigenous knowledge in museums and theatres.

As an artist, Dr. Uzawa has performed internationally, including at the Cultural Festival Bodø 2024 in Norway. She has also been a Visiting Artist in Residence at La Trobe Art Institute in Australia, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada, and the Swedish National Theatre. She is also a guest curator for the University of Michigan Museum of Art in the United States and the National Museum of Lithuania. Dr. Uzawa’s work celebrates the Ainu spirit while envisioning a future that honors the wisdom and diversity of all Indigenous cultures.

Publications

Uzawa, K. (2023). Hidden stories of Ainu in Tokyo. In University of Arizona Press eBooks (pp. 145–162). https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.6879743.8

Uzawa, K., & Watson, M. K. (2020). Urespa (“growing together”): the remaking of Ainu-Wajin relations in Japan through an innovative social venture. Asian Anthropology, 19(1), 53–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/1683478x.2019.1699599

Uzawa, K. (2019). What does Ainu cultural revitalisation mean to Ainu and Wajin youth in the 21st century? Case study of Urespa as a place to learn Ainu culture in the city of Sapporo, Japan. AlterNative an International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 15(2), 168–179. https://doi.org/10.1177/1177180119846665

Uzawa, K. (2018). Everyday Acts of Resurgence and Diasporic Indigeneity among the Ainu of Tokyo. In ANU Press eBooks (pp. 179–203). https://doi.org/10.22459/ie.2018.20

Uzawa, K. (2007). A comparison between Japan and Norway regarding ILO Convention No. 169. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.633.7122