ElKazovskyfan23's Reviews > Our Land Was a Forest: An Ainu Memoir

** spoiler alert ** I think this might be one of my favorite books—it provides a fascinating look into the history of the Ainu people, and of Japan, in the 20th century, and compelling chronicles the author’s efforts to preserve Ainu culture while facing the challenges of colonization, industrialization, and the passage of time itself. I particularly appreciated Kayano Shigeru’s reflections on the tensions between the colonial market for certain kinds of histories and media about their colonial subjects (such as exemplified by the “Ainu Village” theme park where he briefly worked) and the histories that they themselves produce. If I ever have the opportunity to do a course on 20th century history via the memoir, or global narratives of colonization, or Ecology and the history of 20th cen colonization, or the understanding and construction of racial categories in the early 20th century (and the role that anthropology played in that), this book would definitely be a cornerstone of the syllabus.