Abstract

The Ainu are an Indigenous group currently living primarily in Japan. Following the cultural revitalisation of laws and social movements and the appropriation of new technologies, Ainu communities are increasingly using social media to disseminate their culture. However, research on the Ainu people has rarely discussed their communication strategies in current media. In this study, a total of 428 Ainu-related videos uploaded on YouTube were analysed. Basic information about the videos was obtained through the YouTube application programming interface and additional information was acquired by watching them. The videos were categorised into three groups: those produced only by Ainu people, with Ainu people, or without Ainu collaborators. Statistical and qualitative differences between release and upload dates, keywords, categories, conceptualisers, producers, presenters, YouTube metrics, tags, and video descriptions were used to uncover the different types of content created and/or endorsed by Ainu people and the communication strategies used by them and their allies. The combination of quantitative and qualitative methods based on Indigenous communication approaches adopted in this study proved to be useful in understanding Indigenous media in online contexts.

Details

Title
YouTube Itak: a description of Ainu-related videos
Author
Vargas Meza, Xanat 1 ; Hayashi-Simpliciano, R. Shizuko 2 ; Yokoyama, Takumi 3 ; Nishimura, Chieko 4 ; Nishida, Ryohei 5 ; Ochiai, Yoichi 6 

 Kyoto University, Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology, Kyoto, Japan (GRID:grid.258799.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 0372 2033); University of Tsukuba, Research and Development Centre for Digital Nature, School of Library, Information and Media Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan (GRID:grid.20515.33) (ISNI:0000 0001 2369 4728) 
 Ancestral Connections, Hawaii, US (GRID:grid.20515.33) 
 University of Tsukuba, Master Program in Informatics, Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan (GRID:grid.20515.33) (ISNI:0000 0001 2369 4728) 
 University of Tsukuba, Master Program in Informatics, College of Knowledge Information and Library Science, School of Informatics, Tsukuba, Japan (GRID:grid.20515.33) (ISNI:0000 0001 2369 4728) 
 Kyoto University of the Arts, Architecture Design (Distance Learning Course), Faculty of Arts, Kyoto, Japan (GRID:grid.258799.8) (ISNI:0000 0004 0372 2033) 
 University of Tsukuba, Research and Development Centre for Digital Nature, School of Library, Information and Media Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan (GRID:grid.20515.33) (ISNI:0000 0001 2369 4728) 
Pages
825
Publication year
2023
Publication date
Dec 2023
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
e-ISSN
2662-9992
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2890603023
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.