Hundreds of Ainu from all over Japan and their supporters staged a protest May 22 in Tokyo's Nagata-cho district, demanding the government recognize them as indigenous people.

Petitions were submitted to both houses of the Diet and to the Prime Minister's Office seeking official recognition as a native people, and legal measures to improve the Ainu's social and financial circumstances.

Japan was among 144 member states that voted in favor last September when the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Even so, the government continues to deny recognition of the Ainu, arguing there is no "official" definition of who are indigenous people.