Hokkaido Univ. warns professor for inappropriate social media posts about Ainu people
(Mainichi Japan)
SAPPORO -- Hokkaido University has warned a professor for repeatedly posting inappropriate comments about indigenous Ainu people on social media and intends to consider disciplining him in the future, school officials have announced.
According to a source close to the matter, a professor at the graduate school's Faculty of Health Sciences whose expertise is in neuropsychology repeatedly posted inappropriate comments, including one saying, "Ainu people are definitely not indigenous," between September and October 2022. Hokkaido University has not revealed the professor's name or other information on the grounds that any punishment against him has yet to be decided.
The university's public relations division explained that an outsider pointed out on Jan. 12 that an instructor at the university was repeating inappropriate posts on social media. The professor apparently admitted to making the posts, and has since deleted them. A representative at the public relations division said, "We cannot tolerate the content of such comments. We will work thoroughly to prevent a recurrence."
(Japanese original by Yutaka Yamada, Hokkaido News Department)