At the 7th annual convention, a symposium and performance were held with "The Oral Tradition of the Ainu" as the main theme. Six speakers demonstrated the Ainu people's diverse oral tradition through narratives, poetry readings as well as songs. In addition to facilitating an appreciation of the richness of their cultural heritage, their respective life histories revealed complicated socio-cultural as well as political agendas they have confronted over the years as well as how they continue to cope with them at present. Mr. Hideo Akibe discussed the contradiction the Ainu people face when they engage in the tourism industry as their profession, which requires them to cater to tourists while maintaining their cultural traditions. Ms. Rueko Osuga talked about her experiences with her Ainu grandparents during her early childhood and told the stories passed down from them. Her folklore-style narrative fascinated the audience. Her eagerness to master the Ainu language later in her life as "language is the soul of the race," is something all oral historians would agree with. Mr. Masashi Kawakami is a young Ainu who is eager to learn Ainu culture after he had grown up. His vivid recital of a yukara reflected this enthusiasm. Ms. Tomoko Keira showed pride in being an Ainu woman. She has infused her independent spirit and energy into her personal activity within Yai Yukara no Mori, an Ainu culture preservation group, which she launched in Sapporo. Professors Toshiro Tsumagari and Toru Shimizu, the commentators of the symposium, helped provide us with a wider context in which the current Ainu agendas could possibly be understood. Ainu Studies scholars recognize the usefulness of oral history as a methodology that provides a deeper understanding of modern Ainu history. The brief but rich oral histories told at the symposium clearly demonstrated the usefulness of oral history as a methodology and the opportunities to be further explored by recording the diverse voices of the Ainu people.

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Many of the minority languages are now disappearing without leaving sufficient documentation. In the present paper, after a brief review on language endangerment, the author discusses the realistic goal to "preserve" an endangered language. It is very difficult and often impossible to expect a declined language to be revitalized for daily use, and what has to be done first is to record it, as exhaustively as possible, for future generation, who will be able to recognize and inherit it as a symbol of ethnic identity. Though most minority languages enjoy no practical writing system, we can find local talents who are able to write words, sentences and stories (including their life history) in their own language. The Ainu has notably produced some talented writers. The author adds two other languages in which native writers were/are working: Uilta and Udihe (both Tungusic). The author emphasizes that the materials by such native writers, as well as by linguists, are important for the future of endangered languages. The written materials, together with the recorded voices, will contribute greatly to the next generation who has lost their own language but has a desire to learn something about it. Providing such materials for the next generation may be an only way for a vanishing language to "survive", just like classical written languages are conveying much information today.

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This workshop was organized to examine the relationship between the interviewers and the interviewees from the viewpoint of the positionality of the person concerned. Because of the prior discussion between coordinators and the speakers, the workshop was able to provide appropriate presentations followed by exciting discussions. I point our two issues, which were clarified through the workshop. Firstly, how should interviewers comprehend interviewees' positionality? Interviewers should recognize the uniqueness of interviewees' positionality, which makes it possible for interviewers to deeply understand the interviewees' story. Secondly, how should interviewers choose their positionality? Interviewers' positionality can be influenced by the interviewees' story. What is important for the interviewers is to choose their own positionality so as to embrace the experiences of the interviewees. Additionally, the interviewers should flexibly respond to the changes of the positionality of the person concerned.

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This paper examines how "the person concerned" has some tendencies of the 2000's in Japan. In general, oral historians have collected various narratives told by the people concerned, who remember their past events. These days however, everyone always explains a situation as if he is "the person concerned". Therefore, the author thinks that anyone can be "the person concerned". Who is the person concerned? Nowdays an interviewer is thought "the person concerned" in a qualitative research method. The author thinks that in an interview situations, not only the interviewer's perspective but also various other perspectives of "the person concerned" are important. Besides, this paper examines various "voices" in orality. That is to say, it is required to hear voices of"the person concerned" one by one. Finally, some different aspects of "the person concerned" are expected to be explored.

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In this article 'I' as an involved party among the Korean residents in Japan or from the records of my struggle experienced as a researcher refer to how I have been seeking my positionality through the relationships with my clients who are born to a parent of a Korean resident in Japan and a Japanese, a so-called "double." As a Korean resident in Japan, 'I' have been thinking about all the strangeness I had felt, including the strangeness to the sense of "the person concerned" which the community of the Korean residents in Japan that I also belong to, premises in the strangeness of the clients' way of talking or the strangeness of the "research of the person concerned." Currently 'I' believe that only by talking, not on the basis of being as an involved person but of "the individual person concerned," I can build a dialogical relationships with my clients, and furthermore, only by continuing the attitude against that of just "writing papers" that may function to open the dialogical channel with the readers.

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Recently, there are active discussions on "Tojisha" studies in Japan. "Tojisha" means "the person concerned." In this paper, I considered the development possibility of minority studies on "the person concerned" or "Tojisha" ethnographers among the minority. I surveyed some advantages and difficulties of being "Tojisha" ethnographers in the field. First, one of the advantages of the "Tojisha" ethnographers is that the "Tojisha" person belongs to the same culture and community, so he/she does not have to study the culture and community. Next, one of the difficulties of the "Tojisha" ethnographers in the field would be that they would be confused as fellow ethnographers. By just being in the same culture and community, they may empathize too much with each other. They empathize but may lack the objectivity, since they can see from the point of view of the same culture and community. These advantages and difficulties could be the cause of problems, because these two things tend to be advantages and difficulties that are likely to be inextricably linked by fact. Therefore, I will introduce "Autoethnography" as a writing method of the "Tojisha" ethnographers.

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"The person concerned" is said to be the people who were linked to the event (person) or people, who are seen in that way from outsiders. However, I would like to point out that it is possible to divide them into two types: "the person concerned," who is central and who is marginal. To add to this understanding in the field of Orality, the relationship of being the person concerned and the person non-concerned are not opposed to each other. I would rather say that it is something graduational, accompanied by a feeling of empathy generated in the process of the relationship between the "listener and narrator" in the process of the narratives. That is to say, I think that in the case of both the narrator and the listener or either one of them are able to feel the empathy from the character of "the person concerned," providing rich content, and in the other case that of the non-concerned as well.

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In this paper, I considered why I have evaded the issue of the person concerned/non-concerned in "Academia" and suggested the alternative relationship beyond that issue. As long as regarding events and others as "the object of analysis," I kept out of them and could consider myself not involved in any matter derived from that issue. The stage where the person concerned/non-concerned becomes the issue is the scene, in which the relationship with the others appears while one puts oneself inside of the event at least. Mostly, it is the situation in which an experience one had faces another experience. However, it cannot be distinct between the person concerned and the person non-concerned in each case. Not all people who have experienced events are the person concerned, and one person alone cannot be determined to be the person concerned. Because the person concerned is not given and determined previously, the issue is not in the relationship between the person concerned and the person non-concerned, but in the relationship between "You" and "I" who are living along with the historical time and social situations.

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It has not often been reported that there were active internal patient organizations in institutions under fully controlled system. However, such was the case in a forced isolation sanatorium for Hansen's Disease in Japan in the 1940's. In 1941 a self-managed patient organization was founded in Tama National Sanatorium in Japan. The patients took up a wide range of paid work within the institution, making certain that everyone benefited in a fair way. This communal lifestyle occurred under some unique conditions. In the 1940's the number of residents increased dramatically. However, there was no increase in resources due to wartime shortages, and mutual help in all aspects of daily life became literally a matter of life and death. Additionally patients admitted did not wish to face the stigma outside the institution. The administration did not have any concern about patients escaping, so they did not restrict their self-managed production and distribution of the farm produce. Eventually the patients established economic independence and managerial control over all aspects of their work and developed their own identities empowering themselves beyond being helpless patients

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The purpose of this text is to clarify a part of the Tokyo air raid "experiences" in a family. Therefore, the interview investigation was done to one family, who had experienced the Tokyo air raid in this current study. The interview was individually done to each member of the family. The question asked was, "What was your one experience of the Tokyo air raid?" The reason for this was that the "experiences" were often shared among the family members with a common interpretation that is only found in this one family but sometimes with slight variations in understanding. After that, the overlapping technique of life history was done to analyze the material that had been obtained through the interviews. As a result, this text clarifies a part of the Tokyo air raid "experiences" in a family from a "family context" rather than a "societal context" which provides another perspective for the generations who had never experienced war.

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The Foxfire project is a well-known oral history project, which has been conducted since 1966 in rural Georgia, U.S.A. by high school students. The oral history project for elementary and secondary education has been representatively practiced through the Foxfire project. The unprecedented research revealed the contents of the Foxfire Magazine and the results of the Foxfire project, but did not focus on the historical changes found in each of the magazine issue. Therefore, in this study the contents of the Foxfire Magazine are analyzed to demonstrate how oral history represented in the magazine had changed over the span of 40 years. The result shows the substance of oral history content in the magazine has changed gradually: the percentage had decreased for topics related to folklore and increased for life history topics.

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Albinism is a rare genetic condition, resulting in the malfunction of producing the melanin pigment in the eyes, skin, and hair. A person with albinism has visual impairment, extreme sun sensitivity, and distinctive physical appearance. The symptom is very stable and will not become serious, so this condition cannot be considered a matter of life and death. In addition, there are bare minimum supports in order to avoid institutional and structural disadvantages. People with albinism have not been able to refer to any model stories and have been forced on bearing or coping with their troubles alone. Though their coping strategies are various and optional, they are ranked by whether they can contribute toward the members of the community or they have had to conform to the expectations of the society. This article will analyze interviews with an albino woman in order to focus on her coping strategies. She looks on her efforts made without exposing and explaining her identity, and then regards these strategies as norms. Therefore, she has lived in comfort by maintaining silence and liberated herself from the terms of ranking the coping strategies through her "going my way" strategy of caring for herself first of all.

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