Naohiro Nakamura | University of the South Pacific (original) (raw)

Papers by Naohiro Nakamura

Climate and Development, 2023

This article addresses how Fiji’s sugarcane farmers perceive climate change, attempt to mitigate ... more This article addresses how Fiji’s sugarcane farmers perceive climate change, attempt to mitigate the impact, and plan to adapt to sustain their livelihoods. Fiji’s sugar industry has recently been struggling due to several factors, and the current climate change is further negatively affecting the industry. Previous studies on farmers’ adaptation methods to climate change across the world have introduced several adaptation methods for the future of agricultural practices; however, such approaches only function under the assumption that farmers are willing to continue engaging in agriculture under climate change. Abandoning sugarcane farms and converting careers has been seen as an undesirable adaptation. Our interviews with 30 sugarcane farmers in Western Viti Levu, Fiji, show that the farmers do not necessarily wish to continue sugarcane farming. Instead, they explore options such as abandoning sugarcane farms or encouraging the next generation to pursue another career pathway for a better future. Under such circumstances, a top-down approach expecting the farmers to continue sugarcane farming by adopting agricultural coping methods may not function well. Instead, climate change policies should focus on preparing farmers for climate change by supporting them to re-envisage their future.

Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 2023

Educating the public on indigenous culture is an important task of museums. The Upopoy National A... more Educating the public on indigenous culture is an important task of museums. The Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park (NAM) was Japan’s first national museum specifically dedicated to the Ainu, with a mandate to educate the public on Ainu culture/history to realize a society of ethnic harmony. We analyze the effectiveness of the educational role of the NAM’s permanent exhibition, using online User Generated Reviews. Our analysis shows that visitors generally had a positive experience at the NAM; however, some visitors are dissatisfied with the lack of detailed information on the history of Ainu misery, and present mixed views on the inclusion of Ainu contemporarity. While noting that UGR analysis could be used to suggest approaches which may help museums fulfill their education remit, we conclude that despite visitors’ positive experience, the NAM as an institution still has a challenging task: how to extend its educational role beyond visitors.

Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 2023

This article presents the preliminary findings from a five-day dietary record of 105 iTaukei (ind... more This article presents the preliminary findings from a five-day dietary record of 105 iTaukei (indigenous) Fijians in seven rural communities on remote islands, Fiji. Although the literature on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) has discussed the potential reasons for the NCD increase in Fiji, research has relied on secondary data on the consumption patterns of limited food items. Hence, this research is one of the first in the country to analyze detailed dietary patterns. A high body mass index rate in the case study communities is observed. We also find that carbohydrate sources dominate the diet of the participants, while the consumption of protein sources (including canned products) and vegetables/fruits is limited. In addition, the diversity of food items is limited. Meanwhile, the major carbohydrate sources are locally produced cassava, although rice and flour products are also consumed. We suggest integrating these factors into the determination of the cause of the NCD increase.

Climate Impacts on Extreme Weather Current to Future Changes on a Local to Global Scale, 2022

Climate change has various impacts on the environment manifesting in form of changing weather pat... more Climate change has various impacts on the environment manifesting in form of changing weather patterns to intensity and frequency of climate hazards. Most small island countries are particularly vulnerable to climate hazards, and Pacific Island countries (PICs) are not an exception to this. Recently, climate change has substantially affected agriculture in PICs, and its future remains uncertain.

Fiji's agriculture is particularly vulnerable to climate hazards, including cyclones and floods. Agriculture is a major economic activity (both subsistence and commercial) in Fiji, and farmers have recently been struggling to cope with the increasing impact of climate hazards; hence, there is an urgent need to find better-coping methods for the future of Fiji's agriculture and farmers.

This study investigates farmers’ perceptions of climate change and climate hazards, and coping methods and adaptive capacities in agriculture, using the case studies of Wainadoi and Navua, Viti Levu, Fiji. The results show that farmers have observed the change of climate and its impact, in particular increasing intensity of cyclones and frequency of floods. Farmers find traditional coping methods in agriculture less effective because of climate change, and feel the necessity of better coping methods. Farmers recognize that modern coping methods—using machinery, chemicals, or fertilizer—are more effective to reduce the impact of a climate hazard and to quickly recover after a hazard; however, some farmers, especially small-scale subsistence farmers, find it difficult to convert their coping methods. This is because of financial difficulties, religious beliefs, the loss of cultural identities, and low-level education. Results show that small-scale farmers are particularly becoming vulnerable to climate change. In conclusion, there is a need to find measures to support small-scale farmers under the current climate change, such as the combination of traditional and modern coping methods to enhance resilience.

Conservation and Society, 2020

Local communities' support for resource conservation projects are essential for their success. Ne... more Local communities' support for resource conservation projects are essential for their success. Nevertheless, in the Pacific Island countries, many community-based conservation (CBC) projects remain ineffective due to the lack of community members' engagement. To better understand the motivations of local community members to support resource conservation projects; this research looks at the four community-based conservation sites in North Tarawa, Kiribati. We conducted semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to investigate why community members support (or do not support) CBC. The findings reveal that while local community members are overall aware of the significance of resource conservation, they do not always support or participate in conservation projects. Indeed, the local community members' motivation to participate in such projects are influenced by various factors, including their status in a household or community, village practices, the quality of community leadership, and their past experiences with similar projects. Our research also finds that community members become unsupportive with conservation projects when their daily livelihood activities are restricted by the projects. This research suggests that project organisers need to understand such factors and be strategic to retain community members' support for the success of conservation project.

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2022

This research addresses how an Indigenous disaster risk reduction framework, which calls for the ... more This research addresses how an Indigenous disaster risk reduction framework, which calls for the integration of cultural aspects in order to assess the risk of people and communities and their abilities to cope with the impact of a disaster, can apply to volcano hazards in the context of rural communities where villagers strongly maintain a spiritual connection to an active volcano. In the area called Sulphur Bay, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, although deemed vulnerable to Mt Yasur eruptions, no evacuation or any sort of science-based volcano risk reduction plans have ever been implemented. This is because the villages are governed according to traditional belief systems, which see Mt Yasur as their ancestor and have rejected the introduction of external ontologies. Our interviews with the chiefs, custom leaders and general villagers find that for the majority of the villagers, the risk is to internalize any external ontologies, not the volcano, and they understand a volcano eruption as the expression of anger by their ancestor because of a wrong action of community members. Although their ontology has been constantly influenced by external agents and a few see such an ontology becoming out-of-date, under the hierarchal chiefly governing system, they are still certain to perform rituals to calm down Mt Yasur's angry spirit if it erupts. While existing research on volcano risk reduction has called the combination of indigenous belief systems and science-based approaches to improve volcano risk reduction, this research spots challenges to do so in some particular contexts.

The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, 2022

New Zealand Geographer, 2021

Foreign aid has arguably played a significant role in the economic development of the Pacific Isl... more Foreign aid has arguably played a significant role in the economic development of the Pacific Island countries. Tonga is deemed to have succeeded in implementing the principles of the Paris Declaration of 2005, especially Ownership, Alignment and Harmonisation, by aid funding channelled through state institutions. Nevertheless, it is still unknown if the aid effect has reached civil society, and how community members perceive aid. This article examines the perceptions of community members towards foreign aid, using the case study of the archipelago of Vava'u, Tonga.

Disasters, 2020

This paper investigates the impacts of 2016 Tropical Cyclone Winston (TCW) on rural Indo‐Fijians ... more This paper investigates the impacts of 2016 Tropical Cyclone Winston (TCW) on rural Indo‐Fijians and their response. In Pacific Island countries, studies have previously examined how rural communities respond to severe climatic events, arguing that traditional knowledge of climate, together with indigenous techniques, substantially contributes to recovery from a disaster impact. Strong communal bonds have also been identified as a contributing factor. Disaster risk reduction frameworks often presume the availability of such knowledge and capital. Meanwhile, there has been little research on how minority groups with limited access to such knowledge and capital cope with disaster damage. Our study shows that rural Indo‐Fijians responded to the impact of TCW differently from indigenous Fijians, due to relatively limited access to traditional knowledge of climate, communal labor sharing, and intra‐ and/or inter‐ community networks. Our findings point to the necessity to implement a more inclusive disaster risk reduction framework.

Conservation and Society, 2020

Regional Environmental Change, 2020

This article examines responses by four remote communities in Fiji to the extensive damage caused... more This article examines responses by four remote communities in Fiji to the extensive damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Winston (TCW) of 2016, differences among these communities, and factors that make a particular community more disaster-resilient than others. In Fiji, traditional knowledge of climate and disaster mitigation has been known to contribute to better disaster management resilience by communities. TCW of 2016 is one of the strongest cyclones that have struck the islands of Fiji, and many of its remote communities were severely damaged. Responses to the damage caused by TCW varied from community to community, and resilience was shown to depend on the availability of traditional knowledge of climate and disaster mitigation as well as the effective mobilization of social capital exhibited in the long-standing tradition in Fijian villages of mutual help within the community. Our findings suggest that communities without such resources are often left out in recovery processes and may be in particular need of support.

This article addresses the controversies surrounding the repatriation of Ainu human remains ‘unet... more This article addresses the controversies surrounding the repatriation of Ainu human remains ‘unethically’ collected by Japanese researchers and stored in university institutions throughout the twentieth century. Some 1653 Ainu remains are held at Japanese universities, and Ainu rights advocates have demanded the return of these remains to their lineal descendants. In 2009, the Japanese government proposed to transfer all unidentified Ainu remains from universities to a memorial hall to be built in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, by 2020. This plan was met by disdain by Ainu advocates for two reasons. First: there was concern that Japanese academics would continue to do research on the remains. Second: the Ainu wished for the remains to be laid to rest in the burial grounds they were originally excavated from. This article discusses the repatriation policies initiated by the Japanese national government, how Ainu representatives have responded, and the ethical debate that surrounds the use of the Ainu remains for research. The article closes by looking at how the conciliation agreement in the legal case by Ainu plaintiffs against Hokkaido University in 2012 for the return of Ainu remains opened up possibilities for community members to petition for the return of ancestral remains for reinternment.

The challenges faced by indigenous peoples in repatriation negotiations vary across the globe. In... more The challenges faced by indigenous peoples in repatriation negotiations vary across the globe. In 2012, three Ainu individuals launched a legal case against Hokkaido University, demanding the return of the human remains of nine individuals and a formal apology for having conducted intentional excavations of Ainu graveyards, stolen the remains and infringed upon their rights to perform ceremonies of worship. This action marked the first of such legal cases in Japan. The Ainu experienced both legal and ethical challenges during negotiations with the university; for example, while the claimants applied the Ainu concept kotan as a legal argument for collective ownership of the remains, Hokkaido University claimed the lack of assumption of rights relating to worship under the Civil Code of Japan. There has been significant progress recently on repatriation, mainly due to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act in the US, and several meaningful recommendations have been made to ease the repatriation process. However, such recommendations are often case specific and variations in the experiences of indigenous peoples from country to country have not been widely documented. This article discusses the challenges faced by the Ainu in repatriation negotiations in Japan, with a particular focus on the difficulties of applying indigenous customs and philosophies within legal frameworks.

http://epn.sagepub.com/content/47/3/660.abstract The author discusses the identities and socioeco... more http://epn.sagepub.com/content/47/3/660.abstract
The author discusses the identities and socioeconomic status of Indigenous people in a non-Indigenous environment, ways to recognize Indigenous belonging statistically, and ethnic policies in a Japanese context, specifically focusing on the Dogai Ainu; that is, the Ainu who left their original homeland of Hokkaido and live elsewhere in Japan. The Japanese Government’s 2010 socioeconomic survey of the Dogai Ainu demonstrated a socioeconomic gap between the Dogai Ainu and the majority of the Japanese. This survey also revealed the difficulty of conducting surveys of the Dogai Ainu because, in a non-Indigenous environment, many of them tend to conceal their ethnicity for fear of discrimination and hesitate to participate in surveys. Indigenous peoples in Anglophone countries are increasingly challenging the definition of Indigeneity as imposed by outsiders, and self-identification is becoming an essential component of recognizing Indigenous belonging to reflect the reality and diversity of Indigenous identities. Some countries such as the USA and Canada have also begun using self-identification for enumeration in statistics. The case study of the Dogai Ainu, however, suggests that Indigenous belonging cannot always be recognized by self-identification and Indigenous policies may have to be implemented without comprehensive data.

Social and Cultural Geography Volume 16, Issue 2 pp. 165-182

Participatory approaches have become a critical and somewhat normalised methodology in geography ... more Participatory approaches have become a critical and somewhat normalised methodology in geography for working in a positive and constructive way with Indigenous communities. Nevertheless, recent literature has seldom examined the sustainability of participatory projects or looked critically at their ongoing impacts. Since the early 2000s, Nibutani, an Ainu community in Hokkaido, Japan, has developed several participatory projects led by a non-Indigenous professional. The projects have involved community members working to revitalise and promote local Ainu culture. Over the last decade, some positive outcomes from the projects have been observed; for example, the younger generation has had opportunities to engage intensively in learning local Indigenous knowledge and skills. The projects have also helped some participants to develop a stronger sense of ethnic identity and gain empowerment. Still, the power transfer from the talented non-Indigenous leader to community members has been limited and Nibutani has yet to realise a sustainable project structure. Also, community members have multiple perspectives in regard to the direction of participatory projects and their impact. I discuss these issues in Nibutani's participatory projects based on my observations and interviews and suggest that Indigenous geographies need to undertake follow-up evaluations of participatory projects.

Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 8:3, 145-154

This commentary critically reviews Hiroshi Maruyama's article 'Japan's post-war Ainu policy: Why ... more This commentary critically reviews Hiroshi Maruyama's article 'Japan's post-war Ainu policy: Why the Japanese Government has not recognised Ainu indigenous rights?' (Maruyama 2013a), published in Polar Record. Maruyama criticises the government for its reluctance to enact a new Ainu law to guarantee Indigenous rights, even after Japan's ratification of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Geographical Research 51(1):26–36

Culturally sustainable environmental impact assessment (EIA) requires consideration of the impact... more Culturally sustainable environmental impact assessment (EIA) requires consideration of the impact of development on local people's cultural activities, including holding ceremonies, collecting resources, and learning skills, which are fundamental essences of Indigenous rights. While culturally sustainable EIA has become a common practice when a development project involves an Indigenous community, it is still argued that Indigenous cultural heritage is not adequately protected. This is due to the fact that Indigenous people do not always keep power in the post-approval stage of EIA, or the lack of practical measures to minimise the impact of development projects on Indigenous cultural heritage and to enhance the possibility of reaching a consensus among stakeholders. The Cultural Impact Assessment of the Saru River Region in Japan was the first investigation of a site to preserve an ethnic minority culture, with regard to a dam construction. In the second phase of the assessment project, research staff members, some of whom are of Ainu ethnicity, suggested alternative ceremony sites and conducted experimental transplants to protect the local cultural activities. The long-term investigation by research staff, in fact, influenced the direction of the dam construction. The developer agreed not to proceed with the construction until measures were taken to minimise the impact on cultural activities that would satisfy residents in the construction area. While still early to conclude that Indigenous participation in this assessment project has been successful, Indigenous participation has clearly enhanced the possibility of reaching a consensus. The project should be considered with other published EIA reports, in demonstrating a return from investing in EIA with Indigenous participation, with a practical means for realising Indigenous rights.

Climate and Development, 2023

Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 2023

Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 2023

Climate Impacts on Extreme Weather Current to Future Changes on a Local to Global Scale, 2022

Conservation and Society, 2020

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2022

The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, 2022

New Zealand Geographer, 2021

Disasters, 2020

Conservation and Society, 2020

Regional Environmental Change, 2020

Social and Cultural Geography Volume 16, Issue 2 pp. 165-182

Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 8:3, 145-154

Geographical Research 51(1):26–36

Climate Impacts on Extreme Weather, 2022

The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, 2022

Capacity development in Small Island Developing Countries (SIDCs) is a core development priority ... more Capacity development in Small Island Developing Countries (SIDCs) is a core development priority reflected in Sustainable Development Goal 17. For universities located in SIDCs countries, a key strategy for capacity development has been to build collaborations with

researchers and institutions in developed countries. However, in most cases, Pacific researchers participating in collaborative projects are only seen as a local contacts or consultants with limited contribution to projects. This lack of parity, despite scientific research being undertaken in developing countries, has led to challenges of ‘neo-colonial science.’ In this chapter Krishna Kumar Kotra and Naohiro Nakamura draw on collaborative research between The University of the South Pacific’s Emalus Campus, Vanuatu, and institutions located in developed countries to highlight strategies and tensions of achieving capacity development. The authors outline appropriate and relevant practices for future collaborative partnerships focusing on student mentoring, training, and research participation.

The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, 2022

This chapter investigates the causes and nature of the global housing crisis, a situation in whic... more This chapter investigates the causes and nature of the global housing crisis, a situation in which – across North and South – a severe mismatch between demand and supply for affordable housing has led to a severe shortage of decent houses, an increasing prevalence of informal housing, and evictions and displacements. Despite the global nature of these problems, we argue for a deeper understanding of housing issues and how they can be addressed within national contexts, rather than seeking to address them through singular or monolithic, neoliberal approaches. In making this argument, we draw on case studies of informal housing in Chile, Fiji, and Australia.

The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, 2022

This Handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of some of the world’s most pressing global devel... more This Handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of some of the world’s most pressing global development challenges – including how they may be better understood and addressed through innovative practices and approaches to learning and teaching.

Featuring 61 contributions from leading and emerging academics and practitioners, this multidisciplinary volume is organized into five thematic parts exploring: changes in global development financing, ideologies, norms and partnerships; interrelationships between development, natural environments and inequality; shifts in critical development challenges, and; new possibilities for positive change. Collectively, the handbook demonstrates that global development challenges are becoming increasingly complex and multi-faceted and are to be found in the Global ‘North’ as much as the ‘South’. It draws attention to structural inequality and disadvantage alongside possibilities for positive change.

The Handbook will serve as a valuable resource for students and scholars across multiple disciplines including Development Studies, Anthropology, Geography, Global Studies, Indigenous and Postcolonial Studies, Political Science, and Urban Studies.