‘Golden Kamuy’ and Modern Russo-Japanese Relations

Spoiler Alert: Key plot points in “Golden Kamuy” discussed in detail below.

Modern-day relations between Japan and Russia are complex, with one of the most pivotal turning points in the relationship being the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. While the conflict has been extensively studied in academic literature, a popular manga and anime known as “Golden Kamuy” uses the backdrop of the Russo-Japanese War to reevaluate Russo-Japanese relations more broadly, as well as the status of the Ainu and other indigenous Far Eastern people.

“Golden Kamuy,” created by Noda Satoru, ran as a serialized manga from 2014 to 2022. It then spawned a five-season anime series, with its final segment expected to wrap up in late 2026, and several live-action movies. “Golden Kamuy” focuses on Sugimoto Saichi, a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War, and an Ainu girl named Asirpa. The two team up in search of a hidden treasure trove of gold, but they have to piece together a map tattooed across the backs of 24 prisoners who escaped from Abashiri prison. The duo encounters both allies and enemies in their quest.

Location plays a leading role in “Golden Kamuy”: most of the action takes place in Hokkaido, today the northernmost island of Japan and historically the homeland of the Ainu people. A prominent subplot also brings the main characters to Sakhalin, a Russo-Japanese borderland that is today Russian territory; the area has also long been settled by indigenous Ainu, Nivkh, and Uilta/Orok peoples. The interplay of Japanese, Russian, and Ainu cultures in the show, especially as territorial claims changed hands (most notably in the case of Sakhalin), drives the plot forward and showcases how those interactions continue to shape relations in this part of the world today.

In addition, “Golden Kamuy” inserts itself into pivotal moments of Russian and Japanese history by weaving its narrative into real-life historical events. For example, Wilk, the father of Asirpa, became a revolutionary in his youth after suffering under Russian and Japanese colonial encroachment in his homeland of Karafuto (today’s Southern Sakhalin). He dreamed of establishing a Far Eastern federation in Hokkaido and Sakhalin, governed by the Ainu and other Far Eastern indigenous people, to preserve their linguistic and cultural heritage. To achieve this goal, he joined the People’s Will, a Russian anti-monarchist organization, and assassinated Tsar Alexander II by throwing a bag of bombs into his carriage.

Despite the creative liberties Noda took by reimagining Wilk as the assassin of the tsar, other elements of this plot point reflect historical fact: the People’s Will was an actual revolutionary movement most famous for carrying out a bomb attack against Tsar Alexander II in March 1881, prematurely ending his reign and reversing Russia’s progressive path with the authoritarian turns of his successors Tsar Alexander III and Tsar Nicholas II.

“Golden Kamuy” also touches upon the Meiji Restoration: Hijikata Toshizou, one of the main ensemble characters, is an elderly samurai based on a real-life historical figure of the same name. He represents the old order, having risen to prominence under the Tokugawa shogunate, and openly clashes with Meiji officials seeking to overturn the old system. The real Toshizou fled to Hokkaido and helped create the Republic of Ezo, a short-lived separatist state; he ultimately died during the Battle of Hakodate in 1869 (well before the Russo-Japanese War), accelerating the fall of this Tokugawa holdover state. Meanwhile, his fictional counterpart in “Golden Kamuy” was imprisoned at Abashiri prison; after he escaped, he still strived to reestablish the Republic of Ezo with the hidden gold. 

The legacy of two hugely transformative historical events mentioned in the previous section ultimately collided in the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. Although the war’s impact on Russia is less extensively explored in “Golden Kamuy,” the defeat of the Russian Empire exposed the weaknesses of the Romanov monarchy, including incompetent military leadership overconfident in the Tsarist navy’s power. The loss of the war is arguably one of the catalysts for the 1905 Revolution and ultimately paved the way for the Bolsheviks to seize power in 1917. (Side note: for more information about the Russian perspective on this conflict, accounts include the memoirs of General A.N. Kuropatkin and the collection Русско-японская война 1904–1905 гг. в воспоминаниях.)

On the other hand, the Japanese victory is extensively featured in “Golden Kamuy”: the successful war cemented Japan’s status as a major power, seemingly affirming the societal restructuring pursued during the Meiji Restoration.

Perhaps most consequential for the show’s main characters, however, was how the victory in the Russo-Japanese War influenced imperial Japan’s renewed assertiveness for fully integrating Hokkaido into Japan’s sphere of influence- including the assimilation of its Ainu populace into mainstream Japanese society.

Asirpa serves as a bridge between the Ainu and her Japanese and Russian counterparts, teaching them the Ainu language and explaining cultural traditions. As she leaves her kotan (village) during her travels with Sugimoto and her cohort, she witnesses how her fellow Ainu were losing their sense of identity amid colonial Japanese administrative policies. This realization motivates her quest for the lost gold, as she wants to secure the wealth in Ainu hands to protect and preserve their culture and heritage. As much as Asirpa admires the Ainu way of life, however, she is not frozen in time. Throughout the course of the show, she frequently emphasizes that she is “a new kind of Ainu woman, for a new age!” Thus, she sought to engage with her Japanese, Russian, and other counterparts as a cultural ambassador, learning and engaging with them while ensuring that the Ainu were not overly endangered by outside advances into their territories or ways of life.

Efforts by real life Asirpas to preserve the Ainu way of life were not as successful. Discrimination and pressure to assimilate into Japanese society virtually erased numerous aspects of Ainu cultural identity, including the now critically endangered Ainu language. That being said, recent years have signaled a renaissance of renewed pride in Ainu identity. Language revitalization programs, including immersive classes and AI speech synthesis, are helping to combat Ainu linguistic extinction. The Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park, opened in 2020, serves as an integral center for preserving Ainu history and culture.

“Golden Kamuy” itself has proven instrumental in sparking modern interest in the Ainu by being featured in international artistic and cultural exhibitions and boosting tourism to Hokkaido. Thus, while the Ainu have faced enormous struggles over the past decades, if not centuries, efforts such as “Golden Kamuy” fight to ensure that this culture’s legacy will endure in the future by educating a new generation of manga and anime-loving Japanese (and global fans) about the existence and importance of the Ainu.

The interconnection between pop culture and geopolitics is arguably one of the lesser-known sub-genres of international relations, but there is growing interest in understanding it. A recent essay by the Lowy Institute, for example, discussed how Japanese manga and anime help improve bilateral relations between India and Japan. “Golden Kamuy” serves as an important pop cultural piece that is integral in understanding Japan’s place in the world, most specifically its historic role with Russia and their Northeast Asian borderlands. 

As for Russo-Japanese relations today, they are currently at a historic low due to the long-contested Southern Kuril Islands (which Russia calls the Northern Territories) territorial dispute and Japanese support for Ukraine during the seemingly never-ending Russo-Ukrainian War. While there is currently no major sign of a positive breakthrough between Tokyo and Moscow, it is still worthwhile to examine how “Golden Kamuy” serves as a useful medium for attempting to unpack and disentangle the complexity of their relations, especially their numerous territorial disputes (specifically surrounding Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands) and treatment of the Ainu and other indigenous populations.