Cultural Restitution
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Japan
Updated May 2026
Below is a schedule of successful restitutions made by Japan to a country or community of source. Entries are updated regularly.
May 2026
Following close collaboration with the Government of Japan and the Ainu Association of Hokkaido, London's Natural History Museum has returned the remains of seven ancestors to the Ainu people of Japan
June 2025
In the first ever return of human ancestors from Japan, three Japanese collecting institutions have returned ten First Nations ancestors to Australia
minister.infrastructure.gov.au
October 2023
A South Korean Supreme Court ruling means a stolen Buddhist statue must be returned to a temple in Japan, ending a decades-old dispute
September 2022
Japan agrees to return to South Korea more than 1,200 royal books removed during its 1910 to 1945 colonial rule in a move to improve diplomatic relations
December 2011
Important historical archive of 1,200 Korean documents, looted during Japan's annexation of the peninsula, returned to Seoul
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