The remains of the three Ainu people were given to the university in 1913 by a British doctor living in Japan.
The university’s possession of the remains came to light in 2023, prompting Tokyo to ask for their return.
Records say that the remains were unearthed in “Okoshi,” “Urakawa” and “Kushiro,” which the government believes are the locations with the same geographical names in present-day Hokkaido.
It is the third time that the remains of Ainu people that were taken abroad for research purposes have been returned to Japan, following the 2017 return from Germany and the 2023 return from Australia.
In Britain, three more sets of Ainu remains and an additional 10 sets that may be Ainu have been confirmed at the Natural History Museum in London. The government will continue to call on the museum to accept research on the remains and return them.
