An Ainu indigenous rights association in Hokkaido has filed a lawsuit against the University of Tokyo, seeking the return of remains of their ancestors stored at the university.

In the suit filed Friday at the Kushiro District Court, the Urahoro branch of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido (AAH) also demanded ¥500,000 in damages, claiming that their freedom of religion had been violated. The AAH represents the indigenous community in the prefecture in talks with government.

According to the complaint, two professors at the national university excavated the remains of six Ainu people — five in 1888 and one in 1965 — for research purposes and took them back to the university.

The plaintiffs argued that they inherited the right to manage the remains as descendants of the Ainu people who once flourished around Urahoro.