A restaurant in Tokyo has been sending out a simple but poignant message for more than seven years: It's not bad to be Ainu.

Rera Chise, which means "House of Wind" in the Ainu language, was the first restaurant in the capital to feature the food of Hokkaido's indigenous minority.

Located in Nakano Ward, the Ainu restaurant is the brainchild of 67-year-old Tatsue Sato and her fellow Ainu in Tokyo.