After many years of effort by Ainu groups, Japan’s government passed a new law to support and protect Ainu culture (called the Law for the Promotion of the Ainu Culture and for the Dissemination and Advocacy for the Traditions of the Ainu and the Ainu Culture). The law helped promote Ainu traditions and created the Foundation for Ainu Culture, a group set up by the Hokkaido Development Agency and the Japanese Ministry of Education.