NIHON-JIN, BURAKU-MIN: Portraits of Japan’s outcast people

“The Buraku-Min (tribal people) compose one of the main minority groups in Japan, along with the Ainu of Hokkaidōand the Ryukyuans of Okinawa. Despite being thoroughly Japanese, racially and ethnically, the Buraku-Min still face discrimination and struggle under the weight of their shared history in Japan. “

<History of untouchables>
The Buraku problem is a social problem that originated during the feudal Edo period (1603-1867) when outcast groups such as the Eta (extreme filth), Hinin (non-human), Kawaramono (riverside dwellers), Tosha (butchers) and Kiyome (cleaners) were considered untouchables and discriminated against. Buraku-Min usually lived on riversides, and engaged in landscaping, public entertainment, disposing of dead cattle, manufacturing leather, cleaning shrines and temples. While some people looked down on them as lowly people, they were also thought to have extraordinary abilities and were held in awe by others. Their status was not fixed but changing. The reasons why these people were looked down on were considerably related to the ideas of Japan’s indigenous belief system, Shinto; and to the ideas of Mahayana (great vehicle) Buddhism, which was influenced by Hinduism and had spread into Japan.

<New ordinary people>
This form of discrimination was legally abolished after the Meiji Restoration by the promulgation of the Emancipation Edict in 1871, along with the creation of other state policies. But legal prohibition did not translate into actual elimination. The Meiji Government sustained its discriminatory attitude against Buraku-Min, who were now called “new ordinary people” or “special Buraku-Min.”The people faced discrimination in marriage, hiring, employment, education and in their social lives. In reality, the discrimination against these groups was simply restructured and reinforced as Japan rapidly modernized. After World War II, the Buraku liberation movement made a fresh start. As a result of a strong demand for the government to abolish discrimination, the settlement of the Buraku issue was recognized as “the government’s responsibility and a national task.”
In 1969, the “Special Measures Law for Anti - Discrimination Project” was enacted, and by this law, “Buraku Areas” are defined as “areas where improvement and stabilization of the living arrangements etc. are prevented based on historical and social reasons.” Projects were undertaken to improve those Buraku Areas designated by the government.

<NIHON-JIN or BURAKU-MIN>
Residential conditions in the Buraku Areas have improved greatly through the special measures law, which ended in 2002, but the sense of discrimination against Buraku-Min still exists even after so many years. Negative images such as “grim,” “poor,” and “obsolete” are still strong, and there are many examples of substantive discrimination to this day.
Now there are officially 4,442 Buraku areas spread across Japan, 298,835 households and more than 892,500 Buraku-Min people (survey of conditions in Buraku Areas 1990’s/ Management and Coordination Agency). Even now, many Buraku-Min still keep their identity a secret. They keep only NIHON-JIN (Japanese) identity for avoiding discrimination. Many people leave the Buraku Areas especially for marriage and employment. Parents and companies that want to examine the background of a would-be son-in-law or employee for any Buraku-Min “stain” ask private detectives to look for people’s “Koseki,” an official family registration form that details family and birthplace, which is registered with a ward office. Some Buraku-Min continually move from place to place, so no one knows their origins. Even some parents don’t tell their children that they were born as Buraku-Min. They keep their secret within the family, and they struggle against the constant fear that their secret will be made known.

Yet others make their Buraku-Min identity known, and they are vocal about their people’s history of discrimination. They could face further discrimination, but they fight for their own rights and they believe that freedom comes by bringing truth into light—not by hiding in the shadows.

Regardless of whether Buraku-Min make their identity known to the public, all Buraku-Min must struggle with their own history, dating back a few hundred years, to a time when their ancestors were considered untouchables.

Kayoung Lee -Researcher-

Until now, I have thought that no one else shared the kind of burden I suffered. I thought I would overcome this suffering by my own efforts. In my case, I can keep living with the help of my friends and supporters. That’s what I think. Of course, I should not depend on them too much.  But, I guess anyone could encounter discrimination and prejudice anywhere, and there must be people suffering in any society, not just the Buraku. Now, I give lectures about Buraku and human rights issues once a week, mixing in stories about how I reached this point. After I do that, students who live with a similar sense of stagnation write to me about how they feel. It is nice when I can tell them “You can overcome this.”

Yukihiro Uzuhashii -Beekeeper-

I feel as if life should end while yelling “Whoa!” and “Whoo - Hoo!”  There is no time to do unnecessary things.  Whether it is work or having fun, just go for it!  Whoever has fun wins!!!  There are so many things I want to do, and I’m having so much fun every day.  The fact that  I was born in a Buraku is a tiny thing compared to having fun on this planet. I am grateful to my parents and their peers because through the heated rights movement, they led Burakus to liberation.  I am truly leading a liberated life.

Tomoe Kawasaki -College Staff-

My parents didn’t tell me much about Buraku, and they raised me as far away from the Buraku as possible. They didn’t want me to suffer any discrimination. Upon taking a class about Buraku issues in college, I started to face my family roots – roots that I was forgetting.
I sometimes wrestled with my parents’ protective love, and it made me anxious; I wondered if other people would accept me having a Buraku origin. At the same time, it was overwhelmingly joyful for me to learn so much about myself in the contexts of history, culture and people.
Now, I often visit my hometown, the Buraku where I lived until the age of 7.  Now I am weaving a story that leads to me through the people I was reunited with there. When I took the plunge and faced my roots, and then leaped further into my past, I found a world so wonderful.

Yasushi Kawaguch -Story teller-

I was born and raised in a Buraku district in Uwajima-city, Ehime Prefecture, which was discriminated against. I first felt the negative look of society against Buraku in my bones when I began studying at a college in Osaka. I kept it secret — the fact that I came from a Buraku — during my college life.  I wrestled with the contradiction between “the real self” and “the sham self”. But I learned the thoughts and feelings of my Grandma, Dad, and people in my community who carried on their lives through the harsh discrimination, and I came to think I had nothing to be ashamed of. Since then, I decided to live my life again without hiding my nativity. Now, I give lectures at schools and in communities all over Japan, to let many people know the reality of this “invisible discrimination”.

Kaishin (Takeda) brunch Female Division -Buraku Liberation League of Kyoto Federation-

When we sang “Takeda no Komoriuta (Takeda Lullaby)” on a stage for the first time, all of us cried hard after coming back to the theater wings. That was the moment we were all united as one. We were looking forward to watching this show broadcast on TV, but it showed only our legs. That was disappointing. I felt it odd because we wanted to declare our Buraku origins. That’s why we sang a Buraku lullaby on a stage.
We wore white blouses at that time, but, since this is the song our parents sang while babysitting as a part of hard labor, we tailored Kimonos with a Kasuri pattern and now wear them for the performance.
We believe that we should not sing this song superficially. Rather, we should sing this as a song for protecting children while reflecting our suffering, sadness and wishes, all of which are conveyed in the song.

Hiromi Maki -Livestock Distributor-

It’s been 50 years since I started this business at the age of 18, and I have been satisfied with beef cattle breeding.  I have no regrets about engaging in it. Some people kindly say, “I have no worries in leaving my cattle to Maki,” and we do business on this  mutual understanding. That is how I’m able to make a living. It’s through person-to-person relationships. I always go to the ordinary (Non-Dowa) districts to do business, and I think discrimination cannot be eliminated without building trusting relationships between people.  Cattle breeding has created relationships where people understand me. For me, cattle brought bonds.  Cattle and I are as one. Since I won a prize at the All Japan Wagyu Association Cattle Show, people tell me they are hoping I win again five years from now. I hope I’ll still be alive and well!

Shuhei Yamamoto -Welfare Worker and Taiko drum player-

Taiko has a huge impact on my way of living.  When I started taiko at the age of 9, it was just “fun.”
But I started thinking seriously about it when a friend who plays taiko in a different group asked me, “Why do you play taiko?” Taiko is the traditional craft of the people alienated in Hisabetsu Buraku. It started with a wish of the local adults who wanted to offer an activity that their children could be proud of. Although I did not understand it well in my childhood, taiko was also a symbol of the liberation movement in which my parents and seniors fought against discrimination. Taiko introduced me to the way many such people have lived. I hope to continue living with their thoughts and feelings in my heart, keeping up my head and taking one step at a time, so my life marks a new path.

Chikako Watanabe -Opera Singer-

In addition to being an opera singer, I give concerts for human rights with a hope to “create a society where everyone can live to fulfill their dreams without unjust interfernce by anyone”.  In these concerts all over Japan, the supportive audiences give me great energy as well. In 2007, I’ll be singing in the concert held on Human Rights Day, December 10, to celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the UN Hall in New York. This is a concert for anti-discrimination dedicated to three groups — blacks, Jews, and Buraku — for the first time in the world.  I believe I was bestowed a great role.

Midori Takeda -College Student-

I have become who I am because I was brought up with support from my family and people in the community. In receiving human rights education and Dowa education (education directed to the elimination of discrimination against Buraku people) in elementary school and high school, I have seen teachers and adults who are trying to deal with the problems of children in tough family or social situations. The fact that I grew up in such a school and a community gave me pride and confidence.
By knowing “where my roots lie,” I can expand the boundary of my world through meeting many people and encountering various themes. I’m studying to become a teacher.  Like the way I was brought up, I want to nurture as many children as possible who are capable of choosing their lives by themselves by keeping close face-to-face relationships with them. When there are more children like that, I believe our society will be more energetic, compassionate and free.

Shuhei Otono -Former Meat Industry Worker-

I started to understand things when I saw two real events with my own eyes. One was people’s prejudice and discrimination against the slaughterhouse that was bolstering the local economy. And the other was the fact that my brother couldn’t get married because of our locality and his job. I felt resigned to these realities. But I also felt resentful and wondered why such injustice was allowed. Later on, through my encounters with many people, I realized that these problems had roots in Buraku issues.
I often get invited to schools and talk to children about my experiences and thoughts. In my stories, I suggest that through encounters with genuine people and things, they can cultivate their humanity and break the circle of apathy and neglect with their friends. I believe that leads to solving problems.
I want to tell many things to many people properly; things about reality; things that are hard to see.

Yoshinobu Nakajima -Person of Freedom-

I’ve been working really hard until last year. I’m 61 now. Since retirement, I’ve been to Thailand and Okinawa and Hokkaido — by bicycle!  And there are so many chances to meet people. It also makes me happy when acquaintances from my travels come to visit me. I guess this is what I can do to let people know about Buraku. For example, we bake bread and pizza in a stone oven together.  Having fun with many young people makes me feel young, too. We meet and we reunite and we stay connected. This will be my lifestyle until the day I die.

Masako Murakoshi -NPO Staff-

I married without hesitation into my husband’s family, which is from a marginalized Buraku. I did this despite the disapproval of my parents: I was confident that I didn’t have any sense of discrimination.
One day, when my child was in nursery school, I went to a lecture and was startled from the fact that discrimination still exists in ignorance and apathy.  I was thinking it had nothing to do with me because I had no sense of discrimination. But I realized that my child was born in a Buraku and my apathy could cause discrimination against my own child. Then, I started to liberate myself from the sense of discrimination. By recognizing my own sense of discrimination, I became capable of fighting against the discrimination of others. But I didn’t achieve the change by myself. There have been many friends around me, and they helped make me aware of it. And now, I’m living every single day with enthusiasm in both work and in my private life.

Reiko Minamida -Civil Servant-

We decided on getting married after worrying and fretting.  We left home despite disapproval from our families, and when we started living together, my husband told me about his Buraku issues. I wondered why people had to be discriminated against simply because he came from a Buraku, but he eagerly talked to me.
After our child was born, we started living in my in-laws’ house and I was busy with child-rearing and household chores. I was still wondering about “what is Buraku?” and that was when my husband suggested that I get involved in local Buraku activities. Thanks to my friends who took care of me – a novice with lots to learn – I have been able to lower my roots in the community and have lived while facing the issues here. I will continue to live right here, surrounded by my beloved family and grandchildren and my friends looking after me.

Keigen Ishida -Bamboo Artisan-

My father was a bamboo artisan who was contemptuously called “bamboo crafter” by the public. I, too, was ashamed of him.  Recalling it now, it is quite sorrowful. My father never let go of bamboo until 2 months before he ended his 84-year life. Shortly before he passed away, he encouraged me, saying, “You’ve been watching the things I’ve done. It’s never too late.”
I picked up my father’s unfinished Souki (weaved tub) and happened to think of completing it as his final work. I was more than 40 years old and this was the first time I had worked with bamboo in earnest.
In the workroom I’ve inherited from my late father, I keep making bamboo crafts as a sort of wordless conversation with him. And in the meantime, I have been taken with the charm of it. That is when I started to sense my father’s pride; my father’s pride is my pride.