- 14 Mar 2002
- 21,054
- 18,910
The Diplomat with a piece on the burakumin, the outcasts of Japanese society, and a social classification that should no longer exist according to the law. The article focuses on Sūjin (崇仁), an area located a few hundred metres east of Kyoto Station, also known as Korean Town.
Buraku (部落, "hamlets", "villages") used to be a term to describe residential areas segregated from the rest of Japanese society in which members of a minority known as burakumin (部落民) or hisabetsu burakumin (被差別部落民, "discriminated residents of the special communities") lived. The burakumin, whose descendants still face discrimination today, belong ethnically to the Japanese population (unlike the Ainu or the Koreans, the other two large minorities of Japan) and can not be distinguished from the rest of the Japanese in appearance, religion or customs. The social challenges and the persisting discrimination based on their social status in the Edo period, just like the pariah caste of India, are referred to as buraku mondai (部落問題, "buraku issue") or dōwa mondai (同和問題, "integration issue"). The official number of burakumin descendants is 1.157 million; the actual number is estimated at around two to three million, while the number of former buraku areas ranges between 5,000 to 6,000.
Japan’s Outsider Caste
The burakumin still feel the impact of centuries-old discrimination, though many Japanese deny these prejudices still exist.
thediplomat.com
Buraku (部落, "hamlets", "villages") used to be a term to describe residential areas segregated from the rest of Japanese society in which members of a minority known as burakumin (部落民) or hisabetsu burakumin (被差別部落民, "discriminated residents of the special communities") lived. The burakumin, whose descendants still face discrimination today, belong ethnically to the Japanese population (unlike the Ainu or the Koreans, the other two large minorities of Japan) and can not be distinguished from the rest of the Japanese in appearance, religion or customs. The social challenges and the persisting discrimination based on their social status in the Edo period, just like the pariah caste of India, are referred to as buraku mondai (部落問題, "buraku issue") or dōwa mondai (同和問題, "integration issue"). The official number of burakumin descendants is 1.157 million; the actual number is estimated at around two to three million, while the number of former buraku areas ranges between 5,000 to 6,000.