Greetings
My name is Niki and I am the owner and editor of Buraku Stories.
I studied Japanese Studies and Chinese Studies in B.A. at the Heidelberg University from 2013 until 2018. During that time, I did an exchange year at the Tokyo Gakugei between 2015 and 2016. After finishing my Bachelors degree, I started my M.A. at the International Christian University and graduated in 2020 with a degree in Social and Cultural Analysis.
I returned to Heidelberg in 2021 and started my PhD in Japanese Studies.
How did I became interested in the buraku issue?
Whilst studying Japanese history and literature in my B.A. I came in touch with the topic briefly. It was not until I went to Japan as an exchange student back in 2015 to 2016 that I became interested in the buraku issue. One of the classes during that year was about Japanese society (more specifically about the minorities in Japan) and when the lecture addressed the burakumin I got hooked immediately.
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Being a minority myself (German-born Asian) I explained the racism and discrimination I faced simply because I was "different (ethnically, visually, etc.)" than my environment. Then, learning how the burakumin are discriminated against although "not different (ethnically or linguistically)" sparked my curiosity towards the buraku issue ever since.
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On top of that, I was able to meet burakumin who were open about their background, researchers and professors related to the topic and had tours in buraku areas. The most significant factor for continuing my research on this topic and what kept my curiosity was Christopher Bondy who also was my adviser during my M.A. studies at the International Christian University.
Why did I create Buraku Stories?
This project started back in 2019, when during my M.A. research, I had the opportunities to talk to various burakumin about the issues they currently face. Coupled with the fact that the buraku issue in Japan is barely talked about and although the literature in English on this topic is increasing, it is still a small amount compared to other topics about Japanese Society, I thought to create something useful that might help the burakumin in one way, thus I made Buraku Stories.
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The core of Buraku Stories is to make information about the buraku issue more accessible. By providing a database of literature, creating a dictionary of terms related to the topic and most importantly, making the information in English (and other languages) would ease the entry to the topic for those who are interested.