Buraku Stories

Buraku Dictionary Filter by Title Select Title Filter by Categories Select Categories Filter through Tags BLL Buraku Buraku Discrimination Burakumin Class System Denunciation Struggle Dōwa Dōwa Area Dōwa Measures Emancipation Edict Family Register Kaihō Kaizen Laws Liberation Ostracized Groups Report Silence Yūwa Note: Many entries are empty and will be completed slowly but surely. Newer entries will be added from time to time while I work on other parts and read more literature Buraku 部落 (被差別部落) buraku (hisabetsu buraku) The term buraku is often used to refer to someone's village. The locations where the outcaste groups lived where referred as tokushu buraku . Formally they are called hisabetsu buraku and short as buraku . Burakumin 部落民 (被差別部落民) burakumin (hisabetsu burakumin) This term refers to the people living in the buraku or who are descendants from such. However, you can't know unless they tell you. Be careful when using this term. Chinzei Impartial Society 鎮西公明会 Chinzei Kōmeikai Customs Improvements League Association 風俗改善同盟会 Fūzoku Kaizen Dōmei Kai Don't wake up the sleeping children 寝た子を起こすな neta ko o okosuna The idea that if the buraku issue is ignored then it will disappear or will solve itself. Dōwa Area 同和地区 dōwa chiku Under the SML, those were the 'designated areas' that were targeted for the dōwa measures. Due to the exclusion from more than 1000 buraku areas during the SML, dōwa areas do not directly refer to buraku areas. Buraku Liberation League 部落解放同盟 buraku kaihō dōmei Central Association for Reconciliation Projects (財団法人) 中央融和事業協会 Chū’ō Yūwa Jigyō Kai Commoners Safety and Work Association 備作平民会 Bisaku Heiminkai Denunciation Struggle 糾弾闘争 kyūdan tōsō The Denunciation Struggle was a tactic of the Suiheisha to confront the discriminators and demand an apology (or more). This was continued by the Buraku Liberation League. Dōwa 同和 dōwa Often translated as "Assimilation" or "Harmony". The term dōwa is often interchangeably for buraku , thus making the buraku issue the dōwa issue. However, the term is not necessarily a direct reference to the buraku . Eta 穢多 eta Directly translates to "a lot of dirt". The eta were people who one of the groups excluded by the Edo class system. This term is derogatory hence why they should only be used in the historical context.

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. ​ 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. ​ 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. ​ 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.

The concept of impurity (kegare) Kegare (pollution / impurity) is the pollution resulting from negative occurrences including the following: Death of a person or an animal Birth, menstrual periods, pregnancy Catastrophes (Kobayashi 2016:142) By proximity or touching “pollution” (shokue ) and the consequence of becoming such, people believed that kegare is contagious and stayed away from “polluted” people and areas (Kobayashi 2016:142). burakumin and impurity Before the outcaste groups eta , hinin , and other became institutionalized through the class system in the Tokugawa Shogunate (Edo period), there were various other similar instances of marginalized groups through the concept of impurity. All the various cases throughout history that were marginalized and discriminated through the concept of impurity occupied work that related to the afore-mentioned "reasons". In the case of the eta , their close relation to the work of tanners or removing animal corpses from the streets made them "impure". Vice versa, when someone conducted such work without "being part of the eta group", one could be considered as such In contemporary times, the arbitrary pointing in relation to the impurity exists. Many who work in slaughterhouses or in waste disposal are often seen as burakumin although they are not. Bibliography Kobayashi, Kenji. 2016. Sabetsugo - Fukaigo [Discriminatory Terms - Unpleasant Terms]. 1st ed. Tōkyō: Kabushiki kaisha ningen shuppan.

Researchers Filter through Categories English Japanese Filter by Name Filter through Tags Dōwa Education Dōwa Policies History Human Rights Marriage Discrimination Political Science Sociology Youth Akuzawa, Mariko 阿久澤、麻理子 Books 丹波市人権に関する市民意識調査結果報告書. 丹波市まちづくり部人権啓発センター. 2019.03. 通信制高校の実態と実践例の研究 : 若者の総合的支援の場としての学校のあり方. 2015. アジア太平洋地域の大学院『人権プログラム』の学際的調査・研究. 兵庫県立大学環境人間学部. 2011. フィリピンの人権教育―ポスト冷戦期における国家・市民社会・国際人権レジームの役割と関係性の変化を軸として―. 解放出版社. 2006. 人はなぜ権利を学ぶのか フィリピンの人権教育. 解放出版社. 2002. Articles ジェンダー平等へ教育に何ができるか. 世界 951:222 - 231. 2021.12. Letter to the Editors of the Review of Law and Economics: "On the invention of Identity Politics: The Buraku Outcastes in Japan" by J. Mark Ramseyer. Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus 19(9). 2021.05. Passing a Baton of Dōwa Education to the Next Generation: GTA analysis of the voices of young teachers with Buraku origin. The Bulletin of Kyoto Human Rights Research Institute 25:39-76. 2020.07. 社会的合意を継承する教育・啓発、そして法の必要性. 部落解放 778:29-38. 2019.09. 「インターネットと部落差別―『全国部落調査』事件が提起すること」. 部落解放 746:79-87. 2017.09. Changing Patterns of Discrimination in Japan: Rise of Hate Speech and Exclusivism on the Internet, and the Challenges to Human Rights Education. Taiwan Human Rights Journal 13(4):37-50. 2016.12. more here Amos, Timothy D. Books Caste in Early Modern Japan: Danzaemon and the Edo Outcaste Order. Abingdon; New York: Routledge. 2020. Embodying Difference: The Making of Burakumin in Modern Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i. 2011. Articles ‘Doing Violence to Buraku History: J. Mark Ramseyer’s Dangerous Inventions’. The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus 19(9). 2021 (with Maren Ehlers, Anne McKnight, David Ambaras, and Ian Neary). ‘Contested Liberation: The Japanese Communist Party, Human Rights Groups, and the New Anti-Discrimination Law’. Japan Forum 32(2):220-243. 2020. ‘Pathways to Buraku Liberation: Competing Images of Freedom in Early Postwar Japan'. The Journal of Northeast Asian History 14(2):95-118. 2017. 'The Subaltern Subject and Early Modern Taxonomies: Indianization and Racialization of the Japanese Outcaste'. Asian Studies Review 41(4):577-593. 2017. ‘Fighting the Taboo Cycle: Google Map Protests and Buraku Human Rights Activism in Historical Perspective’. Japanese Studies 35(3):331-354. 2015. more here Bondy, Christopher Books Voice, Silence, and Self: Negotiations of Buraku Identity in Contemporary Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center. 2015. Articles ‘New Law or Old Issues: Stakeholder Expectations on the Bill for the Promotion of the Elimination of Buraku Discrimination’. Japan Forum 32(2):244–58. 2020. ‘Centring and Marginalizing: The “Soft Middle” and Japanese Minority Education’. Asia Pacific Journal of Education 34(1):93–106. 2014. more here Kurokawa, Midori 黒川みどり Books 被差別部落認識の歴史―異化と同化の間. 岩波現代文庫. 2021. 差別の日本近現代史. 岩波書店. 2015. 近代部落史―明治から現代まで. 平凡社. 2011. 「水平社伝説」からの解放. かもがわ出版. 2002. 異化と同化の間―被差別部落認識の軌跡―. 青木書店. 1999. Articles 被差別部落の歴史に学ぶ.『同和問題』にとりくむ宗教教団連帯会議『同宗連』118(119):6-7. 2021. 歴史認識を育むために―歴史教育の現実を見つめて―. 同時代史研究 13:29-37. 2020. 部落史から考える日本の近代社会. 歴史評論 801:32-44. 2017. 近代社会における被差別部落. ひょうごの人権教育 185:1-2. 2016. 水平運動と融和運動. 部落解放 577:45-51. 2007. more here Neary, Ian Books Dōwa Policy and Japanese Politics. London; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 2022. State and Politics in Japan (second edition). Polity. 2019. The Buraku Issue and Modern Japan: The Career of Matsumoto Jiichirō. 1st ed. Oxon, Abingdon, Milton Park: Routledge. 2010. Human Rights in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Routledge. 2002. Political Protest and Social Control in Pre-War Japan: The Origins of Buraku Liberation. Manchester: Manchester University Press. 1989. Articles ‘From the (end of) Dōwa Policies to (the start of) an Anti-discrimination Policy?’. Japan Forum. December 2019. ‘Human Rights in the Discourse of Buraku Liberation: from the 1920s to the 1990s’. Development and Society 39 (2):285-298. 2010. ‘Matsumoto Jiichirō and the making of democracy in postwar Japan’. Japan Forum 19 (2). 2007. ‘Parliamentary Democracy in Japan’. Parliamentary Affairs 57(3):666-681. 2004. 'Japan's Human Security Agenda and its Domestic Human Rights Policies'. Japan Forum 15(2):267-286. 2003. 'Burakumin at the end of history', Social Research 70(1):269-294. 2003. more here Saitō, Naoko 斎藤直子 Books 結婚差別の社会学. 東京: 勁草書房. 2017. Articles 交差性をときほぐすー部落差別と女性差別の交差とその変容過程ー. ソシオロジ 66(1):43-61. 2021. 結婚差別の経験を聞くことをめぐる『困難』.社会と調査 24:11-17. 2020. 部落差別の解消の推進に関する法律の施行と今後の課題. 共生社会研究 12:33-40. 2017. 部落青年と恋愛・結婚—『未婚化社会』における結婚差別. 家族研究年報 41:5-20.2016. 部落青年の結婚問題 全国部落青年の雇用・生活実態調査から. 部落解放研究 198:89-104.2013. more here Uchida, Ryūshi 内田龍史 Books 被差別部落マイノリティのアイデンティティと社会関係. 解放出版社. 2020. 部落問題と向きあう若者たち. 解放出版社. 2014. Articles ロナ禍の差別——差別が生じるメカニズム. 身同 40:73-81. 2022. 宮城県における災害公営住宅供給と被災住民の生活の回復. 社会学年誌 63:25-42. 2022. 部落差別解消推進法第６条に基づく部落差別実態調査の意義と課題. 関西大学人権問題研究室紀要 82:29-48. 2021. インターネット上における部落差別が部落の青年層に与える影響──第五〇回全高・第六二回全青参加者への質問紙調査から. 部落解放研究 211:108-136. 2019. 部落差別の生成と変容——「逆差別」意識に着目して. 社会学年報 48:31-43. 2019. more here

Buraku -pedia A brief history of the buraku issue Start Here The buraku social movement organizations Start Here Additional Information Incidents Start Here

Buraku Dictionary Filter by Title Select Title Filter by Categories Select Categories Filter through Tags BLL Buraku Buraku Discrimination Burakumin Class System Denunciation Struggle Dōwa Dōwa Area Dōwa Measures Emancipation Edict Family Register Kaihō Kaizen Laws Liberation Ostracized Groups Report Silence Yūwa Note: Many entries are empty and will be completed slowly but surely. Newer entries will be added from time to time while I work on other parts and read more literature Buraku 部落 (被差別部落) buraku (hisabetsu buraku) The term buraku is often used to refer to someone's village. The locations where the outcaste groups lived where referred as tokushu buraku . Nowadays, buraku is simply used and formally hisabetsu buraku . Burakumin 部落民 (被差別部落民) burakumin (hisabetsu burakumin) This term refers to the people living in the buraku or who are descendants from such. However, you can't know unless they tell you. Be careful when using this term. Chinzei Impartial Society 鎮西公明会 Chinzei Kōmeikai Customs Improvements League Association 風俗改善同盟会 Fūzoku Kaizen Dōmei Kai Don't wake up the sleeping children 寝た子を起こすな neta ko o okosuna The idea that if the buraku issue is ignored then it will disappear or will solve itself. Dōwa Area 同和地区 dōwa chiku Under the SML, those were the 'designated areas' that were targeted for the dōwa measures. Due to the exclusion from more than 1000 buraku areas during the SML, dōwa areas do not directly refer to buraku areas. Buraku Liberation League 部落解放同盟 buraku kaihō dōmei Central Association for Reconciliation Projects (財団法人) 中央融和事業協会 Chū’ō Yūwa Jigyō Kai Commoners Safety and Work Association 備作平民会 Bisaku Heiminkai Denunciation Struggle 糾弾闘争 kyūdan tōsō The Denunciation Struggle was a tactic of the Suiheisha to confront the discriminators and demand an apology (or more). This was continued by the Buraku Liberation League. Dōwa 同和 dōwa Often translated as "Assimilation" or "Harmony". The term dōwa is often interchangeably for buraku , thus making the buraku issue the dōwa issue. However, the term is not necessarily a direct reference to the buraku . Eta 穢多 eta Directly translates to "a lot of dirt". The eta were people who one of the groups excluded by the Edo class system. This term is derogatory hence why they should only be used in the historical context.

English (Japanese in cursive) Careful! The term tokushu buraku is a derogatory term and should only be used for the historical narrative.