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Buraku Problem Basic

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Buraku Problem Basic

Origin of Buraku

Different literatures indicate that the historical origin of Buraku can be traced back to 1000. Around that time, Buraku people were called “kawaramono” (riverside dwellers), “tosha” (butchers), “eta” (extreme filthy) or “kiyome” (cleaners). They usually lived on riversides, and engaged in disposing of dead cattle, manufacturing leather, cleaning shrines and temples, landscaping and public entertainment. While these people were looked down on as lowly people by others, 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 as lowly people were considerably related to the ideas of Japan’s indigenous belief system, Shinto, and to the ideas of Buddhism (Mahayana 〔great vehicle〕Buddhism influenced by Hinduism, came into Japan) – especially, the idea of “filth” and the idea of avoiding butchers.

Note: Japan was originally based on rice culture. Cattle were imported from abroad as an invaluable labor source in cultivating rice paddies. Wanting to preserve this labor source, the ruler of Japan at the time of cattle’s first importation (around 600) banned slaughtering cattle as well as eating beef.

In the late 15th century, Japan entered an “age of provincial wars.” Warring lords gathered leather craftsmen into their castle towns to secure a stable supply of leather to be used for making armor. These craftsmen were usually called “kawata.” People called “kawata” disposed the bodies of dead cattle, and gave leather produced from these carcasses to their respective warring lords.

Under the Tokugawa Shougnate

Around 1600, Japan’s feudal system moved into its second half (i.e. the “Tokugawa Shougnate system”) and Japan’s government was centralized and the status system was consolidated. Under these changes, the areas inhabited by those who had faced discrimination since the Middle Ages, such as “kawaramono” or “kawata” leather craftsmen, were systematically fixed as discriminated-against hamlets and started to be referred to in general as “kawata-mura” (hamlet). People who were called “kawata” manufactured leather and footwear called “setta,” and also cultivated wild land for agriculture. Also, they were ordered to take positions as low-ranked officials guarding prisons, regulating crimes or executing the death penalty; they also had to pay tax in the form of leather both to the Tokugawa Shogunate and local feudal lords.

Under the Tokugawa Shogunate system, the commodity economy developed in a way that worked against the starkly divided status system. To confront the disintegration of the status system, the government introduced regulations that, for example, enclosed Buraku areas with bamboo fences or specified what clothing and hairstyles people could wear.

Those people who were originally called “kawata” – i.e. those who disposed of cattle carcasses and manufactured leather – were called “eta” more often under the Tokugawa Shogunate system. Previously, they had been looked down as lowly people, but with awe for their special skills. In this period, though, the “eta” were seen not simply as lowly but also as unclean. Meanwhile, those who were engaged in public entertainment rather than disposing of dead cattle or manufacturing leather, or those who, for a variety of reasons, flowed into urban areas from rural areas were formally positioned in the “hinin” (non-human) class.

Under the Tokugawa Shogunate system, class, occupation and residential area were closely linked together. Inter-marriage or movement among different classes were basically prohibited. That said, though, “hinin,” who in some provinces ranked below “eta,” could return to the “chonin” (townsmen) or “hyakusho” (peasants) classes if they satisfied certain conditions.

When the Tokugawa Shogunate system started to wane in 1800’s, the oppressed Buraku people were the ones who initiated a resistance movement, in response to the strict social controls they endured under the status system (e.g. the 1856 “Shibuzome Insurgency”). At the same time, the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate grew, causing internal conflicts in the country. Some Buraku people participated in the battles in exchange for liberation from their oppressed status (they formed, for example, the “Ishin-dan (restoration troop)” and the “Isshin-gumi” in the Choshu Domain in 1863).

Modern Age – after “Meiji Restoration”

In 1867, the Meiji Restoration took place. As the Tokugawa Shogunate System collapsed, Japan entered modern society. In 1871, the lowly titles given to the oppressed groups under the Tokugawa Shogunate System were abolished, and a decree was promulgated stating that these groups were equal to common people in terms of class and occupations (“Decree to Abolish Lowly Titles”). However, it was not accompanied by any educational programs to wipe out the anti-Buraku prejudicial attitudes that had been deeply rooted in people’s mindsets under the Shogunate System for nearly 260 years, nor were there any concrete measures to encourage Buraku people to engage in other occupations than those that they had traditionally engaged in. At the same time, as a result of the influx of large amounts of capital into new leather industry and the newly born meatpacking industry, poverty rapidly prevailed among the Buraku population. Most Buraku people were forced either to be peasants with only a small patch of rural land to till, or to be stagnantly unemployed working in rural areas as day laborers.

In the meantime, the Meiji government created a new nobility system with the emperor on the top. Under the newly created status system, Buraku people were initially referred to as “former eta” or “new commoners;” later they became known as “special Buraku people.” They continued to face discrimination in employment and marriage, as well as in their day-to-day interactions with others.

On March 3, 1922, influenced by the “Taisho Democracy” democratic movement and the call far self-determination that had accompanied the Russian Revolution and the Leagues of Nations, the National Levelers Association was founded. The “Levelers Declaration” adopted by the Founding Congress of the National Levelers Association holds an esteemed position as the first “human rights declaration” of Japan. It states that “human beings are not to be pitied, but to be respected,” and calls for there to “be light in all human beings.”

As one of its primary strategies, the National Levelers Association adopted the denunciation of Buraku discrimination, discrimination which at that time was openly and routinely practiced in society. They publicly denounced discrimination wherever it occurred, even going so far as to critique the military and judicature whenever necessary. Pressured by the National Levelers Association’s activities, the government budgeted for improving Buraku conditions and started a project to improve housing conditions and roads running through Buraku districts. In order to forestall a protest by the movement, the project was implemented even in those Buraku districts not involved in the National Levelers Association movement.

Note: “Denunciation,” or kyudan, is a practice invented by the Levelers Association to respond to acts of discrimination by soliciting from the discriminator (or alleged offender) apologies, self-criticism, promises to participate in enlightenment education and institutional reform. (Yasumasa Hirasawa: A Policy Study of the Evolution of the Dowa Education in Japan, 1989)

While the government failed to illegalize acts of Buraku discrimination, it did criminalize, in a move to limit the influence of the movement, the National Levelers Association’s anti-discrimination denunciation sessions. In 1935, the government initiated a “Ten Years’ Program for Resolving the Buraku Problem.” However, this program was discontinued before the ten years came to an end as Japan entered into war with China and then into the Pacific War. During the war, suppression of the National Levelers Association became considerably stricter. The movement, which had been a strong critic of the war, was eventually forced to give up their critique and support the government in the war. It was a regrettable historical event.

End of the WWII

In August 1945, having inflicted major damages to neighboring countries and having sustained massive damages itself due to the A-bombs, Japan surrendered the war. Reflecting on the war of aggression it had waged, Japan enacted a new constitution in November 1946 that was based on the renunciation of war, on sovereignty residing in the people, and on respect for fundamental human rights. Article 14 of the Constitution explicitly prohibits “discrimination based on race, creed, sex, social status, or family origin,” while Article 24 states that marriage shall be based only on the mutual consent of both sexes. Inclusion of these provisions in the Constitution was achieved through efforts of the leadership of the National Committee for Buraku Liberation that was reconstructed in February 1946, and especially by efforts of Jiichiro Matsumoto, chairperson of the National Committee for Buraku Liberation and first Deputy Speaker of the House of Councilors.