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Buraku Problem Basic

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Buraku Problem Basic

Employment Discrimination

“Employment discrimination” refers to any refusal of employment on grounds such as nationality, origin of birth, or gender, which are unrelated to an individual’s character or abilities that might affect the accomplishment of one’s duties. The Labor Standards Law, article 3, stipulates the following with regard to conditions of employment, “under no circumstances might discrimination on the basis of a worker’s nationality, creed, or social position be permitted.” However, there is no regulation banning discrimination at the time of employment. Robbing a person of the opportunity for employment without rational cause is a violation of an individual’s right to live and to their dignity, and as such can be thought to be in violation of article 14 (equality under the law) and article 22 (freedom of choice of employment) of the constitution. As for Buraku, employment discrimination is at the heart of Buraku discrimination, as indicated by the report of Dowa Measures Council: “of all our civil rights and freedoms, it is particularly problematic that the freedom of choice of employment, i.e. equal opportunity employment, is not adequately preserved.”

The concept of “employment discrimination” has not always been socially fixed in Japan. In the case of private companies, “employment” has been thought of as a company’s freedom to employ someone, and therefore constitutional article 14 (equality under the law) has been thought not to apply to this situation involving private entities. A supreme court ruling also stated that “in regards to all employment conditions of a company as it is deciding whether to hire a particular laborer, as long as there are no other special legal limitations, this should, as a principle, be the freedom of the company” (1973.12.12 Mitsubishi Resin Case). Also, on both national and regional levels, extensive background checks have previously been conducted, and the “principle of equal treatment” referred to in national government employee law, article 27, or regional government employee law, article 13, has not been protected since the laws’ inception in 1947.

Against this backdrop, there has been an active struggle against employment discrimination since the 1960’s, conducted mostly in schoolyards, and with this movement, the concept of “employment discrimination” was developed and confirmed. Particularly formative was the Committee for Research on Dowa Education’s first national meeting for the guarantee of progress, held in 1965. At this event, there was an examination of what effect life in Buraku areas had on the progress of children, as well as consultations centered on employment, and the development of an institutional strategy for the elimination of employment discrimination.

This strategy served as a background for a spread of similar efforts across the country, and with the start of the ‘70s, there was a joint notice from the Ministries of Education and of Labor that introduced a uniform employment form for all high school graduates (1973), the Ministry of International Trade and Industry revised the Japanese Industrial Standard for resumes (1974), and the revision of family registry law limited access to family registries (1975). Though such developments indicated an advance toward a systematic framework for the preservation of employment opportunity, in ’75 a comprehensive list of Buraku neighborhoods throughout the country came to light. The depths of discrimination in large companies became apparent, and since that time, there have been numerous incidents involving similar lists, investigations of applicants’ backgrounds during the interview process, and violations of the uniform employment form.

In the background of these incidents is a lack of common social awareness of employment discrimination. If decisions regarding employment are made on grounds “other than the individual’s abilities or character,” it is clearly employment discrimination; however, what constitutes an “individual’s abilities or character” is dependent on time and place. For example, in the United States, requests for pictures with an application, as well as inquiries into age or nationality, are all considered employment discrimination. However, in the case of Japan, according to a survey conducted by the Management and Coordination Agency (1993), only seven percent of respondents thought it was discriminatory to refuse employment to someone because he or she was raised in a home without a father. Employment decisions in Japan are considered to be at the discretion of the company, and the phrase “individual’s abilities or character” remains ambiguous.

Of the types of employment discrimination that might be considered Buraku discrimination, first off there is direct discrimination, in which a person’s Buraku origins are given as a reason for exclusion. Specifically this manifests itself in requests for excerpts from family registries at the time of hire, or in background checks, or the purchasing of Buraku lists. Secondly, there is indirect discrimination, which precedes a person’s entry into the working world. This includes widespread social prejudice combined with discrimination in education and other aspects of a person’s life that have accumulated in a way that might result in “lacks” in employment capabilities.

Discrimination includes instances in which those placed in socially disadvantaged classes are excluded at hiring time through the use of company-specific application forms or through interview questions that have nothing to do with the applicant’s abilities or character, questions about that person’s family etc. which the company demands the applicant to disclose. Alternatively, it includes instances of being excluded from the work space through discriminatory actions or statements after being hired, or instances in which, as a result of discrimination, an employee cannot adapt to changes to work environment to accommodate technological updates or fit in to company orientation and is thus forced into quitting. All of these are examples of employment discrimination, in a broad sense.

This is to say that employment discrimination is not merely “discrimination at the point of entry into a relation of production;” it includes “discrimination prior to entry” (cumulative discrimination) as well as “discrimination post entry” (exclusion from the work place). It is built on the idea that if there is a gap on the general labor market between particular groups due to cumulative discrimination, the existence of discrimination must be assumed and there must be transitional and pro-active actions to end discrimination.

This thought is regularly recognized within present labor regulations, as evidenced by affirmative action plans promoted by the provision of statutory employment rates as based on the law for the promotion of employment of people with disabilities and the 9th and 20th articles of the gender equally employment opportunity law.

With regard to Buraku issues, since the ’82 “outline for the promotion of environmental improvement by the administration for employment stability” suggested pro-active employment, there have been several revisions of this statement, and the current version reads, “special weight should be given to each applicant’s individual situation with the aims of developing better hires, and consideration should be given to proactive employment.” This is an example of such a proactive measure.

Topics for continued consideration include: legal regulation of the content of employment discrimination; the preparation of a system for integrating discrimination counseling across individual instances; and the development and preparation of a legal preventive regulation (company-internal training as well as a public hiring system) to halt employment discrimination in companies. People are also working for the ratification of international standard ILO Convention 111 (Convention to end discrimination in work and occupation).

cf. Employment Equality Opportunity

References:

  • 同和地区人材雇用開発センター『就職へのかけ橋』(解放出版社，1993)
  • 部落解放研究所編『就職差別NO！』(同前，1995)
  • 全国同和教育研究協議会事務局編『進路保障の取りくみをすすめるために　就労編』Ａ，Ｂ(1984，1989)