Comments on J-List side blog: Japan's Untouchables: the Burakumin

Congratulations on exposing this human rights prob...

2010-12-25T23:39:24.328+09:00

Congratulations on exposing this human rights problem. I lived in Japan for three years and researched the topic for a Kansai Scene magazine article I wrote on the buraku. You might like to have a look at it here:

http://www.bretthetherington.net/default.aspx?pageId=116

The first time I heard about them was watching Hou...

2009-01-22T12:54:00.000+09:00

The first time I heard about them was watching House where he talks about meeting a burakumin dr when a friend was injured in Japan and that was why he became a dr. I love that show.

After reading a bit about them, it sounds exactly ...

2009-01-22T00:19:00.000+09:00

After reading a bit about them, it sounds exactly like the treatment we gave the African Americans. Compare some of the cases where black people were sentenced for someone else's crime to the Japanese court case "The Sayama Incident". Also the way the railroads treated the Chinese in the west back in the 1800's. At least in the West's defense, there is more equality now.

This is one of the only times I have ever seen a "...

2009-01-21T18:08:00.000+09:00

This is one of the only times I have ever seen a "burakumin" issue come up in news about Japan: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090121/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_outcasts

Actually, there would never be an anime, because t...

2009-01-21T08:42:00.000+09:00

Actually, there would never be an anime, because the anime makers are obviously not one of the "outcasts". Since the whole subject is taboo, it will probably never reach Japanese media in any format.

I saw a documentary on the same subject not too long ago, but I could never recall the name to save my life. It's very sad that even the "gaijin" get more acknowledgement than the burakumin.

I know how to fix their problem though. Invite them all to move enmasse to Europe and America. :D

Totally unrelated - recieved my giant plush Totoro...

2009-01-20T22:36:00.000+09:00

Totally unrelated - recieved my giant plush Totoro from jlist. Now I just have to wait a week or so for my niece or nephew to be born =)

John, yes, I guess. Still, if the goal is to elimi...

2009-01-20T12:00:00.000+09:00

John, yes, I guess. Still, if the goal is to eliminate the discrimination, and the situation can be removed so much that a Foreigner can live here for 18 years without learning much about it, it seems that that's a kind of progress.

Zenton, people named Sakamoto are supposedly related to the burakumin situation. Which might mean that the most famous Japanese in history, Ryoma Sakamoto, was buraku? Interesting. That suggestion might be as popular as my suggestion that since 君 (kimi, a very informal word for "you") also referred to the Emperor, it would be okay to use it when meeting the Emperor. ^_^

Animemiz, maybe it will fade, who can say. It's hundreds of years of history though, so it's hard to undo. It's hard for a "young" country that had many waves of newcomers who faced different challenges as they got used to America, thus there's no one group that was the focus of tons of racism. As usual, being American (as I am) makes it hard to figure this place out.

This is a sad situation that is still persisting.....

2009-01-20T06:02:00.000+09:00

This is a sad situation that is still persisting.... perhaps it will fade away with time? Wonder if there will be an anime that would ever talk about this issue?

Since its hard to find out what job someones great...

2009-01-20T04:24:00.000+09:00

Since its hard to find out what job someones great-great-grandfather happened to do, in daily life is there any way at all to find out what class people belonged? do burakumin have special family names?
if you cant find out, you cant discriminate.

I read that article, in the print edition. It was ...

2009-01-20T03:15:00.000+09:00

I read that article, in the print edition. It was on the front page last Friday. (Near the bottom, but still the front page...) I guess my view is that if some people believe a problem exists, it's important to keep exploring it and making sure people are conscious of it.

Yes, eta hinin is another word for them, kind of n...

2009-01-20T01:34:00.000+09:00

Yes, eta hinin is another word for them, kind of not kind I think. Interesting aside, there appears to be no kanji entry for this word in the Mac dictionary. That's kind of the ultimate PC, somehow.

Okay, Wikipedia comes through again. 穢多非人 is the kanji.

Did yout studies turn up where the name 'eta' as r...

2009-01-20T00:19:00.000+09:00

Did yout studies turn up where the name 'eta' as replied to burakumin comes into the picture? If I recall correct, that is the word used for them in Clavells Shogun.

It's hard to know how to feel about this subject. ...

2009-01-20T00:14:00.000+09:00

It's hard to know how to feel about this subject. Some foreigners will get indignant on behalf of the burakumin who they've never met, and I try to avoid doing that. While bias probably exists -- I'm sure if you try to marry a rich girl a background check will be made to make sure you're not from this stock -- there's some reason to think that it's not that bad, and is being blown out of proportion by groups who want to make noise about "burakumin's rights." In some parts of the country, spefically Kouchi Prefecture on Shikoku, burakumin-derived people are the majority. There are very few in Gunma, which may be why I've never heard of them much. People with the last name of Sakamoto are supposedly from this stock more often than not.