Buraku

Touching on the subject of race is a touchy subject that must be handled with kids gloves; however, I will attempt to attack the subject of race relations within the Japanese population. I am referring to the burakumin or buraku people whom the Japanese still segregate against in the 21st century. This comes from a story published by the International Herald Tribue on January 16 (read here). The current Prime Minister of Japan, Taro Aso (whose last name sounds similar to a body part below the waste that also serves as a good description of his personality), was against having a buraku as Prime Minister simply because the man was a buraku.

As the article briefly mentions, no one really knows the origins of the buraku since they are ethnically Japanese, but it is believed that they were the old butcher class in feudal Japan. Buddhist beliefs deemed anyone who dealt in the trades of the flesh "unpure" and thus all of them and their descendants have been deemed unpure by society. This legacy is carried on into the 21st century through the registry that all Japanese citizens belong to that trace their history and their "status."

Prior to a law passed similar to the 13th Amendmant in the U.S., it was common for companies and fathers to check the "status" of their future employees or, in the case of the fathers, son or daughter-in-law. This remains important to some such as Taro Aso, and some fathers that will still hire someone to look into the status of their child's love interest. How depressing would it be to have your family line merged into the descrimination that has followed the buraku for centuries!

The author chose the momentious occasion of Obama's election as the reason for bringing this topic to light. I still don't see the Japanese as being open enough to follow the example of America on this issue though. Especially when considering the fact that they just passed a law recognizing the natives of their land, the Ainu (which look just like our Native Americans), as a race separate from the Japanese race and recognizing that they still exist in Japan (mostly in the northern island of Hokkaido). This is after a long campaign of trying to assimilate them into Japanese culture/society. It's a sad case, but honestly, there isn't much left of Ainu culture in the 21st century. Even if they wanted to give them reservations like America gave to Native Americans, it is way too little and way too late.

But it's not too late to elect a buraku to the role of Prime Ministership. If America can elect a burakku (the word black put into the Japanese syllabic alphabet) President, Japan can elect a buraku Prime Minister, right? Here's looking forward to the day when everyone has a fair and equal chance to achieve their dreams and we just won't divide people by race, sex, Phish-listeners, or any other way we tend to divide instead of unite.