�NIHONJIN, BURAKUMIN: Portraits of Japan�s outcast people.�

A <a href="http://www.globalcompassion.com/2008/05/19/masaru-goto/">collection

of photographs</a> of Japan's <i>Burakumin</i>, an extremely sensitive subject

in Japan, by Masaru Goto.

And what, may I ask, is the sensitivity you refer to? What causes these people to be outcasts?

>>> And what, may I ask, is the sensitivity you refer to? What causes these people to

be outcasts?

 

Try google. There's a lot of info...

Japan once had a caste system that unfortunately still echos in social circles. These

were the lowest people on the social scale. Similar to the untouchables of India I

believe, in concept.

 

James

Photography RI

Read the accompanying text, which, I believe, is directly below the photos.

"Sensitive" means that this is a shameful truth that a lot of Japanese nationalists do

not want to talk about. It is on the other hand one of the few discrimination issues

where Japanese officialdom has come down relatively hard on the discriminators.

They also used to call these minorities <i>eiki</i> or "inhuman." They were allowed

to do jobs most Japanese considered to be unclean such as butchering animals,

recovering drowning victims from rivers, etc.<br><br>

 

The official class system in Japan was imported with Confucianism from China, with

the modification that the Emperor was considered a divine descendant of the Sun

goddess, and was above all others.<br><br>

 

Theoretically the classes were:<br><br>

1) the imperial family<br>

2) farmers<br>

3) nobles and samurai<br>

4) merchants<br>

5) inhumans and foreigners<br><br>

 

In actuality the nobles and merchants were more powerful and better off than the

farmers. The classes were officially abolished by the Meiji Emperor, except for

nobles and imperials, but traces remained, just as in India. To this day, many

Korean descended Japanese still cannot get full citizenship.

And when photograhers arrived on the scene they made ...

6) photographers ;)

Why some folk feel the need to believe they are superior to other folk is a mystery of humanity. What sort of thinking processes are taking place in their minds?

 

The only understanding is a conclusion to this twisted equation which equates to sadness suffering and death.

 

What benefits to the individual does this bring or to the rest of humanity...

"Why some folk feel the need to believe they are superior to other folk is a mystery of humanity."

 

Reading history is a great way to unravel the mystery (and raise new questions). No books on the buraku immediately come to mind, though. For demonization of both sides of the Pacific war (US and Japan) I recommend John Dower's "War Without Mercy."

 

On this topic, here is an interesting online site "Visualizing Cultures" examining history through images.

http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/home/index.html

 

Do images have power? When this site showed some of the old anti-Chinese propaganda created by Japan, there was a big internet outcry by Chinese bloggers and Chinese students who thought this MIT hosted page was supporting the old Japanese way of thinking. What that says about their worldview and understanding of scholarship is also interesting...

Oh, I forgot to say one way to transcend the class you were born into in pre-Meiji

Japan was to become a Buddhist monk or nun. Many monks went on to become

great artists or calligraphers, and sold their artwork to raise money for their temples.

Buddhist Temples did not recognize the class system.

 

The MIT site is a great resource on Japan in the Meiji period. The senso-e

woodblock prints of that time are notable for their synthesis of Japanese graphic

styles and Western perspective and shading. Though the war images are ghastly

and full of propaganda, they are amazing for dramatic, artistic and historic qualities.

They do show how Japanese nationalism arose with the military success of Japan's

modern army and navy in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and Russo-

Japanese War of 1904-1905. This extreme nationalism ultimately led to the second

Sino-Japanese War in the 1930's and the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II.