Comments on: The Burakumin: Japan’s Invisible Race

By: mgw

mgw — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Moreover, characterizing the burakumin as a “race” is NOT accurate at all. You claim (more than once) in this article being western and raised in the us as if this meant being pro awareness and information, but please… Accurate information and the right use of words are essential in order to create awareness.

By: mgw

mgw — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 10:57:00 +0000

One of the reasons why many people and institutions were against the localization of Burakumin districts by Google was to avoid more discrimination to the people who have burakumin ancestry if they happened to be identified.

By: tmkbysh

tmkbysh — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 23:16:00 +0000

thanks for this article! very enlightening.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 04:33:00 +0000

I saw a movie called, “Village of Dreams” in English. You can buy a copy from its official American distributor (I forget their name, but check IMDB.com). I believe there is a character of the Burakumin type in it. He doesn’t seem to be playing with the other boys and dresses kind of raggedly.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 04:29:00 +0000

Do they get the benefits of the education of most, like ESL (I did some of that teaching in Korea, though I really wanted to be in Japan), which still seems important to East Asia? The younger ones may be more integrated than older ones into Japabese classrooms, but younger ones who are not could come to America or another country that knows English and allows anyone to move up, though those with a criminal past might need a trial period at the lower rungs of the business ladder. I’ve heard these Burakumin are the ones doing the dirty work at Fukushima. That’s sad, but Catholics were given lowly jobs in places like Boston and NY, as cops and firefighters. They’ve come to run high-level positions, but their work has gained popularity in the past decade or so, so the Burakumin may have their day, though the institutional silent treatment will make it harder and longer, there. I still love Japan, though.

By: Mari

Mari — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 19:17:00 +0000

I came across this and other articles about the Burakumin . My mother is Japanese and my father is white, I was researching my mother’s ancestry and came upon the history of these people that are just as Japanese as my mother. I am sure if she was alive and knew I was reading and trying to learn more about the Burakumin, she would be upset as I am thinking that she was somewhat prejudice, by the way she treated some of my friends. I don’t blame her she was taught to be prejudice.
I am not prejudice and I was shocked that Japan had these types of issues. I am currently re-searching the Japanese social reformer” Sue Sumii “for one of my college classes. I was planning a trip to Japan, but now I want to visit the Burroughs where the Burakumin live and maybe I can somehow help to advocate on their behalf, by educating people I meet and telling them they are Japanese and that I have met them myself and there is no difference. It is wrong to deny people work, health insurance, or to consider them disposable. I read that they worked most of the nuclear waste clean up after the Tsunami, with less than adequate protive gear and were not offered any long term health benefits for the exposure to the radiation. If people aren’t educated then nothing can be changed, they deserve to have what everyone else has.