Buraku Problem Basic

Buraku Issues

This term refers to a whole range of social issues arising from discrimination against Buraku people based on prejudices against their social status. It covers not only discriminatory speech and behavior by individuals and the mass media as well as discrimination in marriage and employment, but also refers to the inferior housing and educational conditions that have resulted from the historical social marginalization of Buraku people. These conditions are phenomenon, however. The fundamental problem lies in the fact that Buraku discrimination, which is a form of caste-like discrimination of a feudal nature, has persisted into the modern age and that discriminatory attitudes and structures against Buraku communities have not been eliminated in either the mindsets of individual nor in different social systems of today. The administrative term “Dowa Issues” is also used to describe this set of social issues, particularly in relation to “Dowa Areas,” which is the administrative term for officially registered Buraku communities.

Overview

At present, Buraku communities or Buraku people are not recognized in legislative or institutional terms or as a form of social status. Article 14 of the Constitution of Japan provides for “equality under the law,” stating that “[a]ll of the people are equal under the law and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.” Thus there can be no discrimination against Buraku people in today’s society; nevertheless, one cannot deny the fact that Buraku discrimination does exist in reality.

After the modernization of Japan with the abolition of the feudal system during the Meiji Restoration, and specifically after the promulgation of the Grand Council of State Edict on 28 August 1871 (commonly referred to as “the Emancipation Edict”), discriminatory treatment of Buraku people on the basis of their status formally and apparently disappeared in legislative and institutional terms. This disappearance makes any assessment of the number of Buraku communities and Buraku people uncertain. Moreover, no one can designate or identify specific areas as Buraku communities, since they do not exist in legislative or institutional terms.

Nevertheless, erroneous social beliefs and prejudices have, in reality, resulted in the identification of Buraku communities and Buraku people. Buraku communities are the areas that have been and still are considered as such. Those who were born, grew up in, or are living in such communities are identified as Buraku people, along with those who live outside Buraku communities but have recent blood relationships with those within these areas.

According to a 1993 survey of “Conditions in Dowa Areas,” there are officially 4,442 Dowa areas, 298,835 Dowa households, and a Dowa population of 892,751. Although a considerable number of undesignated Dowa areas are likely to exist, the actual figure is unknown. Given the number of the people who have gone out of Buraku communities before and after the end of the World War II, the estimation of “6,000 Buraku communities with a population of 3 million,” a common estimate, is not unreasonable at all. The expression should be understood as symbolic of the history and actual conditions of long-standing Buraku discrimination.

Historical and social discrimination

What kind of social discrimination have Buraku communities been subject to? First, Buraku people were stigmatized as outcasts in the pre-modern feudal era, being subject to humiliating and pejorative treatment as “non-human.” The effects of the outcast status were not eradicated even after the end of the feudal era. Buraku people have continued to be subject to strong pejorative and segregative attitudes, being considered as aliens in the people’s ideas, attitudes and mentalities, and are extremely alienated in social relationships including marriage. Second, the living conditions in Buraku communities have been extremely poor. Because of the accumulative effects of social alienation throughout the modern century, in addition to long-standing discrimination and oppression since the feudal era, the economic basis of Buraku communities, including people’s livelihoods, have been very vulnerable and unstable, and generally speaking Buraku people have occupied the least privileged part of the nation. Buraku communities, which suffer from an extreme social gap in living conditions, have been hardest hit by the adverse effects of what is called the dualistic structure of the capitalist society in modern Japan.

In sum, social discrimination against Buraku communities means that Buraku communities, which originated in the feudal caste-like system, have been alienated in different political, economic and cultural aspects and kept in socially inferior conditions; their inferior position has been taken for granted and neglected because of their Buraku status.

In other words, Buraku people have hardly been guaranteed civil rights, or rights to lead decent lives in modern society, which constitute one of the universal principles of modern society. Even after the end of the World War II, Buraku people have not been able to enjoy adequate levels of protection of constitutional rights to “maintain the minimum standards of wholesome and cultured living,” such as the right to survival (Art. 25), the right to receive education (Art. 26) and the right to work (Art. 27), including freedom to choose residence and occupation as well as freedom to move (Art. 22). In particular, Buraku people have been denied equal opportunities in education and employment.

The 1965 report of the Dowa Policy Council rightly pointed out, “So-called Buraku issues are the most serious and important social problem, in that certain parts of the Japanese population have been placed in inferior status in economic, social, and cultural terms, because of discrimination on the basis of the hierarchical class structure that was formed in the process of the historical development of Japanese society; that they continue to be subject to extreme violations of fundamental human rights even in today’s society; and that, in particular, they cannot enjoy complete protection of civil rights and freedoms, which are to be guaranteed for all as a principle of modern society.” The report concluded that it is “the responsibility of the State” as well as a “national challenge” to ensure the “urgent solution” of Buraku issues.

Present-day Buraku Issues

As a result of Dowa projects to improve the living conditions of Buraku communities, which had been undertaken for more than thirty years since the enactment of the Law on Special Measures for Dowa Projects in 1969, there has been considerable improvement in material aspects of Buraku communities, including housing conditions.

Despite these improvements, many problems remain unsolved even today. The most serious problem is persistent and widespread prejudice against Buraku communities. According to one survey, for example, 53.7% of respondents said that they would oppose the marriage of their child with a Buraku person, and 18.7% said that they would decide, either actively or passively, not to marry their partners if they were found to be of Buraku origin. In the field of employment, some companies have conducted discriminatory inquiries into applicants’ background even after the Buraku List scandal. Discriminatory scandals continue to appear. In recent years, new forms of cases of discrimination have occurred through the abuse of computer networks or the Internet, including the incitement of discrimination or the distribution of lists of Buraku communities.

Meanwhile, de facto discrimination remains in the field of education and employment in the form of large gaps between Buraku communities and other parts of the population. In terms of the rate of enrollment in upper secondary school, for example, the rate has continued to be 4 – 5% lower among Buraku children than the average. This is after the steep reduction of the gap in the mid-1970s. The rate of enrolment in higher education is more than 10% lower among students from Buraku communities. In terms of the educational background among the population over the age of fifteen, 3.8% of Buraku people had never entered school and 55.3% had completed primary education only, compared to the national averages (0.2% and 31.6% respectively).

These educational gaps are reflected in working conditions and incomes among Buraku people as well. Remunerated workers from Buraku communities tend to work in smaller companies with 1 – 4 (22.1%) or 5 – 9 employees (12.2%), compared to the national averages (respectively 20.7% and 8.7%, according to the Basic Survey on the Employment Structures); on the other hand, the proportion of the workers from Buraku communities who are employed in companies with more than 300 employees are less (11.6%) than the national average (25.5%). In terms of annual incomes, many Buraku workers (58.2%) earn less than 3 million yen, while only a small proportion (23.7%) earn more than 4 million yen, compared to the national averages (38.3% and 41.1% respectively). [Note: The figures concerning Buraku communities quoted in the present section are taken from the 1993 Survey to Grasp the Actual Conditions in Dowa Areas.]

Furthermore, the development of the Dowa projects has caused new problems both in and outside Buraku communities. First, partly due to inadequate efforts for awareness-raising, these projects and the services and funds they have provided have resulted in a sense of “jealousy” or reverse discrimination. Apparent improvements in Buraku communities have also brought about the idea that the Buraku problems ceased to exist. Second, there has been an outflow of people from Buraku communities, especially among young people who are educated and have become economically stable, partly because of standardized and small public housing in urban areas as well as few opportunities for employment in rural areas. As a result, the proportion of economically vulnerable people, such as elderly people and single parent households, has become higher than in other areas, preventing rejuvenation of Buraku communities. Also, the construction of standardized public housing has resulted in the destruction of humane communities that have existed. The reconstruction of old public housing has become a big issue as well.

In addition, there are allegedly more than 1,000 areas that have not been designated as Dowa communities and thus excluded from Dowa projects. The actual conditions in these areas should be identified and urgent measures should be taken accordingly.