I figured that four days into my trip, I should have at least done something that coincided with my original purpose, and so today I took a trip to the human rights museum, also known as Liberty Osaka. This museum features a number of groups discriminated against in Japan. This includes the Ainu--people originally from the northernmost island, Hokkaido--the okinawan people, those descended from Koreans, and the Burakumin.
For anyone who doesn't know, the Burakumin are people who are descended from those Japanese who, hundreds of years ago, did jobs that were considered 'ritually impure', especially those dealing with dead animals like leatherworking and butchery. These people were considered less human than everyone else, and the term Burakumin is a recent euphemism used to replace words like Eta, which means 'much filth', and hinin, which means 'not human'. Burakumin only translates as 'village people'.
The Human Rights Museum, which is built in a Buraku (the neighborhoods of the Burakumin), is about 1/3 devoted to what is referred to in Japan as the Buraku Mondai, or the Buraku problem. Steps have been made lately in stopping discrimination but there is still a taboo associated with the subject, and it is very hard to broach the subject with most Japanese.
That is, unless you're at a museum devoted to it. I met two people who were exceedingly helpful concerning my questions about Burakumin. First, I met Shintani-san, one of the volunteers who works at the museum. She seemed very interested in the subject herself, going so far as to print out a page for the Headquarters of Buraku Liberation League website and we spoke at length about possible other sources for studying the Burakumin. She also went out of her way to find Murakami-san, the museum's scholarly researcher. He and I talked in depth about the concept. I won't go into the details, which are very specific, but I will say that he told me that the descrimination began earlier than I had previously thought it had, and explained the basic history of the discrimination.
Basically, the Burakumin originally became Burakumin because they filled needed roles in society; leather workers, butchers, embalmers, etc. Eventually, the title became hereditary. This was primarily because offspring were required to do their parent's work at that time in society.
After the Meiji Restoration, however, all were given equality, and yet the discrimination continued. I asked Murakami-san why this is. If Burakumin are no longer doing their impure jobs, then what is it about them that makes them different in discriminatory Japanese's eyes.
At the museum I also attempted to move like an old person. They strapped weights to my limbs, splinted my joints so i had to fight to bend them, weighted me down in a vest, and put on goggles. I learned today that I don't ever want to get old.
After that, I also listened to some testimonials about how it was to live as Burakumin. It was a very informative, if time consuming, experience.
After, I didn't have time for anything else on my list, so I went looking for the American Consulate. The upside is that I found it. The downside is that it is closed on weekends. So, I walked all around the Kita Ward of Osaka looking at shops I hadn't seen yesterday, finishing up with the Hankyu department store, which was even bigger than the two I saw yesterday. It had 12 stories.
After all that walking, however, I'm pretty tired. So I'm writing this but I will probably put up pictures of this all tomorrow, when I intend to visit Osaka castle and the Osaka history museum. Come back then!
Cory
No comments:
Post a Comment