In the earlier parts of this course,
Japan has been portrayed as largely
homogeneous—the concepts of strict hierarchies, groupism, and
stratified
society reinforced this portrayal. The truth, however, is that Japan
is not entirely homogeneous—
minority groups do exist, and they are being
integrated into Japanese society more so than at any other time in history.
This is not to say that
segregation doesn't still exist, as it is still
a major problem throughout Japan. This essay will attempt to show
that Japan is not homogeneous, but also that
prejudices and segregation
of minority groups still exists.
First, we take a look at the burakumin, the descendants of
“outcasts” from Japanese society. These outcasts were identified
as such simply because their ancestors had held jobs “considered ritually
unclean, like butchering animals, tanning skins, making leather goods,
digging graves and handling corpses.” (Packet 277) In the “old” times,
burakumin were “legally barred from marrying outside their group
or from living outside their slums (buraku)”. (Packet 277)
Legally, the burakumin were “emancipated” in 1871, although
for many decades after that they were still effectively outcasts—similar
to the way African-Americans were officially emancipated in the 1860s
but were heavily persecuted against in many areas of the United States until
the 1960s and beyond. Many Japanese still considered the burakumin
dirty outcasts, and it has been said that some shopkeepers “so loathed
the burakumin that they would wash their coins upon being paid.”
(Packet 278)
Today, the situation is much different. Two-thirds of all burakumin
polled say that they have never encountered discrimination, and 73% now
marry non-burakumin. (Packet 277) The reasons for such
an abrupt change? The main reason is that figuring out who is a burakumin
in the first place can be difficult—most burakumin now have normal
jobs (only a few still work in tanning and other traditionally “outcast”
jobs), and many now live outside of the buraku. Since they
are “physically indistinguishable from other Japanese”, it is hard to
discriminate against what can’t be identified. (Packet 278)
When we add to this the fact that “most parents don’t tell their kids”
about the burakumin, drawing no distinction between them and other Japanese
people, we have a minority that is effectively integrating itself into
mainstream Japanese society. (Packet 279)
A second major group of “outsiders” residing in Japan are comprised
of Koreans. “Most Koreans were originally forced to come here when
Japan ruled Korea from 1910 to 1945. Many came as virtual slave
laborers, set to work digging canals in Osaka or mining coal.” (Packet
281) While Koreans living in Japan are permitted to be come Japanese
citizens, many refuse since they feel it would be “renouncing their Korean
past and submerging themselves in a Japanese present.” (Packet 281)
Until just a few years ago, in fact, Koreans were even forced to give up
their names and take Japanese names upon naturalization. The situation
in schools and the job market is not much better, as Korean children are
often teased and persecuted in Japanese schools, and Koreans are often
denied jobs simply for being Korean.
The solution for many Korean families is to live in ethnic neighborhoods,
such as Ikuno. There, Koreans can send their children to Korean-run
schools, “attend Korean-run churches, be admitted to Korean-run hospitals
or shop at markets offering Korean clothing and food.” (Packet 281)
The situation seems similar to that of the Native Americans in the United
States, who are free to practice their own religious and cultural beliefs
only within their reservations.
And, much like the Native Americans are increasingly leaving their reservations
and becoming “Americanized”, “the 650,000 ethnic Koreans in Japan…seem
to be at a crossroads and increasingly choosing the Japanese path rather
than the Korean path.” (Packet 287) Teachers at Korean-run
schools in Japan are finding that young Koreans “have no intention of going
back to their homeland”, and that “Intermarriage is increasing, and taking
of Japanese nationality is increasing.” The decreasing attendance
of Korean-run schools illustrates this—17,000 today as compared to 35,000
in 1967. (Packet 288)
Even so, the situation is far from perfect. As several letters
to the New York Times note, “Any Korean living in Japan well knows the
subtle and not-so-subtle discriminations still practiced against them.”
(Packet 285)
So, we have seen that Japan is not completely homogeneous—both the
burakumin and the Koreans are examples of minority groups living
there. However, the articles written about these groups seem to show
that the Japanese want these groups to “dissolve” into Japanese society,
giving up their own ideals and embracing those of the Japanese. The
burakumin are simply dissolving altogether, while the Koreans are
still being segregated into their own communities to practice their own
beliefs and speak their own language.
Heterogeneous, perhaps, but not exactly tolerant.
References
EALC 150 Article Packet. University of Illinois, Fall Semester
2000.