千百六十四： 部落 Discrimination in Japan

did you know that discrimination exists between Japanese people also?

i was kinda shocked when i found out.

historically, it was like the Indian caste system. the group who did the more impure jobs (removing dead animal bodies, slaughtering of animals, those who crafted leather products (????) ), pertaining to the dead especially, were considered outcasts of the society and became known as the Buraku. even though this caste system existed in the middle ages (edo period), the descendants of these Buraku are still sorta discriminated upon. they live in areas designated by the government, (abit like the black congregations) but they dun look different. they are jap, they look like jap, and they are not criminals, and no one actually noe you are one of the buraku unless by word of mouth. -.- its quite stupid i feel, the discrimination, like its only one street away from where u live and yet the place u live in is safer than that supposed buraku area??

i walked around a supposed buraku area before i knew it was a buraku area and it seemed no different from the other japanese neighbourhoods. in fact, it was the first more affluent neighbourhood i had seen in japan, with 3-storey terrace houses and kids running around in front of the houses (like singapore) . when i found out it was a supposed buraku area, i was kinda angry, for the burakus or the people who do not know or do not dare to go walk around in those areas but yet spoil the reputation of such areas by spreading such news. of cos in schs, they are trying to educate the kids, but if their parents are anti-burakumins, then its hard to remove the biasness.

you can read this site for further information about this discrimination:
http://www.imadr.org/tokyo/ishikawareport.html