People of the Village

Are there any doramas which deal in some way with the plight of the Burakumin? This is a long overdue topic, and it is difficult to find discussion of their mistreatment in various media.

shouldn't this be in the GD or JE section..?

oops. If anyone knows how to move it, it would be appreciated. I'm new.

someone will move it for you.

Moving to the Japanese Entertainment forum.

Sooo... I guess that this is a taboo subject, even for this discussion board. There is very little on this subject, although, I did see parallels between it and the film "Go", concerning the mistreatment of Koreans in Japan.

toykimura wrote:Sooo... I guess that this is a taboo subject, even for this discussion board.

I doubt that... It's more like there's no interest or not many people are familiar with the subject.

Ah, perhaps I'd better explain, then. The Burakumin are the descendants of those whose professions involved actions prohibited by Buddhism: slaughter-house employees, tanners, drum-makers, waste-management.

Because of this, these people were forced to live in slums, prohibited from marrying other Japanese, and generally shunned by society. Until about 25 years ago, they were not allowed to live outside their ghettos.

Atempts have been made since then to bring them into society, but there are still many Japanese who prohibit their children from marrying buraku. Some parents investigate their childrens' fiancees to determine whether or not they have changed their names in order to hide their buraku backgrounds.

The topic is still somewhat taboo among the Japanese. It is considered in poor taste to discuss the Burakumin or how they have been mistreated. Only recently have the children of the Burakumin been allowed to play the drums that their families and ancestors themselves built.

For more information, read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin

bmwracer wrote:
I doubt that... It's more like there's no interest or not many people are familiar with the subject.

i think it's more the former. If you scan the thread topics, there are very few political type threads. This board is mainly for entertainment related discussions. While it may not be taboo, it is beyond the focus of those who choose to register and post here. Barring any of the boy-bands, or girl groups stepping up and speaking out on this, you're unlikely to get the wider membership to join in this thread.

While it is not taboo (this would've been locked if it was) to post subjects like this, you would get a wider array of responses on a japanese social culture forum

Maybe this thread should be in the GD forum and not the J-Ent forum? :headscratch:

bmwracer wrote:Maybe this thread should be in the GD forum and not the J-Ent forum? :headscratch:

yeah...i don't think the plight of oppressed people can be considered japanese entertainment. :sweat:

toykimura wrote:Sooo... I guess that this is a taboo subject, even for this discussion board. There is very little on this subject, although, I did see parallels between it and the film "Go", concerning the mistreatment of Koreans in Japan.

To answer OP and this post. There aren't any.

toykimura wrote:Sooo... I guess that this is a taboo subject, even for this discussion board. There is very little on this subject, although, I did see parallels between it and the film "Go", concerning the mistreatment of Koreans in Japan.

This is more about racial tension, cultural difference etc., and I think it is meant to inspire, not entertain.

The plight of a minority group within a culture does not get to go on the big screen, for the simply reason that the oppressors don't want to advertise, the oppressed can't afford to advertise, and the rest of world often don't know enough to advertise.

In a way what you said was similar to the Indian caste system. I believe that had the British not ruled India for a while and made the caste system better known through their reports and literature, the world may still not know much about it.

thtl wrote:

This is more about racial tension, cultural difference etc., and I think it is meant to inspire, not entertain.

The plight of a minority group within a culture does not get to go on the big screen, for the simply reason that the oppressors don't want to advertise, the oppressed can't afford to advertise, and the rest of world often don't know enough to advertise.

In a way what you said was similar to the Indian caste system. I believe that had the British not ruled India for a while and made the caste system better known through their reports and literature, the world may still not know much about it.

Agreed.

Yeah I don't think the Japanese are going to be making a film anytime soon about the Rape of Nanking which occurred in 1937-38.

The Japanese have been historically resistant to acknowledge their incredibly voluminous atrocities against East Asian and South Asian countries....

On this point they remain bigoted cowards.

Tu_triky wrote:On this point they remain bigoted cowards.

I sadly have to agree with you on that... The powers-that-be in Japan need to fess up to this crime against humanity.

bmwracer wrote:
I sadly have to agree with you on that... The powers-that-be in Japan need to fess up to this crime against humanity.

for sure...it's a historical legacy they refuse to admit....cowardice in extremis.

no government wants to admit to crimes, or maltreatment of its citizens.

krim wrote:no government wants to admit to crimes, or maltreatment of its citizens.

Painfully true... It surprises me that the U.S. paid reparations to all those Japanese that were interned here... Though it was too little too late.

krim wrote:no government wants to admit to crimes, or maltreatment of its citizens.

agreed...but the japanese haven't even approached anything that would considered an acknowledgement of the truth...


bastards to the end....

i appreciate japanese culture but i ain't no ass kissin' whore who loves every aspect of japanese culture to the exclusion of the truth...

Tu_triky wrote:

Agreed.

Yeah I don't think the Japanese are going to be making a film anytime soon about the Rape of Nanking which occurred in 1937-38.

The Japanese have been historically resistant to acknowledge their incredibly voluminous atrocities against East Asian and South Asian countries....

On this point they remain bigoted cowards.

I once worked for a Japanese company and my boss, a Japanese that's now approaching retirement, told me that on this issue the Japanese society can be categorized into 3 groups - those who refuse to admit it (older generation, especially those in politics); those who don't want to admit it (middle age generation); and those who don't really care (most of the younger generation). Occasionally an individual or 2 who want to make public all the war crimes committed by the Japanese military, but they are either shunted from society or discredited in a lot of ways.

Someone once said the Japanese, by nature, only succumb to superior strength. This is why they are completely under the thumb of the Americans but remained snobbish towards the Asian countries they violated.

I dare say if it was, for instance, China who dropped the A-bombs on Japan, half the Japanese population would be speaking Chinese today, instead of stuffing themselves with Big Macs and Cokes.