Burakumin

Burakumin (部落民, 'hamlet people'/'village people', 'those who live in hamlets/villages') is an outcast group at the bottom of the traditional Japanese social order that has historically been the victim of severe discrimination and ostracism. They were originally members of outcast communities in the Japanese feudal era, composed of those with occupations considered impure or tainted by death (such as executioners, undertakers, workers in slaughterhouses, butchers, or tanners), which have severe social stigmas of kegare (穢れ or 'defilement') attached to them. Traditionally, the Burakumin lived in their own communities, hamlets, or ghettos.hisabetsu buraku shusshin-sha (被差別部落出身者 'person from a discriminated community / hamlet').the imperial family is in Tendai, the peerage is in Shingon, the nobility is in Jōdo (Honen's followers), the Samurai is in Zen, the beggar is in Nichiren, and Shin Buddhists (Shinran's followers) are at the bottom.We shouldn't disgrace our ancestors and violate humanity by our harsh words and terrible actions. We, who know how cold the human world is, and how to take care of humanity, can seek and rejoice from the bottom of our hearts in the warmth and light of human life. Burakumin (部落民, 'hamlet people'/'village people', 'those who live in hamlets/villages') is an outcast group at the bottom of the traditional Japanese social order that has historically been the victim of severe discrimination and ostracism. They were originally members of outcast communities in the Japanese feudal era, composed of those with occupations considered impure or tainted by death (such as executioners, undertakers, workers in slaughterhouses, butchers, or tanners), which have severe social stigmas of kegare (穢れ or 'defilement') attached to them. Traditionally, the Burakumin lived in their own communities, hamlets, or ghettos. The term 部落 buraku literally refers to a small, generally rural, commune or a hamlet. People from regions of Japan where 'discriminated communities' no longer exist (e.g. anywhere north of Tokyo) may refer to any hamlet as a buraku, indicating the word's use is not necessarily pejorative. Historically the term was used for an outcast community that was heavily discriminated against officially and formally. A widely used term for buraku settlements is dōwa chiku (同和地区 'assimilation districts'), an official term for districts designated for government and local authority assimilation projects. The social issue surrounding 'discriminated communities' is usually referred to as dōwa mondai (同和問題 'assimilation issues') or less commonly, buraku mondai (部落問題'hamlet issues'). In the feudal era, the outcaste were called eta (穢多, literally, 'an abundance of defilement' or 'an abundance of filth'), a term now considered derogatory. Eta towns were called etamura (穢多村). Some burakumin refer to their own communities as 'mura' (村 'villages') and themselves as 'mura-no-mono' (村の者 'village people'). Other outcaste groups from whom Buraku may have been descended included the hinin (非人—literally 'non-human'). The definition of hinin, as well as their social status and typical occupations varied over time, but typically included ex-convicts and vagrants who worked as town guards, street cleaners or entertainers. In the 19th century the umbrella term burakumin was coined to name the eta and hinin because both classes were forced to live in separate village neighborhoods. The term burakumin does not refer to any ethnic minorities in Japan.