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被差別部落闘争
被差別部落闘争
筆者は最近、被差別部落に関する取材をした。
イギリスにも差別はあるが
たいていは皮膚の色や宗教の違いによるもの。
見かけでは区別がつかない人々への
理由もはっきりしない差別に対して
筆者は複雑な思いを抱いた。
The Buraku Struggle
By JULIET HINDELL
I have recently been working on a special report for BBC on Japan's burakumin. That, I am told by my colleagues in
Japanese media, is something they would rarely do. "It's just too sensitive," is the reason they give.
My report probably would not be news to Japanese viewers, but not many people outside Japan know about burakumin and
that they are the objects of prejudice in Japanese society.
Of course in Britain people harbor deep prejudices. But there, prejudice is usually a matter of people's skin color
or their religion, something which is easily identifiable.
For my report, I met Masahiko Morimoto, a man in his 60s who has spent his life treating leather by hand in the
Takagi area of Himeji. The leather he produces is as soft as a whisper and is used for the finest handbags in Japan.
But though his product is high class, some people in Japan treat him like a member of the underclass. Morimoto said he
used to hide his origins for fear of discrimination but that now he is proud of his people and his craft.
But no one wants to take on his craft, and he fears it will soon die out. He says part of the reason is that it is
associated with the burakumin. These days young people of burakumin origins have more choices than when Morimoto was a
young man. Young people prefer not to reveal their background, and taking a job in the leather industry is an immediate
sign that a person may be a burakumin.
It is hard for foreigners to understand the reasons for prejudice against burakumin. After all, Japanese people
frequently say Japan is a homogeneous country where everyone — and that should include burakumin — is the same.
But burakumin still face prejudice. In my report I had to explain the meaning of buraku, an expression that was
invented in the Meiji Era when the feudal class system, which included "eta," the unclean, and "hinin," the
nonhumans, was supposedly abolished. Those names are a dark relic of Japan's history.
But despite efforts by the government and, more importantly, the Buraku Liberation League, people's prejudice is not
going away. The BLL says that lists of burakumin areas are now being published on the Internet. The lists are used by
employers to avoid employing burakumin. The use of the Internet makes it harder for the BLL to keep track of discrimination.
Morimoto said that prejudice exists in people's hearts. But he, like everyone else I interviewed, was at a loss to
explain why some people in Japan still think the burakumin are unclean. It was even said they walk on four legs like
animals.
Prejudice is a strange and ugly phenomenon and even stranger when it divides people who all look the same. I hope
Morimoto can find someone to take up his craft. That would be a sign that the stigma attached to burakumin is at last
going away.
I have recently been working on a special report for BBC on Japan's burakumin. That, I am told by my colleagues in
Japanese media, is something they would rarely do. "It's just too sensitive," is the reason they give.
My report probably would not be news to Japanese viewers, but not many people outside Japan know about burakumin and
that they are the objects of prejudice in Japanese society.
Of course in Britain people harbor deep prejudices. But there, prejudice is usually a matter of people's skin color
or their religion, something which is easily identifiable.
For my report, I met Masahiko Morimoto, a man in his 60s who has spent his life treating leather by hand in the
Takagi area of Himeji. The leather he produces is as soft as a whisper and is used for the finest handbags in Japan.
But though his product is high class, some people in Japan treat him like a member of the underclass. Morimoto said he
used to hide his origins for fear of discrimination but that now he is proud of his people and his craft.
But no one wants to take on his craft, and he fears it will soon die out. He says part of the reason is that it is
associated with the burakumin. These days young people of burakumin origins have more choices than when Morimoto was a
young man. Young people prefer not to reveal their background, and taking a job in the leather industry is an immediate
sign that a person may be a burakumin.
It is hard for foreigners to understand the reasons for prejudice against burakumin. After all, Japanese people
frequently say Japan is a homogeneous country where everyone — and that should include burakumin — is the same.
But burakumin still face prejudice. In my report I had to explain the meaning of buraku, an expression that was
invented in the Meiji Era when the feudal class system, which included "eta," the unclean, and "hinin," the
nonhumans, was supposedly abolished. Those names are a dark relic of Japan's history.
But despite efforts by the government and, more importantly, the Buraku Liberation League, people's prejudice is not
going away. The BLL says that lists of burakumin areas are now being published on the Internet. The lists are used by
employers to avoid employing burakumin. The use of the Internet makes it harder for the BLL to keep track of discrimination.
Morimoto said that prejudice exists in people's hearts. But he, like everyone else I interviewed, was at a loss to
explain why some people in Japan still think the burakumin are unclean. It was even said they walk on four legs like
animals.
Prejudice is a strange and ugly phenomenon and even stranger when it divides people who all look the same. I hope
Morimoto can find someone to take up his craft. That would be a sign that the stigma attached to burakumin is at last
going away.
Shukan ST: Sept. 3, 1999
(C) All rights reserved
- colleagues
- 同僚
- viewers
- テレビ視聴者
- objects of prejudice
- 偏見の対象
- harbor
- 心に抱く
- matter of 〜
- 〜 の問題
- easily identifiable
- すぐに分かる
- 〜 in his 60s
- 60代の 〜
- treating 〜 by hand
- 〜 を手作業で処理する
- leather
- なめし革
- as soft as a whisper
- 非常に柔らかな(文字どおりには「ささやきのように柔らかな」)
- the finest
- 最高級の
- high class
- 上等な
- underclass
- 下層階級、底辺層
- origins
- 生まれ
- discrimination
- 差別
- craft
- 技能
- take on
- 引き継ぐ
- die out
- すたれる
- is associated with 〜
- 〜 を連想させる(被差別部落出身の人々は、以前、居住地や職業を制限され、皮革業に関与することが多かった)
- prefer not to reveal 〜
- 〜 を明かしたがらない
- immediate sign
- すぐに分かる印
- homogeneous country
- 単一民族国家
- was invented
- 作り出された
- feudal class system
- 封建法に基づく階級制度
- was supposedly abolished
- 一応は廃止された(被差別部落は江戸時代に形成され、その住民は明治時代に法制上は身分を解放されたが、社会的差別は現在なお完全には根絶されていない)
- dark relic
- 暗い遺物
- Buraku Liberation League
- 部落解放同盟
- employers
- 雇用主
- keep track of 〜
- 〜 を追跡する
- was at a loss to explain 〜
- 〜 をどう説明したらよいか困っていた
- ugly phenomenon
- 嫌な現象
- stigma attached to 〜
- 〜 に着せられた汚名