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The Burakumin Myth of Everyday Life: Reformulating Identity In From Subnational to Micronational: Buraku Communities and Transformations in Identity in Modern and Contemporary Japan Rositsa Mutafchieva East Asian Studies McGill University, Montreal April 2009 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the PhD degree © Rositsa Mutafchieva 2009 1 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 5 Introduction: Burakumin: A Minority in Flux ............................................................ 8 Chapter One: Moments in the History of Constructing Outcast Spaces ......... 19 Chapter Two: Three Buraku Communitiees, Three Different Stories ............... 52 Chapter Three: Instructions Given: ―Building a Nation = Building a Community‖ .............................................................................................................. 112 Chapter Four: The Voices of the Buraku ............................................................. 133 Chapter Five: ―Community Building‖ Revisited................................................... 157 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 180 Appendix ................................................................................................................... 192 Bibliography.............................................................................................................. 223 2 Abstract From the Meiji period on, the social minority group referred to in Japan as burakumin was constituted as what might be called a ―subnational‖ group. In other words, it acted as a supplement to the nation and national identity, a group of people attached but not necessarily belonging to what was conceived as the Japanese nation. With various shifts, this pattern remains in place and guides politics into the 1920s and then through the 1960s and in the 1980s. Subsequently, however, the beginning of a potentially major transformation can be observed. This change is linked to Japan‘s movement into a globalized nation in the 1980s; it is then that the ―subnational‖ turns into a kind of ―micronational‖—a repository of minor national-esque practices. The supplement thus becomes a surplus, opening the nation into a variety of little ―nation-like‖ enclaves that are propagated as local communities and encouraged to act on their own and manage themselves. Similarly, the subnational burakumin—who were previously construed as subhuman—become micronational local community residents. Simultaneously, because of their historical experience and familiarity with segregation and self-governance, the burakumin become potential experts on local community initiatives. Only by looking at local histories of buraku communities rather than large histories of the nation can one acknowledge such transformations. 3 Résumé À partir de la période Meiji, le groupe social minoritaire désigné communément au Japon sous le nom de burakumin s‘est constitué en ce que l‘on pourrait appeler un groupe « sous-national ». En d‘autres termes, il représentait un ajout à la nation et à l‘identité nationale, et représentait un groupe certes attaché à ce qui était conçu comme étant la nation japonaise mais n‘appartenant pas forcément à celle-ci. Après divers changements, ce schéma reste en place et oriente la politique à travers les années 1920 et ensuite les années 1960 et 1980. Cependant par la suite, on peut observer les prémisses d‘une transformation potentiellement majeure. Ce changement est lié à l‘évolution du Japon en une nation globalisée durant les années 1980. C‘est alors que le « sous-national » devient en quelque sorte le « micronational », un cadre de pratiques quasi nationales. L‘ajout devient un surplus et crée à travers la nation diverses petites enclaves simili-nationales qui s‘affichent comme des communautés locales encouragées à agir seules et à s‘administrer par elles-mêmes. De la même façon, les burakumin sous-nationaux (préalablement compris comme sous-humains) deviennent membres de communautés locales micronationales et simultanément, de par leur expérience historique et leur familiarité avec la ségrégation et l‘auto-gouvernance, des experts potentiels en ce qui a trait aux initiatives communales. Plutôt que par les grandes histoires de la nation, c‘est en regardant les histoires locales des communautés buraku que l‘on reconnaîtra de telles transformations. 4 Acknowledgements A great many people were involved in the realization of this project. Were it not for their help and support, the completion of this thesis would not have been possible. I would like to begin by thanking the Japan Foundation for offering me the possibility to conduct field research in Japan as a Doctoral Fellow. Had they not granted me the Japanese Studies Doctoral Fellowship, I would have never been able to finalise my analyses and conclude this thesis. I would also like to offer my sincere gratitude to the two people who led me through every step of this endeavour—my two supervisors, Professor Thomas Looser, who believed in me when I was not at all sure of myself, and Professor Thomas LaMarre, who insisted that I keep challenging my own questions. I am most grateful to them for their patience with me and for their tireless assistance throughout the years. The former taught me how to pursue and expose my interests. The latter helped me strive further, develop my ideas and organize them into an argument. I thank both of them for all this. I am also greatly obliged to Professor Anne McKnight, who spent many hours guiding and supporting me in my search for direction. She has also unwearyingly listened to and considered any and all suggestions and ideas that I have dared to express. Professor McKnight has always offered the most valuable advice, which has in turn allowed me to expand my perspective. Professor Michihiko Noguchi willingly took up the supervision of my fieldwork in Japan and offered me invaluable support in all aspects of my research there. His most constructive critique of my ideas and methods motivated me to revise my suppositions, leave aside my expectations and listen to what people have to say. He opened so many doors for me in Japan and brought me to corners I would never have considered visiting. I am most indebted to Professor Noguchi for his encouragement to pursue my boldest propositions and for his determination to extract from me questions for every answer. 5 During my year of field work in Japan, I was also greatly aided by Junko Yamashita, Ikuko Bonkoku, Hachio Inoue, Tatsuko Yamada, Koichiro Biwa, Katsumi Sakamoto, Yoshihiko and Yoshihito Yamamoto, Ryoji Araki, Toshio Maruyama and his family, Yuko and Haruka Horiuchi, Harumi and Kiyoji Ota and their children, Kaoru Onoda and her husband, Eriko Tanaka, Kyoko Kondo, Mamoru Kishi and Nobutoyo Kojima as well as all members of the Toyonaka Wadaiko Circle and everyone from the Youth Group of Kami-no-Shima. I would like to also thank Pauline Gnamm, Tina Peneva and Irina Melnikova for their professional interest in my work and for their contributions through their own research in which I also had the chance to participate occasionally. I am thankful to my close friends Sarah Jane Richards, Benjamin Wood, Ari Petrus Santosa, Lisa Busca Pinheiro, Christoph Schowanietz, Amy Thomas, Adam Halstead and Joshua Fiddler for cheering me on and believing in me. I would also like to thank my family for bearing with me through the years and encouraging me to go on. I would first like to thank those closest to me in Japan. I am most grateful to oka-san and otou-san for taking such care of me, my husband and my children. I am grateful to Tetsuya, Machiko, Kaori, Masaharu, Masaya and Yuki for their great love and acceptance. I would additionally like to thank my parents, who have never ceased to support me, to motivate me and to show their pride in my achievements. They have inspired me with their determination in life and have instilled in me the desire to strive for what I believe in. I thank them for letting me go and for giving me the confidence to reach my destinations. I thank my husband, Pierre Serge Anoelin, who has acted as my greatest stimulus in the fulfillment of this project. His unceasing patience and his faith in my ability to accomplish what I had started have been crucial for my advancement. All the sacrifices, all the 6 sleepless nights and all the rough moments were worth the completion of this project. I am so grateful. Finally, I thank my two daughters, Rayia Fay and Iva Kaori, for filling my days with joy and for giving me the best reason to keep on questioning and searching for possibilities of living beyond prejudice. 7 Introduction Burakumin: A Minority in Flux Burakumin, otherwise known as Japan‘s outcasts or the people of the buraku/ghetto, have commonly been labelled a social minority group in Japan. What has rendered this community most fascinating to both local and Western scholars is the mysterious way in which it has been defined, recounted and presented. In many academic accounts, the burakumin of today are undeniably described as no different, ethnically, physically or in any other way, from the major segment of Japanese society. It is also claimed, however, that the lingering prejudice against the community is linked to the polluted image and disreputable
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