THE ETA AS OUTCASTES AND SCAPEGOATS AMONG JAPANESE AMERICANS
Rosalie H. Wax University of Kansas
Introduction degree to the rough and ready mores which developed in this extremely crowded and public For manyhundreds of years the lowestposition environment.2. in Japanese social structure has been occupied We have here then data ona traditionallymis by the eta, a hereditary outcaste group which treated and scorned outcast group, obtained at a performed necessary but despised work. time when the majoritygroup was itselfsuffering The presence, in the United States, of a con from marked discrimination and ill treatment. siderable number of persons of eta descent was Following the simple psychological theory thata revealed rather dramaticallywhen the American group which is persecuted by another group too Government obliged the evacuated Japanese strong to resist will turn its aggression on some Americans to answer a questionnaire designed convenient and relatively helpless scapegoat, we to determine whether or not they were loyal to might expect that ill treatment of the m would America. When an attemptwas made to correlate be revived and strengthened in this situation. On affirmative or negative answers to the question the other hand, ifwe choose to viewhuman beings naire with place of residence before evacuation, as predominantly rational, wemighthypothesize it was discovered that evacuees coming from that because they themselves suffereddiscrimi certain California communities were almost nation, the Japanese Americans would become unanimously loyal to America and obviouslyhad more kindly disposed toward the eta. no desire to return or go to Japan. Later the In point of fact, the latterprocess did occur to possible reasons for this unanimity were inves some degree .. A much more salientphenomenon, tigated, and it was found that these sections of however, was the turning of anger on a relati vely California had been rather heavily populated by new scapegoat group, the informers - those Jap Japanese of eta descent. anese Americans suspected of reporting pro The data to be presented were collectedunder Japanese or anti-administrative activities to the rather peculiar circumstances/ The Japanese administration. The significance of this develop Americans had recentlybeen removed to reloca ment will be treated in some detail in the tion centers, an experience whichinvolvedgreat co~cluding section of this paper. hardship and discomfort to all of them and great Historical Background economic loss to most of them. Life within the centers tended to weakenthe socialand economic Ninomiya,3 in 1933, gave the eta population of distinctions which had existed before the evacu Japan as about 1,300,000. Fully halfof these were ation. All persons, regardless of their status, engaged in agriculture, to which in ruraldistricts were obliged to eatin crude, commonmess halls, they added the occupations of shoemaker and use the public latrines, and conform to a large disposer of dead farm stock.. In and near cities
175 they were chiefly butchers and tanners. Since 5.. ~ are forbidden to wear any footwear except other Japanese would notengage inmeatpacking, zori (sandals). 5 eta who entered this occupation sometimes became very wealthy. Following the social upheaval of the Meiji Ninomiya contends that the eta as a separate period, the government took formal steps to status group may be traced back to the pre improve the situation of the eta. In 1871, the Tokugawa period when theyfunctioned as artisan Council of State issued the following procla slaves, working as tanners, armor makers, and mation: saddle makers. Old sources indicate thatas early The titles of Eta and Hinin shall 'be as the 9th century certain villages were set abolished; and- henceforth--the people apart for persons who performed menial and belonging to these classes shall be despised work. The Shinto ideal of cleanliness treated in the same manner both in and the Buddhist repulsion to eating meat and occupation and social standing as the working with the flesh of animals probably con common people.s tributed to the opprobrium in which the meat eating, leather working eta were held. But, according to Ninomiya, neither this However, it was not until the feudal Tokugawa proclamation nor the activities of liberal mem period (1602-1863) with its extremely rigid bers of the upper classes resulted ina significant social structure, that the eta began to suffer improvement of the situation of the eta. In the extreme discrimination and humtlfation, The first quarter of the twentieth century, pro Tokugawa confined the eta to separate villages, fessors, generals, army officers, or conscripts and forbade them to 'marry out of their status of eta descent were insulted; the names of position or to enter the service of even a com soldiers of ~ descent were not placed on a moner as servant. The following incident which monument erected to honor soldiers returning occurred in 1859 indicates the extent of eta from service in Siberia; eta were discriminated degradation: against in schools; eta teachers could not find positions; ~ often were not allowed to rent In a quarrel between a young eta and houses among other Japanese and were discrim several heimin (commoner) youths, the inated against inbusiness; tragedy oftenfollowed former was beaten to death. Danzaemon eta intermarriage with persons classed as (chief of the ~) petitioned the City heimin or "common people." Magistrate of Edo to apprehend and In 1922 the eta themselves first took up the punish the guilty persons. He was given battle against discrimination. They formed an no answer and againpressedhis request, organization of considerable power, the Suihei The City Magistrate then handed down Undo (Equality Movement), but their method of the famous decision that the life ofan eta dealing with discrimination, which consisted of was worth only one-seventh of that of an a "thoroughgoing censure of offenders," brought heimin and added that if Danzaemon ona series of conflicts with the police. In 1929 should still demand that the guilty beput the authorities suspended the convention of the to death he must bring six other m Suihei Undo and, atthis point, Ninomiya's narra slain. 4 tive ends. .As late as 1870 the following list ofregulations In recent years two factors not mentioned by regarding conduct of eta was issued in the Waka Ninomiya probably had some effectinmitigating yama feudatory: di~criminatory treatment of the eta in Japan. The first was national conscription and conscious 1. When meeting people on the street, step off ness on the part of the military authorities that the road. continued prejudice against the eta would injure 2. Eta are forbidden to wander around in cities the solidarity of the Japanese Army; the second and towns, except from sunrfse to sunset. was the fact that suchdiscrimination againstany 3. Eta are forbidden to eat and drink in the city. oriental group was not compatible with the 4. Eta are forbidden to use any headgear except Japanese Government's policy of" Asia for Asia in rainy weather. tics." That the latter factor has had some
176 influence is indicated by the statements of his future place of residence, Japan or the United Japanese American informants (cases 4, 5) who States, the data can perhaps be bestpresentedas insist that prejudice still exists although the short case studies, giving the informant's back Japanese Government does not approve of it. ground along with his verbatim statements on the "Of course, you don't speak of these things eta.s because they are now forbidden by the Japanese Government; but the people still remember in statements ofIssei: first generation Japanese their hearts." Americans born in Japan The Data 1. Mr. Aft This study of the eta was not undertaken primarily to add to social scientific knowledge Mr. A. was an Issei, about 50 years old. He but rather because informants were unwillingto graduated from the University of California and talk about those subjects on whichI was supposed was respected and influential in pre-evacuation to get information. In desperation I invented days, having served as an officer of the Japanese studies of a social scientific nature, partly in Association. At the outbreak of the war he was order to become better acquainted with inform interned by the Department of Justice, but was ants and partly to have something to do. later released to join his family in a .relooatton Collecting attitudes on the eta was not, of center. Of the three Issei Interviewed, he was the course, a particularly tactful choice of investi only one who had not made up his mind definitely gation, since requesting information on senti to stay in the United States. ments held toward a despised group couldeasily It will be noted that he regrets his prejudice give offense. Indeed, the Japanese Americans against the ,eta butexplains thatitis not a matter did not like to talk about the eta. Though I which can be controlled by reason. He states interviewed hundreds of informants during two that he would not allow his daughterto marry an years of field work, the eta were only once eta. Like most informants he contends that com referred to without specific inquiry on my part. munity interest in persons of eta descent has In the interests of good form, I began the declined since the evacuation. He is aware of conversation with a reference to the samuraior but does not necessarily share the common folk ~}~~zoku, as the old warrior status group is now belief that eta are afflicted with diseased, red called: Only after contemporaryattitudes toward eyes. individuals of samurai7 descent had been ob tained and discussed, did I refer to the eta. "The shin-heimin, that is serious, espe Often the informant, ifquestioned aboutthe social cially when it gets to Nisei marrying. structure of feudal Japan, would himself make First they must look up their family some reference to the ~ and the subject could history. It (prejudice) is very deep then be pursued in a natural manner. I soon dis rooted. In my case, I want to be very covered that the term shin-heimin was con fair and would like to forget those things, sidered more proper than the term eta, although but somehow it's deep rooted from my ~ormants often seemed unwilling to use either childhood. I can't mix (with e~) except and preferred to say "one of those."a as a friend. In.case of marriage I would , The informants came from widely separated not give my daughter to a shin-heimln. parts of California and were about equallydivided It's 110t because of a particular dislike. between persons with an urban and a small town It's deep rooted. background. This difference of background does "I hear about it (talk of ~) once in a .not appear to be related to any significantdiffer while here but not so much as before ence in attitudes. However, the informants, with evacuation. one exception, were rather well educated, having "In Japan the shin-heimin reallyare very completed twelve or more school grades either unsanitary and maybe because of that in Japan or in America. condition most of the people of thatclass Since the salient differences in attitude appear have very bad eyes. Their eyes are ~n to be related to the age of the informant and to fected, red, and irritated. Sometimes you
177 ~ : ; '·< '
'~z::~.:: 1:.:'..•..-.'_.....\...•::.;.'.•.., see in this center a man with irritated INTERVIEWER: (re-introducing subject of~) -,! eyes who is not well liked. People say How do people know when someonebelongs to the ,:1 he's shin-heimin. shin-heimin class? MRS. B.: Sometimes you could tell. Nobody "Before evacuation there were quite a knows exactly, but everybody doesn't like them. few cases of marriages stopped or sepa I can't tell the difference in this country, but rations after marriage ifthe family found some people can. One old lady told me that she out." can tell right away. 2. Mrs. B. and her daughter. The T. family, we were talking about marriage, and the younger son told me he have to find out about a girl first before he goes aroundwith her Mrs. B. like many Issei women was soft and before he get in too deep. He might find she spoken and self-effacing. She andher husband had was "that class." If so, why he can'tmarry her. definitely decided to remain inthe UnitedStates. If he likes her, then it's too late. He asked me Her fifteen year old daughter, whom we will call how he'll find out. Yuriko, shared the attitudes of most Nisei her age. Yuriko was an only child, and neighbors YURIKO: But what if the Nisei's character is were generally of the opinion that her parents real good? treated her too indulgently. MRS. B.: Well, that's why it's hard to get mar The dialogue between mother and daughter, ried in this camp, because they can't find out so stimulated by questions about the shin-heimin, much (about ancestry). will be presented in toto. 'It clearly depicts the differences between the Issei and the adolescent YURIKO: I think that thing is silly. Nisei views, It also provides an interesting MRS. B.: (calling upon the sanction of American illustration of conflictbetweentwo personalities, customs, so much admired by her daughter) the young and dogmatic idealist and the gently Even American people are thatway, aren'tthey? inflexible older woman. Mrs .. B. treated her I heard if a man is a count and has no money daughter's radical statements with calm toler many girls with money like to marry him. ance. Nonetheless, I, as listener, had no doubt that Yuriko would not be permttted to keep com YURIKO: I think investigating (a fiance's) health pany with a young man of ~ descent. is good, but not money and things like that•..I didn't know about "thatclass" (eta) until a friend INTE·RVIEWER: What do people think about told me about ito marrying a person of the shi11-heimin class? MRS. B.: A lady I know cantell who eta are, but YURIKO: (with spirit) It wouldn't make enough I can't, In Japan they are "lowpeople" (here she difference. It's the person themselves that's made an expressive gesture, lowering her palm important. The nisei like thepersonhimself, not parallel to the floor) 0 Sometimes the girls are his ancestry. very pretty. MRS. B.: But people think about it, especially when a daughter or son are goingto get married. 3D Mr. C. YURll 178 truth sometimes put him in grave danger of almost nil as far as I see. social ostracism and violence. He himself had "But the ~ feeling is still found among the no intention of returning to Japan and consist Nisei, though vaguely, because they heard it ently advised the Nisei that expatriation would from their parents. But especially among the be a foolish step. Also, he had no fear of the Issei, regardless of broad-mindedness, they authorities and once, in open council meeting, still have a dislike for the eta. bluntly ordered the Project Director to sitdown "Even in my childhood days (in Japan) the~ and listen to him. were allowed to attendpublic school, evenamong The content of the data he gave differs signif the grammar school children. But they were icantly from that of other informants only in that still looked down on. Eta children used to have he holds that there are next to no eta in the "a hard time. They knew what they were and they United States, which of course is not correct. didn't even try to mix among the average child , The manner of his presentation, however, was ren, except in the functions of school activities. very different from that of other Issei. In the "In this country (U.S.) a butcher can be a big .first place, he took pains to make sure that I potato. But in Japan even though they have great understood that he himself had no prejudice. wealth, they are nothlng.i? In my childhood in Secondly, in contrast to all other informants, he Nagasaki there was a big meat packer whohad a did not hesitate to tell me that in his opinion my lot of money. But he had only daughters; Natu attempt to study the extent of survival of the old rally, he wanted to have an adopted son}~ They class stratification was, for all practical pur were .an exceptio~ally wealthy family and ~d poses, a waste of time. Such remnants as two beautiful daughters. Because of his wealth remained were not socially significant. By and and the beauty of his daughters, thefather didn't large, of course, he was right.' But being want to get a mukoyoshi from the eta group, but courteous and agreeable, he gave me what from the non-eta group. But on one wantedto go information he could. and be a mukoyoshi, regardless of the wealthand the beauo/ of the women. "I have no class distinction on my part. I don't have no fear of a title holder. I feel no "It is said that in Japan there were originally personal pride over any very plain guy in the no eta. "Originally they are said to be Koreans hill-billy country. To me, everybody's human brought in by Hideyoshi's generals whom he sent and the same. on an expedition to Korea. While these Koreans "But what I fear socially in Amertoan customs have been treated pretty well by the shogunate 'il ': is marriage (neglect to investigate the health of government, after all, they were foreigners and a proposed spouse's family). It is necessary to in feudal times a foreigner was a stranger and consider the taint of infectious diseases suchas . non-social among the aborigenes. Gradually they eptlepsyhand T.B. (tuberculosis) lineage. That separated from the rest of the group andtook up is a point in which I say the American custom is repulsive occupations. unhealthy. It's a good thing to know what family your husband is. "The eta group have physically different "Princes or etas in the United States are so features from the Japanese. They are much negligible there is no use to study them. There better looking. They are taller. Their main may be some who look into what degree of facial feature is lack of sternness. They have warrior descent they have and have pride in much more gentle faces. That's general talk. Of their hearts. course, I know from anthropology that such "There are very few eta; their nwnber is so things are really hard to distinguish. small that it's no account at all. In pre-war time, in Los Angeles or San Francisco colonies, "Occasionally there are tragedies in Japan there were some persons who were lookeddown like a young man and woman might" get married on as eta. I haven'theard aboutany in this camp- and in the course of time somebody might look "Personal ability is more respected than up their ancestry. Things like that don't happen lineage among Nisei. I don't see much class in a town or village at all, only in a big town or distinction in the younger generation at all. It is city where strange people gather." 179 Attitudes ofNisei, planning to return to Japan anybody eta in thatfamily, automatically, theY're or undecided on this matter out." 4. Mr. D. Mr. D. was of ~amtlrai descent" Althoughborn MI'o E, was a Nisei in his middle twenties. He in the United States, he received most of his received all of his education in the UnitedStates primary and secondary education In Japan.l? He and graduated from high school at the head of was about 28 years old, an able draftsman, and his class .. He did, however, decide to expatriate had obtained an excellent position justbefore the to Japan" He denied that this decision sprang evacuation. He resented the evacuation bitterly from bitterness toward America and gave as his and determined to return to Japan. reason the fact that he had made a mukoyoshi It will be noted that in contrast to Nisei who marrfage-" and thereby assumed economic res intended to remain in the United States (cases ponsibility for his wife's family, which included 8-11) he accepted the treatment of ~ as a her parents and several unmarried sisters. . sociological fact to which one must accommo Whereas Mr. D. delivered his remarks on the date. While he does not defend discrimination eta.as-..-.. if he were recitingthe ten commandments, and even states that the Japanese government Mr. E., while stating that he himself would not disapproves of it, he feels nothing can be done marry an eta, implied that he thought the preju in the face of popular attitudes. dice old fashioned arid wrong, but too powerful While neither he nor Mrs. F. (case 6) appear to ignore" to be ashamed or embarrassedby discrimination against the eta, they both attempt to correlateit "Things like that are vanishing gradually (in with sociological phenomena met with in the America). It's very seldom you hear of an ~. United States, Mr. D. with the treatment of But some of the Issei still talk about it. Yotsu Negroes, and Mrs. F. with her notion that they call them. Americans are reluctant to marry into the "All the Isseistronglydisapprove of marrying families of cattle-raisers orundertakers. These eta. As far as talking is concerned, things like remarks may have been an attempt to justify that are not mentioned because the Japanese their prejudices by "sharing the guilt" with Government doesn't recognize them. Butit stays Americans. On the other hand, these informants in the hearts of the people. may merely have been attempting to give me an "1 wouldn't marry an ~D The Japanese think example of parallel sociological phenomena. if you marry an eta, it's sort of disgraceful to your family or your name. They've been doing "The feeling that eta are low is still going on dirty work, They make shoes. even in America. They are lowestclass in Japan, "At present the Emperor gave the order that almost as low as a slave. I heardthey were cap ~ are to be classified as heimill (common tured in war, Koreans, Chinese, Mongols, or people). But in Japan, that (discrimination) is South Sea Chinese. Just like the Negro in time of still being practiced" When they have a party or the Civil War used to be a slave. festival in Japan, the samurai sit atthe top near "~ marries eta; heimin (common people) the priest and the others down the line. The ~ marries heimin. If a heimin marries an eta, are Iowest, ' , everything is washed out. They have no class. They take the most disgrace. "If you have a girl eta, it means she never gets marrted, even ifshe's pretty or the family's Mrs, F~ was a Nisei in her early thirties. She got money. had lived in the United States all of her life, "Nowadays, the Japanese Governmentsays we except for a visit of one monthto Japan. She was don't have any classes. But even if the govern married to an Issei and had five children. ment say such a thing, people still use the old Her husband had been arrested and interned system. When you want to get married, they because of alleged pro-Japanese activities. look up all the history of the family. If they find According to rumor he had dressed in a kimono 180 and rendered the Japanese national anthem in the own eyes. They are differenttoo, in the long run. mess hall. Concerning these activities, Mrs. F. "The shin-heimin has more good looking girls remarked to me: and men than the hetmin, Their skin is different "1 told him he wouldn't get any place acting too. It's just like the difference between a like a darned fool. What did-he get for all his normal person and a T.B. It's sort of transparent. talk? Stuck in Santa Fe (the internment center). "It (the difference between eta and others) is Hwnpfl" something that really doesn't come to yourmind. At the time this interview was held, Mr. F. It's something a little different, that's hard to was under great strain. Her husband, withwhom explain. she had never been particularly happy, hadbeen "That's how we see through them. When they interned for many months. She had begun a re get old they're more dirty and baggy, Before (in lationship with a Nisei, who wished her to leave Japan), they used to eattoo muchmeat, too much her husband andmarryhim. She was by no means food; thatis notproper. Theireyes getmechacha, sure that she wished to follow her husband to gummy, not clean. Even among the youngpeople Japan and, in private conversation, would swing they have gummy eyes. They get cut socially if from aggressive pro-Japanese .statements to they marry heimin or since they couldn't get denunciations of the hardships inflicted on women along with the heimin, the heiminhusband or wife in Japan. She expressed hostility against any has to live with the .shin-heimin. _ convenient target: she irritated the social wel "Nowadays in Japan they have just as much fare workers by incessant complaints; she privilege as the heimin but still nobody works denounced hen neighbors either as spineless among them. slaves of the War Relocation Authorities admin "It's the same thing in this country. Like istration or as foolish pro-Japanese trouble cattle-raisers or undertakers, many people makers. wouldn't give their daughters to them in mar Mrs. F. was the only informantwho evidenced riage. an obviously hostile and authoritarian attitude "Some of them (~), it's like their conscience toward the eta. Interestingly, she was also the is hurting them. They feel that they are one (an only informant who immediately toldme thatshe ~). Some don't even look human, more like a herself was of shizoku descent. monkey or a gorilla." i, Her mental confusion, apparent to any compe II I I tent observer, was also revealed in self 7. Mr. G., Mrs. F.'s brother. contradiction. She stated that one could not tell an eta by appearance andimmediatelythereafter Mr. G. was several years younger than his insisted that one could. sister and like her had spent almost all of his life in America. He was married, had one child, ,,Like myself, I'm shizoku, When I went to and stigmatized himself as disloyal to America Japan it said on my passport, myname and right largely because he did not wish to be drafted. next to it, shizoku, Though inclined to be overly cynical, he was a "Even though we associate with each other, young man of extraordinary common sense, an we still think shin-heimin is shtn-hetmtn, Ifthey excellent worker, and one of my more reliable get too classy we say, 'What are you talking informants. about, you shtn-hetmin!' We keep them upl His comments on the ~ provide a marked "I tell them, 'If you were in Japan, you contrast to those of his sister. Unlike her, he couldn't even talk to us.' In this country we eat shows no antipathy, and, 'in general, exhibits and drink together, but not in Japan. attitudes resembling those of Nisei who intend "Especially in marriage. We never agree to remain in the United states. (to it). About six months after this interview, he in "By looking at them you can't naturally tell. formed the administration that he was no longer .Sometimes you can tell by talking about the old disloyal. Eventually he was allowed to resettle country in Japan. Sometimes, they say, you can in the United States. tell by their face or their build. (withemphasis) Unlike his sister, he never told me t~at he YOU CAN TELLI We hear and see it with our was of shizoku descent. 181 Mr. Go's wife, who interrupted the conversa my friends might know the fellow is of that des- . tion at one point, was the only informant who cent but we wouldnt cut him dead, But I WOUldn't offered a personal exper-ience of the prohibition let a daughter' of mine marry one .. against marrying eta, her family having for "I think it's just something that's in the mind. bidden her to keep company with a young man If a. fellow of that extractio11 is a decent sort, he suspected of belonging to that gr-oup, should be able to rise above ito "I think it's been pounded in for generations "You'll probably find among the l\Tisei they and generationsrJ But it will die down here· still draw a line between the shin-heimin and (in DoS.). the others" 'rhere is just thatdifference between "There is a case I know of evenhere in calnp what you might call blue bloods and the working where some parents expressly forbade a girl to -1 class.. go out with a boy who they suspected of being "It's not lust a matter of empty pride, for, eta," 1 when you stop to consider that If, for instance, Here Mrs, G" interrupted: I you were to repatriate and go back toJapan, the j differentiation between the two classes, the shin "That happened to me, I was going out with a heimlll and the others, would be so apparentthat fellow and I was bawled outfrom everydirection, you couldn't disregard it back there, my grandfather, my grandmother, myn10therand "Whereas here in this country people don't father, my employer, and even him (her future ~, pay so much attention except. in case where a husband) Q young couple want to get married" Then they go Mr. Go continued: into the family background and if one of the young people is found to be eta, you'll find that "In one case a girlmarriedthe guy regardless in 99 cases out of a hundred the combinatton is of what her folks and everybody else said" As a broken up, regardless of the feeling of those result her older brother cut her dead, He him concerned" Naturally, the couples concerned self, when he was younger, married an eta and wouldn't want to break up, but the parents insist as a result there actually wasn't anydiscrimina tion azatnst him or his wife, but justknowing he because they consider what 'would happen ifthey b went back to J·apan~ was married to an eta affected him 0 Ifhe thought "Except for the difference in color it's pretty he had received any sInall slight it seemed to much like the difference between a Caucasian make him think that it was because he was mar and a Negro, To Iook at them you sometimes ried to this girl. They really lived a miserable can't tell the difference between a Caucasian and Iife, She's dead now, After she died his younger a high yellow. But the background is different, sister met this shin-heimin man and she wanted In the old country the shin-heimin thus far have to marry him. He tried to stop her. But the girl never been allowed to mingle with the people in was young and very much in love. She just told social life and business enterprise" They almost him off', He didn't want her to suffer as he had. always have to live in a separate little town on "There's another fellow in this camp, I've the outskirts of the main town, The so-called known him all n1Y Iife, He's twenty-seven years heimin probably wouldn't let them come inside old and still tmmarriedo Enough said. I doubt if the house.. he's ever' gone out with a girl steady. But he "I have heard of cases in this country where doesn't want to marry an eta girl.. It's family a young couple got mar.rted. For some reason pride with him. He wouldn't want to call it to the or other no formal investigation of the families attention of other people, was made, Then they went back to the old "There's supposed to be· a difference in the .~ country to Iive, The girl was shizoku and didn't fa cial features tJ In the pronounced the skinin know the man was eta. Naturally, that's the first that area covering the bridge of the nose, from thing they a~ku 'They got to talking about where the corner of one eye to the corner of the other the girl's husband came from and all the dirt is drawn tightly over a prol1ouncedly low bridge. came out, 'They ordered the poor girl out of the ,'When the girIs are good looking they are house" 'Never darken my doorstep again' stuff" unusually good looking. But when they're bad "In this country you don't find it so much. I or looking there's no getting around it. 182 "Red eyes as far as I understandare also one people." of the pronounced characteristics. Another is, in Mrs. H. relatedthatwhen herbrothermarried, a large majority of cases, the eyes of young his family wished to have the girl's family kids four to five' years old have inflamed lids investigated. Her brother refused to allow the with an accumulation around them that gives investigation to take place, saying "I'm not them a scabby appearance•..• But in this country marrying her whole family background or her they keep their house as cleanas the Japanese." family tree." Mrs. H. added, however, that if their father had been alive, he might not have statements ofNisei planning to remain in the allowed the marriage to take place. United States A friend present remarked, "Even if I do find out that a person is eta, it makes no difference 8. Mr. H., his wife and friends. to me. But with a lot of Issei it makes a lot of Mr. H. was a Kibei, that is, a Nisei who had difference.', received much of his education in Japan. He was in his early thirties. His wife, however, had 9. Miss I. lived all of her life in the United States, There follows an account of a conversation between Miss I. was a Nisei in her middle thirties. Of this couple and two male Nisei friends on the shizoku descent, she had graduated £i'om the subject of the eta. University of California and was employed as a social service worker in the center. She did not Mr. H. did not approve of discrimination reveal her own attitudes particularlywell, except against the eta. Yet, he remarked with a grimace to indicate that she would hesitate to marry an of disgust, "They're just kind of dirty." He said eta. Nonetheless, the cases she refers to are that in Japan he spoke to them but never made probably somewhat more reliable than those friends with them. "You just couldn't think of offered by some of the other informants, going to their houses." In his community the .eta lived in a separate "In my first year at Cal. (U.C.) a Japanese smaller village across the river. Theboys were girl took me aside and said, 'Don'tbe too friendly accustomed to bring to school small quantities with so-and-so because she is etaclass.' I'might of tea, which were pooled in a commonpot. When . have worried if it had beena boy--but 1 didn't an ~ boy brought some tea, some of the boys have to snub her or anything. did not wish to drink it. This boy, according to "1 know that they refer to some people here Mr. H. was extremely dirty. His clothes were in camp as being 'that'--'So what can you filthy and his sleeves were all shiny where he expect,' they say. had Wiped his nose on them. But the objections "1 knew one girl here. I was just amazed that of the boys were over-ruled by the more liberal she came from that class. She was an outstanding members of the class. person. But she and her husband never began to - i The eta boys were not invited to the end of calIon people. The people she lived near said, :I the term party. Mr. H. explaining that "I was 'She is peculiar. She has odd ways.' Even here always sort of soft-hearted." 1 happened topass in camp people who know themselves to be eta one of them 'on the street. "Are you coming to keep away from the others. I 1 1'1 the party?" he asked. "NO," saidthe eta. "Come "When marriage is involved the parents will on over," said Mr. H. "He was so glad it made put their foot down. I know of one case where an me feel bad; it sortof chokedme and made tears eta man mar-ried and found it out later. He was come to my eyes." threatening to kill himself and shoothis son. His I: Mrs. H. thereupon denounced discrimination wife was a strong Christian. She begged himnot 1 against the eta. She and the friends present to and averted tragedy. related several incidents of marriages which "Another couple were just about to get mar were stopped or broken up because one partner ried. Then the parents found out. H~ coolly told was of eta descent. One of the friends stated her he had obligations to his parents and didn't that he knew some eta well. "Ifyougo into their marry her. kitchens you can't tell the difference from other "Another case was of a girl who killed her- 183 self and committed suicide because she didn't called To They wanted to marry. Her folks found' know she was of the eta class. Itseems she found out he was one of 'those.' They told her they out and that made life unbearable," would disown her if she married him. On the other side, his family objected to his marrying an outsider. It was funny. Both sides had 10. Mrs. J. objections. All the etas got together and said, 'We don't want you. You mustn't marry her.' Mrs. J. was a Nisei in her early twenties, She was quite broken hearted about it. trained in secretarial work, Her husband was a "I know a man back in California who made it dentist. With the exception of Yuriko B. (case 2) practically his business to go around finding out she was the youngest person interviewed about who was an eta and who wasn't. Every time he the eta. A bright, witty, and capable young came around, he said, '1 found out some more. woman, very American in behavior, her relative You know who?' That's how I found out there lack of prejudice against the eta is probably were so many of them. I didn't know before. typical of the age group to which shebelonged, "They say so many of the eta's daughters are very beautiful. I didn't notice it. Some I saw "There were a great many ~) in our town were certainly below average in looks. (in California). But I couldn't tellthe difference. "Some Issei are so proud oJ"being eta that The only way I know who they are was by the they come out and tell you that they are eta. I Issei. They said, 'They're one of those.' They don't know whether they really are proud or if looked just the same to me. they think, 'If you want to mow, I'll tell you.' "In school 1 didn't have any very close "If I had wanted to marry an eta I know my friends. But (eta or not) we were all friends. mother would object. But my brother wouldn't. There was no discrimination in parties among He is against all such things (discrimination)." us younger people. "But it seems the older people, the Issei eta, 11. Mr. K. stuck together. They would'talk to other Issei, but they barely ever associate. Ifthey do, a non Mr. K. was a Nisei in his middle-twenties, eta will go down a rank. I haven't heard of any capable, ambitious, and very American in his cases of intermarriage. behavior. He was the only one of the informants "My mother told me there are quite a few eta who showed a pronounced emotional reaction to in this country because in Japan they're not the very idea of socialdiscrimination. He became accepted. So to get away from itthey come here. excited and angry and burst out with: But still, I don't know how or who finds out, but "I don't believe in that! They're notmarrying they find out and go like this. (Here Mrs. J. their ancestors!" raised four fingers, which signifies shihon, Mr. K. then denied knowing anything aboutthe animal-like). eta. Only after about a half hour of conciliating "They say if you should marry one you could conversation could he be induced to returnto the never go back to Japan. Discriminationis pretty subject. bad in Japan. Here they can go anywhere they please. But in Japan people won't let them in "I used to hear abouteta on the outside (before certain places. . evacuation) butthat (the interviewer's remark) is "My husband came in the other day and said, the first time I've heard about it inhere. On the 'I heard of a fellowwe knowwho is one of those;' outside you used to run into it once in a while. We don't feel that way toward them atall, but he At first I didn't know what it was. .just said that. My husbandsaid (of this man), 'He "You know how I came across what the word married with a person who is one of those, so he eta means? Once 1 was talking to an old man, an must be one, too.' ~-;ei. He says thatthe Japanese in America meet "I sometimes wonder if they don't make a with considerable discrimination. But, he said, mistake about them. If somebody told me I was we meet with the same thing in Japan. one of 'those,' 1 couldn't prove it. "I didn't know what he meant. Later. on, I "My very good girl friend likes a fellow asked somebody about it. He said, 'Don't you 184 know? He's an eta.' 'What do you mean?' I said. efficient. He told me that ~is a class of people in Japan When, however, Japanese Americans beganto very despised and looked down on. 'He's one, so think seriously of leaving America andtakingup he's explaining it to you. He's looked down on by residence in Japan their attitudes toward dis Americans and also by the heimin group in crimination undergo an additional subtle change. America.' That was the first time I heard about Their statements show that they are muchmore aware of restrictions on association with eta it." l- and indicate thattheypersonally intend to comply Conclusions with these customs even though they may dis approve of them. These data offer evidence of a noteworthy Aside from these phenomena of change, some number of changes in sentiment regarding the interesting folk beliefs are voiced. Like many ~. groups with whom sexual or social intercourse Derogatory sentiments toward the traditional is barred, the eta are conceived of as both outcast group have progressively weakened unusually repulsive and unusually attractive. among the descendants of Japanese immigrants They are dirty, and have sore, scabby eyes; on to America; while older immigrants retain some the other hand they are handsomer and softer of the status feeling of their youth, mature featured than the other Japanese and th~.. women individuals of the second generation retainless, are unusually beautiful. Amusingly, the only and adolescent individuals of the secondgenera dissenter from the folk attitude of eta female tion retain still less. beauty was a young and attractive woman (case The evacuation appears to have increasedthis 10). , tendency toward mitigation of prejudice. A num In addition to these changes in sentiment ber of informants stated positivelythatthe rela toward what might be called the traditional tively moderate pre-evacuation discrimination scapegoat of Japan, sociological developments against the eta was decreased even more by the within the centers resulted in an entirely diff evacuation and life withinthe relocation centers. erent but extremely interesting change, that is, These assertions are corroborated indirectlyby a shift from the old scapegoat, the eta, to a new the fact that during the two years in which I one, the Informervr- Apparently, the selection studied' the centers I came across no evidence 'of a scapegoat group is not always determined of anti-eta feeling whatever. Had I notundertaken by cultural tradition or custom but may be II this study, I, like some of the Nisei, would have significantly influenced by the specific .nature :J' j I I ' known only vaguely that a group of people, called of a new sociological srtuatton.rs In all of the I· eta, were considered outcasts in Japan. centers, the chief targets of popular ire were I Whether or not there exist some remnants of unfortunate individuals called inu (literally dog, discrimination on the level of general social but in this connotation: stool pigeon). These inu, intercourse is difficult to say. That a much it was widely and often incorrectly believed, mitigated discrimination in marriage is retained betrayed their own people, either for money or among the Nisei is obvious, butmostNisei insist out of malice, by reporting anti-administrative that other forms of discrimination have entirely or pro-Japanese statements and activities to the disappeared. Nevertheless, refraining from authorities. snubbing eta at· school and participating with Community punishment of suspected inu them in school parties does not constitute com ranged from very painful social ostracism to plete absence of status differentiation. It is not violent physical assault. The extent to which at all unlikely that some Nisei, especially if hostility toward inu was supported by public subjected to communttypreesure, would hesitate opinion is shown by the fact that two of the to develop intimate friendships with persons major center uprisings against the War Reloca known to be of eta descent. On the other hand, tion Authority immediately followed the arrest I' since such descent is easy to conceal, and, if we of persons suspected of having taken part in !I i accept current tales, is often unknown to the eta inu beatings. himself, discrimination on the level of social An attempt to explain why this particular intercourse can not be very prevalent or very change in scapegoats was made in this specific .. 185 situation is not within the scope of this paper; most heinous crime of the centers - informing. Nevertheless, two tentative hypotheses will be Though it was in part pathological it was also in suggested in the hope that they may be of use part useful.. To persecute dirty, scabby eyed, or to anyone undertaking a broader investigation effeminate individuals would not have been of such a change. equally useful.. First, it will be noted that while the phenom Secondly, persecution of inu rather than eta is enon of hostility toward the inu contained many compatible with the psychological hypothesis irrational elements, it was more rational in this that a scapegoat is selected primarily bec~use specific social situation than hostility toward he can be made to bear the sins of the persecu eta. Individuals who betrayed their fellow Jap tor. In other words, an individual sufferingfrom anese to the authorities did exist and provided shame or guilt escapes punislunent by denying a very real threat. Anyone who expressed pro his own guilt and attributing it to someone else. Japanese sentiments knew that these might be The Japanese Americans had been accused of . reported. Even when an individual felt relatively gross disloyalty to the United States. Theirvery secure, the presence of inu provided an annoy incarceration in centers could be interpretedas ance. For example, a notoriouslypro-American punishment. Their harsh experiences aroused individual, justly angry over some administra natural resentments against the government tive action, mightfeel like relievinghis emotions which, when viewed by a strict conscience, by a hot-headed criticism of the American amounted to disloyalty. In this subtle sense the government or the administration. He was, Japanese Americans were guilty of the charges however, obliged to make such a statement only made by thatgreatfigure of authority - the United in the presence of trusted friends, lest it be States government. Thereupon they eased their reported and misconstrued. The eta, on the guilt by punishing those persons who committed other hand, provided no such threat. a similar crime, that is, were disloyal to the Moreover, hostility toward the inu functioned Japanese group and who, by their very attach not only to strengthen group solidarity against ment to the United states government, servedas the administration, which hostility toward the an uncomfortable reminder of the obligations outgroup eta would also have done, but it pro which the angry and disgruntledJapanese Amer vided a powerful negative sanction against the icans were unable to fulfill. 1 The study was begun in late 1943 and contin~ed ir Society of Japan, Second Series, Volume X (1933), pp. regularly until early in 1945, while I was engaged in 47-154. research on the social processes occurring within the relocation and segregation centers where the Japanese 41bid., p. 98. Americans were confined during World War II. The read s/bid., p. 109. er curious as to these processes is referred to my arti cle, "The Destruction of a Democratic Impulse," Human 6 Ibid. Organization, (Spring, and my "The XII, 1 1953), 11-21 7 Informants' statements on the samurai or shizoku indi Development of Authoritarianism," unpublished Ph.D. cated that the descendants of this group possess rela dissertation (Dept. of Anthropology, University of Chi tively little prestige. Persons of shizoku descent were cago, 1951). A more general description of the evacua proud of their lineage but considered it poor taste to tion process and the centers, which is based extensively emphasize it. Informants agreed that the only area in on my field work, will be found in the volume, published which such 'descent influenced behavior was in the ar under the names of Dorothy Swaine Thomas and Richard rangement of marriages, where socially ambitious parents S. Nishimoto, The Spoilage (Berkeley: University of might prefer a shizoku suitor over a commoner. California Press, 1946). 8 Other and more insulting terms than shin-heimin are 2 Even educational or professional accomplishments shihon (four-legged, i.e. animal-like); Y otsu (four, less yielded little status, since Japanese American doctors, than five, i.e, imperfect and animal-like); umenokewekegi lawyers, or social workers received wages of nineteen (horse-skinner); umanohone (horse's bone). dollars a month, which was but four dollars more than the wages of unskilled laborers. 9 Unfortunately, this study of the eta was only just be gun when it had to be abandoned because of the more 3 The brief historical sketch I here offer is based on the pressing interests (reported in the works cited in refer comprehensive account of Shigeaki Ninomiya, U An In ence note one above). Readers curious as to the prob quiry Concerning the Origin, Development, and Present lems of fie ld work under these try ing conditions may be Situation of the Eta in Relation to the History of Social interested in my "Reciprocity as a Field Technique," Classes in Japan," The Trensections of The Asiatic Human Organization, XI, 3 (Fall, 1952), 34-37 and my 186 UTwel",e Years Later: An Analysis of Field Experi 13 See reference note 11. ence," American Journal of Sociology, LXIII, 2 (Sept. 1957), 133-142. 14 While the eta have long been the obvious scapegoats Given these field difficulties and my preoccupation of the social system of Japan, hatred of inu or stool with other matters, it was not possible for me to compare pigeons also has some historical precedent. In Japan, systematically the statements and practices or behavior the police informer was greatly feared, and in the U. S. of my informants. Nevertheless, since so few data on the likewise, as many of the japanese had entered the coun eta are available, the statements in and of themselves try illegally and feared the immigration authorities and have value. attributed their apprehension to the activities of inu. See Thomas and Nishimoto, Ope cit., p. 21, n. 62. 10 According to my informants, the status of butcher in japan has been so low that only eta would undertake 15 This observation is not original. A parallel example this work. during World War II may be found in the attitude of the U. S. public toward German Americans as compared with 11 Families having no son will adopt the husband of a Japanese Americans. Relatively little hostility was di daughter in order to continue the name. A marriage en rected at the first group, even though they had served as tered into under these conditions is called mukoyoshi. scapegoats during World War I, while much irrational hostility was directed at the Japanese Americans. 12 Properly speaking, Mr. D. and Mr. H. (case 9) would be called Kibei, a term given to those Nisei who have had considerable education in japan. I :11' Ii: II " i 187