Mid-term Test: Japan’s Minorities and Marginal Groups

Instructor: Tom Gill

Dictionaries may be used, including electronic dictionaries.

SECTION 1 (10 marks)

Complete the gaps in this passage.

It used to be said that Japan was a ( 1 ) society, meaning that everyone was basically the same. That was never entirely true: many of the kings buried in toms in Nara are said to be from ( 2 ), although the Japanese government has refused to allow them to be excavated. Moreover, the northern island of Hokkaido was populated by the ( 3 ), a people generally thought to be ethnically distinct from the Japanese, long before the Yamato people came to dominate Honshu. By the end of World War 2, there were about ( 4 ) Koreans living and working in Japan. They became politically divided after the division of Korea, and to this today there are two groups representing Koreans in Japan: Mindan, which tends to support South Korea, and ( 5), which supports North Korea. A new wave of immigration started in the 1990s, when the ( 6 ) Law was revised to allow people with Japanese blood to get work visas in Japan. This caused a sharp increase in immigration from ( 7 ). There were many ‘Nikkei’ people living in that country because in the past many Japanese people emigrated there to work as farmers. Japan also has many non-ethnic minorities. One famous example is the ( 8 ), descendants of a medieval outcast group who are traditionally associated with the meat and leather-tanning industries. Even today they face severe discrimination, despite the efforts of the ( 9 ), which has long campaigned for improved rights. Sufferers of ( 10 ) disease, who were incarcerated in remote rural colonies long after their disease ceased to be infectious.

1 SECTION 2 (20 marks)

Answer ONE question, by writing an essay. Try to write at least two pages.

1. “Japan is no longer a homogeneous society.” Discuss.

2. Briefly outline the history of the Ainu OR Ryukyu people. How does that history affect their identity today?

3. Koreans in Japan may be divided into many different types. Please describe as many of those types as you know, and compare their situation today.

4. “Japan has virtually solved the problem of homelessness.” Do you agree?

5. In the light of developments since the 1960s, do you think that Japan will still have a Burakumin problem in thirty years time?

6. Does the concept of “kegare” (ritual pollution) help to explain social discrimination in Japan?

7. “Thirty years ago, young Japanese people dissatisfied with society sometimes joined extremist political groups. These days they are more likely to join a new religion.” Do you agree? Give reasons.

8. Choose TWO of the following and describe life in Japanese society for these people: wheelchair users, blind people, deaf people, mentally ill people, AIDS sufferers, , Hansens Disease sufferers, homeless people, gamblers.

9. Describe the main ethnic groups in Japan today and explain why their numbers are increasing or declining.

10. Compare the situation of Nikkei Brazilians and Chinese people in Japan today.

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