American Burakumin – an untold story

Dec. 7, 2009 • Pat Kitano

This Thanksgiving, I broached a topic with my Japanese American cousins about a heritage issue they weren’t too familiar with. Few Americans know that the Japanese historically has an underclass of untouchables similar to other Asian cultures like India. The “burakumin” are descendants of a feudal outcaste that worked in occupations handling dead bodies – butchers, leather workers – and considered unclean. They are indistinguishable in physical appearance from other Japanese, and live mostly in the western half of Japan. …