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Affirmative Action Policies Under the Postwar Japanese Constitution: On the Effects of the Dōwa Special Measures Policy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Noah McCormack
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Abstract

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This article examines the background to Japan's Dowa-related affirmative action programs which, based on postwar constitutional guarantees, set about relieving the material and psychological expressions of majority discrimination against Buraku residents. It shows the generally beneficial consequences of these programs, and highlights the overall weakening of discrimination, the improvement of living conditions, and a high level of mixed living and intermarriage. Finally, it considers how the resulting erosion of Buraku-based identities remains contested both by those displaying a continued will to discriminate, and by activists who desire to maintain a Buraku-based identity into the future.

Keywords

JapanDōwa policyBuraku issueidentity politicsconstitutionwelfare
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 16 , Issue 5 , March 2018 , e4
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2018

References

Notes

1 These are terms generated by the state and regional administrations for the purpose of implementing affirmative action measures. Dōwa areas are basically areas that are considered to be Buraku areas. However, not all Buraku areas were Dōwa areas, because residents or authorities in some areas rejected this classification. Also, some areas gave up the status of Dōwa area, on the grounds that the gap with the rest of society has been largely negated. The term Dōwa-related persons is seen to refer to Burakumin. However, it only refers to those people within Dōwa areas who are recognized as Burakumin. Many people living in Dōwa areas are not recognized as Dōwa-related persons, because they are relatively new arrivals, or chose not to receive affirmative action-related benefits. In this article, the terms Dōwa and Buraku are used interchangeably, unless otherwise specified. The last national Dōwa area survey data is from 1993; data since then is collated from various local sources.

2 Okuda Hitoshi, Dōtaishin tōshin wo yomu, Osaka: Kaihō Shuppansha, 2015, pp. 22-23.

3 Takano Masumi, “Nihonkoku kenpō to buraku mondai”, in Tomonaga Kenzo and Watanabe Toshio (eds.), Burakushi kenkyū kara no hasshin, vol. 3, Gendaihen, Osaka: Kaihō Shuppansha, 2009, pp. 20-21.

4 Mizuuchi, Toshio, ‘Suramu no keisei to kuriaransu kara mita Osakashi no senzen / sengo’, Ritsumeikan daigaku jinbun kagaku kenkyujo kiyo, vol. 83, 2004, pp. 41-43. In Kanto it is believed that Buraku areas had already become hard to grasp as a result of the Great Kanto Earthquake, and became even more so as a result of the massive wartime destruction.

5 Okuda, Dōtaishin tōshin wo yomu, 24-25; Kadooka Nobuhiko, “Buraku kaihō undō ga nokoshitekita mono”, in Akagawa Manabu et al., Dōwa no shinsō no shinsō, Osaka: Kaihō Shuppansha, 2004, pp. 49-50. Cited constitutional passages from here.

6 Shimono Osamu, “Shūshoku sabetsu”, in Buraku Kaihō Jinken Kenkyūjo (ed.), Buraku mondai jinken jiten, 2001.

7 Dōwa Taisaku Shingikai, “Naikaku Dōwa Taisaku Shingikai Tōshin”, 1965.

8 Hasegawa Masayasu, Buraku mondai no kaiketsu to nihonkoku kenpō, Kyōto: Buraku Mondai Kenkyūjo, 1995, pp. 9-12.

9 Sasaki Ryōji, Sengo seiji shihai to Buraku mondai—Kaidō rosen wa dō keisei saretanoka Kyoto: Buraku Mondai Kenkyūjo, 1995, pp. 7-11.

10 Fudesaka Hideyo and Miyazaki Manabu, Nihon kyōsantō vs. Buraku kaihō dōmei, Tokyo: Monado Shinsho, 2010, pp. 221.

11 Japan Socialist Party Central Executive, 1971,“