- red tree... - Paint has come off
- Samisen waiting for a CAT skin. Heeeeere kitty kitty kitty....... www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/3363745529/
- Deer Skin - abej2004
- Animal Pelts, fresh from the hunt.
- Unidentified Animal Hides
- Small piece of unidentified, finished Animal Skin.
THE "ETA 穢多", "BURAKUMIN 部落民", and "HININ 非人" -- The Non-Human Outcasts of Old Japan
This 1873 photograph by the elder SHINICHI SUZUKI depicts LEATHER
WORKERS (Tanners).
One fellow scrapes the hide of a slaughtered deer, while another seems
to be discussing a piece of finished cat skin to cover an old samisen.
On the right stands a young man with a load of pelts.
IMPORTANT NOTE : This is the only known photograph from either the Edo-Bakumatsu or
Meiji eras to depict this "untouchable" class of Japanese
citizens. After its first appearance here on Flickr, the image has
been appropriated for use in numerous blogs and publications,
including a textbook published by the Oxford University Press.
NIPSA : In early May 2011, Flickr Staff NIPSA'd this photograph and all the rest of my photostream, informing me that posting photos (such as the one above) not personally photographed by me, were in violation of Flickr rules, that my photostream would be blocked from all further searches by other Flickr members, and that this photo (and all the rest of my 3,600+ images) would be stripped from all Groups and Galleries in which they had appeared.
In essence, I am still a Flickr member (and my Flickr account has not been deleted), but my entire photostream --- including all of my modern photos shot by me --- have now been relegated to the Flickr equivalent of the "ETA 穢多", "BURAKUMIN 部落民", and "HININ 非人" class of photographic untouchables.
For your interest and discussion, here are some fellow violators of Flickr's "You must be the Photographer of the Photos you post" Rule --- who have NOT been NIPSA'd :
What is NIPSA ? = www.flickr.com/help/filters/#262
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Notice the girl in the photo who has come to have the cat skin replaced on her thee-stringed samisen.
See the photo and caption here for the story of how the CATS got involved in the Japanese music industry : www.flickr.com/photos/24443965@N08/3363745529/
You will not find such a photograph as you see above among the 1000s of "respectable" images published by BEATO, STILLFRIED, KIMBEI, FARSARI, TAMAMURA, OGAWA, ENAMI, and others. So, if you have an interest in this aspect of Japanese history, please download this rare image from the TOM BURNETT COLLECTION now --- before flickr deletes my account !
Creative Commons use permitted for educational and personal non-profit projects [credit Tom Burnett Collection]. Online Web and bloggers please link back to flickr.
************************************************************
HERE IS WHAT THE WIKIPEDIA HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE BURAKUMIN :
".......The burakumin are descendants of outcast communities of the feudal era, which mainly comprised those with occupations considered "tainted" with death or ritual impurity (such as executioners, undertakers or LEATHER WORKERS), and traditionally lived in their own secluded hamlets and ghettos. They were legally liberated in 1871 with the abolition of the feudal caste system; however, this did not put a stop to social discrimination and their lower living standards. In certain areas of Japan, there is still a stigma attached to being a resident of such areas, who sometimes face lingering discrimination in matters such as marriage and employment.
The long history of taboos and myths of the buraku left a continuous legacy of social desolation. Since the 1980s, more and more young buraku started to organize and protest against their social misfortunes. Movements with objectives ranging from "liberation" to encouraging integration have tried over the years to put a stop to this problem.
The number of burakumin asserted to be living in modern Japan varies from source to source. A 1993 investigative report by the JAPANESE GOVERNMENT counted 4,533 "assimilation districts" - buraku communities officially designated for assimilation projects, mostly in western Japan, comprising 298,385 households with 892,751 residents. The size of each community ranged from under 5 households to over 1000 households, with 155 households being the average size. About three quarters of settlements are in rural areas. The distribution of discriminated communities varied greatly from region to region.
The Buraku Liberation League (BLL), on the other hand, extrapolates Meiji-era figures to arrive at an estimate of nearly three million burakumin. A 1999 source indicates the presence of some 2 million burakumin, living in approximately 5,000 settlements. In some areas, burakumin hold a majority; they account for over 70 percent of all residents of Yoshikawa in Kochi Prefecture. In Ōtō in Fukuoka Prefecture, they account for over 60 percent.
The word "burakumin" is used to describe descendants of outcaste communities in feudal Japan, most of them being eta (穢多) who worked in occupations relating to death, such as executioners, undertakers or LEATHER WORKERS. Severe social stigma was attached to these occupations, influenced by BUDDHIST prohibitions against killing and SHINTO notions of kegare (穢れ "defilement"). Other outcast groups included the hinin (非人—literally "NON-HUMAN") (the definition of hinin, as well as their social status and typical occupations varied over time, but typically included ex-convicts and vagrants who worked as town guards, street cleaners or entertainers. )
According to Japan, a Modern History, 2002: ,
'Fundamental SHINTO beliefs equated goodness and godliness with purity and cleanliness, and they further held that impurities could cling to things and persons, making them evil or sinful. But a person could become seriously contaminated by habitually killing animals or committing some hideous misdeed that ripped at the fabric of the community, such as engaging in incest or bestiality. Such persons, custom decreed, had to be cast out from the rest of society, condemned to wander from place to place, surviving as best they could by begging or by earning a few coins as itinerant singers, dancers, mimes, and acrobats'
The social status and typical occupations of outcast communities have varied considerably according to region and over time. A burakumin neighborhood within metropolitan Tokyo was the last to be served by streetcar and is the site of butcher and LEATHER SHOPS to this day........."
etc etc etc. See : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin
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Photo Credit : THE TOM BURNETT COLLECTION. Used with Permission.
RANDOM SOBA : www.flickriver.com/photos/24443965@N08/random/
Comments and faves
Hassy Chick Kalai, buddadvasu, josefnovak33, d2s, and 54 other people added this photo to their favorites.
LMHarstad (57 months ago | reply)
This quite possibly the most bizarre form of discrimination and the fact that it still exists today absolutely baffles me.
I never quite understood why this stigma didn't apply to fish mongers or fishermen.
Hassy Chick Kalai (57 months ago | reply)
Oh wow.
This is incredibly moving.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
SphinX
jackie ramo (57 months ago | reply)
I agree with xvkingx. It should apply to whalers.
FabLAB Atelier (57 months ago | reply)
yes, Soba Sensei, this is a serious question that moves international mindes to ask why Japan keeps on whalling, bicause it`s kind of a tradictional thing like we have bullfight here in Portugal..., except bulls are not decreasing in number each day. But.. if the stigma concerns to death, yes, that is good question, why the stigma does not apply to whallers? Thanks for your everyday knowledge, read your post mainichi
Okinawa Soba (57 months ago | reply)
To all of you perceptive folks who mentioned FISH and WHALES in your comments, THANK YOU. I did not touch on that in the caption, but definitely should have.
My photographer friend from Nagasaki would refuse to eat "land animal" meat, because it involved the "killing of animals, and the shedding of blood" --- however, he WOULD "pig out" (sorry) on fish and whale meat.
Since we were friends, and he knew my personality well, I did not hesitate to tell him in no uncertain terms that his ".....BUDDHIST doctrines and behavior were nothing but hypocritical bullsh*t, that fish and whales are ANIMALS (from "animated"....they move around), and you'd better get your blooming asss down to a fish market at 5 in the morning to see the RED BLOOD all over the place from the fish that were KILLED......." (My Japanese is pretty good, huh?)
What could he say? Whenever we would eat together after that, he would delicately dine on his fish with a sheepish look on his face, while I intentionally ordered the biggest, juiciest CHEESEBURGER on the menu....and smacked my lips and went MMMMMMMMMM as I ate it.
In case you are wondering, NO, I do not have the SLIGHTEST ounce of any HUMILITY, and will LORD my cheeseburger over all Vegetarians at any opportunity I get !!!
Only one thing is worse : TOTAL VEGETARIANS WHO ARE AGAINST THE SLAUGHTER OF ANIMALS, who are ALSO PHOTOGRAPHERS, and also enjoy GOING TO THE MOVIES. Would somebody PLEASE tell these folks that all photographic film and paper is coated with GELATIN Made from the boiled down skin and bones of SLAUGHTERED ANIMALS, and that every blockbuster movie that they go to see is projected from a long strip of 35mm movie film COATED WITH GELATIN MADE FROM THE SLAUGHTERED SOULS OF COWS.
And speaking of COWS, it amazes me that the HINDU masses of India pack out the Movie Theaters there to watch Bollywood Blockbusters made of two hours of 170,000 still pictures all lined up on a long piece plastic pulled through a projector --- every one of those pictures made from the GELATIN of SLAUGHTERED COWS.
But, If I asked one of them coming out of the Theater where I could get a nice, juicy BURGER...they'd probably run me down (or worse, according to my Indian friends!)
Holy Mother of God.
Basically, the meat gets sent off to McDONALDS, BURGER KING, and WENDY'S. The rest of the carcass goes to MAKE THE EMULSION ON YOUR FILM, PRINTS, AND MOVIE STOCK.
But, thou dost protest, ".....I am a strict vegetarian, and against the slaughter of animals, and therefore SHOOT ALL DIGITAL.....". That's fine. But make sure you (1) Keep the heck away from Movie Theaters, and (2) Keep all of your pix on your SD Cards or hard drive, and DON'T print anything out. And while you're at it, pull those photos off the wall, and set your refrigerator free from that gallery of gawking faces. I'd hate for you to have anything posted that is both MONUMENT and TESTAMENT to the efficacy of GELATIN as the emulsive medium that holds the photos and films of the world together.
Got a BEEF with that ? Start making and printing on your own ALBUMIN paper, or get into SALT PRINTS, KALLITYPES, COLLODIAN PROCESSES, or DAGUERREOTYPES (etc etc).
Even flickr, which is by its very nature a digital gallery in cyberspace, was built and launched on a 100-year-old heritage of GELATIN-BASED imaging. And many of the beautiful works you see on flicker are STILL generated from scans of original, gelatin-based film images.
On a final note, PLANTS ARE ALIVE, TOO (at least until someone "kills" them), and I have been known to eat a FINE SALAD while listening to the plants that remain in my garden, all of them weeping for the fallen souls of their friends who USED TO BE planted in the next row over.
And I'm posting from a house made of wood, once living trees that were cut down in their prime of life, and dragged here that I might selfishly protect my bald head from the rain.
For being a TREE HUGGER (who likes KFC), I'm not doing too bad.
As for "Civilized and Democratic Japan", who (laws and pronouncements aside) still cannot emotionally come to grips with the ETA, BURAKUMIN, HININ, AINU, OKINAWAN, and Japanese-born "KOREAN" among them, I have nothing more to say about this particular photo.
PS. Did I cover everything ???
Rea Family (57 months ago | reply)
Wow... I will never understand the vegetarian women that still carry leater purses either.... or the drummers with the leather heads.... some poor cow died to give you that drum....
OK, you said d/l before flickr kills your account. Why? Should I immediatly copy all your pics to a safe spot on my HD???
Okinawa Soba (57 months ago | reply)
Hi Rea. I keep reading stories about flicker accounts getting deleted with NO WARNING because a flickr staffer didn't like a photo that was posted, or a caption or comment that was made.
I say a lot in my captions, including a few "politically incorrect" things, and (so I read in the flicker HELP section) no amount of links or sources will save you if a staffer thinks --- in their own protected bubble of opinion --- that you have "crossed the line".
No matter what we think, and in spite of paying our membership dues, flickr belongs to flickr, not us. It's a business, and the world looks in on what we post and say. If a staffer thinks that a member is not an asset to the site. POOF...he, or she, is gone...pictures and all.
That's the story told by many posts in the HELP section where so many (ex) members ask, "HEY, HOW COME YOU DELETED MY ACCOUNT???".
So far, flickr has been a great site, but the fact remains they have every right to pull the plug --- without warning --- on a member who says or does something they don't like. I always hope that if it comes to that, they will extend the courtesy of a WARNING letter, with a recommendation of how to correct what they don't like.
In any case, so far so good !
||||||||||||||||||| (57 months ago | reply)
conception of "hinin" is beautiful
to think of being human not as a biological trait but a way of acting, living
Okinawa Soba (57 months ago | reply)
Yes, IIIIIIIIIIIIIII, this is true. My wife has described me as "hinin" many times !
FabLAB Atelier (57 months ago | reply)
Soba san, let me ask where do the whallers are in the japanese hierarchy of society, may this is the key that was missing in our speeches.
dschinny2001 (57 months ago | reply)
hmmm... should I ask the rethorical question how the samurai managed to establish their status above all those folks?
Okinawa Soba (57 months ago | reply)
Hi Fabri -- That is a good question. We will have to study that one. I go to Japan soon. I'll ask around.
Okinawa Soba (57 months ago | reply)
Hi dschinny -- the rhetorical answer is....whoever carried the biggest and fanciest swords decided who was "best" !
||||||||||||||||||| (57 months ago | reply)
but who, if not the samurai, could have decided who was "best"? If these people who "carried the biggest and fanciest swords" probably used them and decided who was to pass by their swords and who the swords should pass through, if they had a power over life, isn't their establishing an "above status" somehow 'normal' ?
Okinawa Soba (57 months ago | reply)
Hello IIIIIIIIIIIIII, Yes, it was normal. "Normal" for the stone-age, cave-man mentality that was the way of the "normal" guy with a big sword. And in Japan, as in most places during those days (and even some places these days), BIG MUSCLES = BIG IDIOTS !!! A thorough study of Old Japan will show that the guy with the biggest sword usually had the smallest brain (and possibly, the smallest pecker). And again, agreeing with you, that was "normal" !
abej2004 (57 months ago | reply)
Much like the untouchables, lower castes of India, it is surprising that even with "modern" society these old habits of descrimination remain, very sad.
FabLAB Atelier (57 months ago | reply)
Soba sensei, correct me please, if I´m going to say a mistake, but I, yes, thats exactly the way it was, the worst was the Tokugawa period, samurais could kill if they didn`t like the way you walk, or look or exist! lol But they had also another period later, i dont remmember witch, that they lost a lot of economic regalies, but still the same overpower beings, I think most of social structure of Japan is samurai-based, thats whyy the importance of the casts, "zoku" as the original in japanese
toiatoya (57 months ago | reply)
i was gonna say this post is a bit anal, but then again, you have to be to get the point across. I mean, in order to be a part of an organized religion, you gotta know whats going on and why its that way! There are people who follow Christianity who have never read the entire Bible (i being one of them), and then there are so called Christians who have memorized the Bible who don't love their fellow man. Its all so crazy. The best we can do is apologize for our ignorance (everyone has some, nobody is perfect) and keep moving on. One thing about Christianity, Jesus will forgive u :)
"strip of 35mm movie film COATED WITH GELATIN MADE FROM THE SLAUGHTERED SOULS OF COWS.
"rofl, but not in a "haha' kinda way. Its Ironic, and I like the way you said the slaughtered SOULS of the cows, heh. Thanks for the info
FabLAB Atelier (57 months ago | reply)
Whith who is she talkin with?
Okinawa Soba (57 months ago | reply)
Hi Toiatoya. Being anal on flickr is one of my specialties. I take great pride in it ! My beef in the above comments are with (1) gung-ho Buddhist "vegetarians" who don't eat "living things", but scarf down all the fish and shrimp they can eat without batting an eye, and (2) "Sacred Cow" Indians who pack out the Bollywood Movie Theaters without batting an eye.
Ignorance is no excuse for religious hypocrisy, and there's no reason to pander to it with with wishy-washy words of diplomatic "political correctness".
★ One Buddhist Priest's explanation on why FISH are OK to eat is, ".....When the fisherman takes them out of the water, they are still alive. The Fisherman does not kill them. They die by themselves, so no killing is involved......". Now, if THAT is not a CROCK of BUDDHIST BALONEY, I don't know what is. I think I will use that line when I decide to get rid of my WIFE : "....Well, gee Officer, when I pushed her off the top of the cliff, she was still alive, so it wasn't me that killed her. She died when she hit the rocks at the bottom, and I wasn't anywhere NEAR the bottom of the cliff when THAT happened !!!....." Yeah. Right. Hopefully, the Policeman will be a devout Buddhist, and he'll let me go home.
In Japan, I was once chewed out by the International Director of an Evangelical Christian Missions organization because he didn't like my tone of voice when I questioned the appropriateness of his ALUMINUM CHRISTMAS TREE, and the SANTA CLAUSE WITH EIGHT REINDEER set up across the top of his Mission Center for all of the "Heathen Japanee" to see. He told me that "ALL American customs are from God, because America is a Christian Country" etc etc. So I asked him, what about the Japanese New Year Decorations made of natural bamboo and etc. "He said, "....All of Japan's customs and decorations are from the Devil. and therefore un-Godly and unacceptable...." etc etc.
It's hard to reason with blind religious ignorance mixed with xenophobic national pride.
If there is ONE THING I learned during my time in Japan, it's GIVE NO SLACK to anybody that professes any kind of religion who at the same time forces his ignorance and hypocrisy on those he has charge of, or to those he professes to be "called to convert".
There is a whole world of photography that must do battle with religious ignorance on a daily basis like this. And even flickr is banned from the internet portals of many countries because of its freedom of content --- even with "Safe Filters" in place.
Fortunately, I'm not here on flickr to make friends with "vegetarians" who wear leather and eat fish. I'm here to post pics, and get down in the dirt where the rubber meets the road.
Hope you stay tuned for more of it !
;-)
||||||||||||||||||| (57 months ago | reply)
".....When the fisherman takes them out of the water, they are still alive. The Fisherman does not kill them. They die by themselves, so no killing is involved......"
: )
through this reasoning, I wonder why they do limit themselves to fish, they can eat anything... including your wife.
Okinawa Soba (56 months ago | reply)
IIIIIIIIII.....as the comedian Henny Youngman once said, "Take my wife—please".
Okinawa Soba (50 months ago | reply)
Hi Mind. Glad the photo was of interest. As far as modern Japanese having no idea, you are basically right. They know the old descriptive terms, but the reality is far from most. That being said, I have run across a few Japanese in the Tokyo area who told me that when they were getting married, their parents investigated the family tree for any trace of ETA or KOREAN blood --- which if found, would have been sufficient grounds for the parents vehement disapproval.
Meanwhile, on Okinawa, a local mom we know --- a good friend, and a transplant from the mainland --- was incensed to find that her daughter had fallen in love with an American of KOREAN ancestry. She was not at all bothered by his "American" status...just the KOREAN part of it. Amusingly, her Okinawan husband thought it was great, and blessed their romance !
I am assuming, therefore, that there are still more than a few old-timers out there who retain the existence of the ETA in the back of their minds, and pull out that card when their son or daughter thinks they have found "true love".
The.unexpected (47 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm a administrator in the group "The Unjust Society" and we'd loved to have this photo added to the group.
www.flickr.com/groups/theunjustsociety
-Please add the photo and find out what our group is about.
mr thepete (46 months ago | reply)
Great read! Thanks!!
Going to have to bookmark it and come back later!
Okinawa Soba (46 months ago | reply)
Hi Pete --- Thanks. I hadn't looked at it for a while, and just checked the links. One was inoperative --- a news story that had "timed out". Fixed that. Come back to it anytime !
Okinawa Soba (46 months ago | reply)
Abej2004 --- Thanks for the note ! You reminded me that the caption paragraph that pointed that out had gotten pushed to the bottom after I added my GOOGLE MAPS note. I just returned it to the top again. Thanks.
manuel.schorpp1988 (41 months ago | reply)
Helft denARMEN
FireMyCat (40 months ago | reply)
Nice shot! I like it!
www.flickr.com/photos/40693506@N02/3756501729 /
Ciucciapunti (39 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Persone people людзі lidé mennesker ihmiset gens άνθρ, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
tevj (37 months ago | reply)
Well, it's been 20 months since you posted the photo, so you appear to be safe. I downloaded it anyway tho just because it's awesome. These photos are indeed rare glimpses into now extinct places and times and are absolutely irreplaceable. I would say we're lucky to have them.
Nice job by the way in describing your photo. Most people go into nowhere near that kind of depth. Thanks for the education. Sounds to me like the Buraku need a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reincarnate to lead them to their figurative 'Promised Land' (or at least equal rights). Keep up the good work Okinawa Soba..
One final thing, you were talking about how the 'freedom of the press' has gotten flickr banned in certain places because it depicted reality. All i have to say about that is BOO HOO to the people trying to hide what they're really up to. On a related tangent, this Now Available information has opened MY eyes to what's going on in our national forests. I encourage you to take a look at the forests of the Pacific NW from about 20 miles up. The clearcuts appear to have been made by a drunken crop circle maker gone berzerk. It looks like a wrinkled patchwork quilt. I'm sorry, but a 300 year old tree is NOT a renewable resource. I know, we DO need the wood, but it still doesn't make it right. I can hear you thinking, and no thanks, I DON'T want to give up my toilet paper! :) Thanks for providing the forum... I feel so much better now...
masparera ;-) (37 months ago | reply)
Please add this photo to the NEW CONTEST MAN AT WORK:
www.flickr.com/groups/1302602@N21/discuss/721 57623941983199/
Olivier (35 months ago | reply)
Beautiful!
Okinawa Soba (35 months ago | reply)
I think so, too. Again, while there are endless photos of Geisha, as far as I know this is the only authentic Meiji-era photo of the Eta known to exist.
k.nowak (34 months ago | reply)
There always has to be someone to blame in case something bad happens, that's why the samurai have become merchants and no one calls it dishonour anymore, but the buraku cast still exists.
Good point about those alive plants, I always say the same in discussions about vegetarianism.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
This photo was invited and added to the Global Photojournalism; Politics, News, Protest, and Culture group.
waw rainbow (30 months ago | reply)
just fantastic.commonplace,common people.. its beautiful..
roberthuffstutter (28 months ago | reply)
Hello Okinawa Soba,
Just finished this page. Very interesting collection of opinions. Now, about the AINU; I had heard that many were blondes with blue eyes. Is this a myth or a genetic factor of a Viking who stopped by the northern island of Hokkaido?
For some reason, I tend to see some resemblence to the Inuits or Eskimo peoples, Asians, right? If not Asians, could they be descendants of a tribe from India?
What are the prospects for a coffee-table type of book on this subject?
proulxmontpellier (14 months ago | reply)
Any buddhist priest who'd tell you that about sea animals is bullsh***ing himself. If you've taken the buddhist vows, the first is "not killing". Period. And buddhist monasteries food is exclusively veggie.
As for killing, it always makes me laugh that people who slaughter deers and dogs and cats should be outcast, but not those who kill human beings...
Okinawa Soba (14 months ago | reply)
Usually, in Religion, Military, Politics, and Business, the higher up the ranks you go, the greater degree of bullsh** you encounter within each particular group, and the "few good men" are truly few.
Thanks for mentioning the vows taken by Buddhist priests. The next time I run onto one of those guys (or gals), I will grill him (or her) on the matter, and give him (or her) no room to wiggle ~ ! ;-)
As for me, I remain complicit in all manner of death --- not discriminating between plants and animals --- and just last night, had a fine salad and a well-cooked piece of steak for dinner ~ !
And when I am gone, I expect to make an equally fine meal for the worms, maggots, and microbes who now rule the earth in the dirt under my feet. Or perhaps, while swimming, a shark will munch on me, or while walking the plains of Africa, a Lion and his pride will find me tasty.
The cycle is never ending.
Until then, in matters of photography, I will continue to use my beloved slide films --- all of them coated with gelatin made from the slaughtered remains of cows, horses, and pigs.
Next time I see a Buddhist priest taking pics with a disposable camera, I will ask him about that!
galla28 (12 months ago | reply)
Merci pour ces magnifiques cliches - très intéressants . Nous ne les aurions probablement jamais vu sans vous. Les japonais ont un oeil magique .... pour capter les belles images.
Okinawa Soba (12 months ago | reply)