The Japanese Burakumin by Photographer Masaru Goto
Photographer Masaru Goto has an interesting series of portraits up at Global Compassion that show every day Burakumin, an ethnically Japanese group of people descended from the untouchables of the feudal Japanese caste system.
Even today, the Burakumin face discrimination – they live in segregated districts that are often neglected by city governments, and the general public still negatively stereotypes them as poor and backwards.
For example, this is Yoshinobu Nakajima who is a person of freedom:
“I’ve been working really hard until last year. I’m 61 now. Since retirement, I’ve been to Thailand and Okinawa and Hokkaido — by bicycle! And there are so many chances to meet people. It also makes me happy when acquaintances from my travels come to visit me. I guess this is what I can do to let people know about Buraku. For example, we bake bread and pizza in a stone oven together. Having fun with many young people makes me feel young, too. We meet and we reunite and we stay connected. This will be my lifestyle until the day I die.”
Masaru is a highly regarded Japanese photographer known for his compassionate documentary work “highlighting the plight and resilience of ordinary people caught in conflicts, suffering under oppression, or economically disadvantaged.”
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