Osaka Human Rights Museum and Human Rights in Japan.

Ripped illegally from some website: Burakumin were
in charge of dealing with corpses.

Learned a lot after a visit to the Osaka Human Rights Museum today.  Many of the same discrimination issues we face in the states are paralleled here in Japan, including gender bias, gay/lesbian rights, and the rights of those afflicted with HIV.  Equally interesting was the discrimination against Okinawans- who many be compared to our Hawaiians, the Aian's from northern island Hokkiado- who live similarly to our indiginous Alaskans and the Koreans and Taiwanese, who were brought to Japan years ago, used as cheap labor, and are today discriminated against in many ways.

Most fascinating was the chapter about the Burakumin.  For this I could find no parallel in the U.S.  In the early 1600 s Japan established a caste system of four classes, and the Buraku were below the lowest, the outcasts,  being those who dealt with death- undertakers, butchers, executioners, and leather workers.  Although this feudal system was eliminated in 1871, those labeled as buraku have not been able to thwart the stigma placed on them by an extremely class conscious society.  Do read more HERE if you're interested.  This is fascinating stuff particularly in that is so prominent today.