A report commissioned by a United Nations panel on human rights has voiced concern about the continuing Japanese social practice of discriminating against the descendants of former social outcasts in Japan, not only in marriage and employment but also in the use of derogatory terms.
The study, submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Commission's subcommission on the promotion and protection of human rights, likens the Japanese attitude toward the so-called Buraku people to the caste system in the Indian subcontinent, where social discrimination is based on occupation and descent.
While acknowledging that the living standards of Buraku people, or "burakumin" in Japanese, has improved, the report says discrimination in marriage and employment continues.
The report raises concern about the practice in Japan of printing lists of Buraku households with the names of the occupants to prevent the employment of burakumin at major companies.