Editing Burakumin (section)

== Terminology ==
The term {{transliteration|ja|burakumin}} is derived from {{Nihongo||部落|buraku}}, a [[Japanese language|Japanese]] term which refers literally to a small, generally rural, commune or [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]]. In the regions of Japan where the {{transliteration|ja|burakumin}} issue is much less publicly prominent, such as Hokkaido and Okinawa, {{transliteration|ja|buraku}} is still used in a non-pejorative sense to refer to any hamlet.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hankins |first1=Joseph D |title=Working Skin: Making Leather, Making a Multicultural Japan |date=2014 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520959163 |page=113}}</ref> Historically, the term {{transliteration|ja|buraku}} was used for an outcast community that was discriminated against officially and formally.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Terms
!Roman
!Kanji
!Meaning
!Annotation
|-
|{{transliteration|ja|Hisabetsu-buraku}}
|{{lang|ja|被差別部落}}
|'Discriminated community/hamlet'
|{{transliteration|ja|Hisabetsu-buraku}} is a commonly used, polite term, with people from them called {{nihongo3|'discriminated community (hamlet) people'|被差別部落民|hisabetsu-burakumin}} or {{nihongo3|'person from a discriminated community/hamlet'|被差別部落出身者|hisabetsu buraku shusshin-sha}}.
|-
|{{transliteration|ja|Burakumin}}
|{{lang|ja|部落民}}
|'Hamlet people'
|{{transliteration|ja|Burakumin}} refers either to hamlet people per se or is used as an abbreviation of people from a discriminated community/hamlet. Very old people tend to use the word in the former meaning. Its use is sometimes frowned upon, though it is by far the most commonly used term in English.
|-
|{{transliteration|ja|Mikaihō-buraku}}
|{{lang|ja|未解放部落}}
|'Unliberated communities'
|{{transliteration|ja|Mikaihō-buraku}} is a term sometimes used by human rights groups, and has a degree of political meaning to it.
|-
|{{transliteration|ja|Tokushu buraku}}
|{{lang|ja|特殊部落}}
|'Special hamlets'
|{{transliteration|ja|Tokushu buraku}} was a term used during the early 20th century but is now considered pejorative.
|}
A term used much for {{transliteration|ja|buraku}} settlements is {{nihongo3|'assimilation districts'|同和地区|dōwa chiku}}, an official term for districts designated for government and local authority assimilation projects from 1969 to 2002.

The social issue concerning "discriminated communities" is usually referred to as {{nihongo3|'assimilation issues'|同和問題|dōwa mondai}} or, less commonly, {{nihongo3|'hamlet issues'|部落問題|buraku mondai}}.

During the [[Tokugawa period|feudal era]], the outcastes were termed {{nihongo3|{{lit|an abundance of defilement|an abundance of filth}}|穢多|eta}}, a term now considered derogatory. {{transliteration|ja|Eta}} towns were termed {{Nihongo||穢多村|etamura}}.

Some {{transliteration|ja|burakumin}} refer to their own communities as {{nihongo3|'villages'|村|mura}} and themselves as {{nihongo3|'village people'|村の者|mura-no-mono}}.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

Other outcaste groups from whom {{transliteration|ja|buraku}} may have been descended included the {{Nihongo3|{{lit|non-human}}|非人|hinin}}. The definition of {{transliteration|ja|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.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

During the 19th century, the term {{transliteration|ja|burakumin}} was invented to name the {{transliteration|ja|eta}} and {{transliteration|ja|hinin}} because both classes were forced to live in separate village neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite book |last=Frédéric |first=Louis |date=2002 |title=Japan Encyclopedia |series=[[Harvard University Press]] Reference Library |publisher=[[Belknap Press]] |page=93 |isbn=9780674017535 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA93}}</ref>