Editing Burakumin (section)

=== {{transliteration|ja|Buraku}} Liberation League and the {{transliteration|ja|Zenkairen}} ===
[[File:Flag of Buraku Liberation League.png|thumb|Flag of the Buraku Liberation League]]
The [[Buraku Liberation League]] is considered one of the most militant among {{transliteration|ja|burakumin}}'s rights groups. The BLL is known for its fierce "denunciation and explanation sessions", where alleged perpetrators of discriminatory actions or speech are summoned for a public hearing before a panel of activists.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

Early sessions were marked by occasions of violence and kidnapping, and several BLL activists have been arrested for such acts. The legality of these sessions is still disputed, but to this date the authorities have mostly ignored them except in the more extreme cases.<ref>Upham, Frank K. (1987), Instrumental Violence and the Struggle for Buraku Liberation, 146–190, in Michael Weiner (ed.), ''Race, Ethnicity and Migration in Modern Japan Volume II Indigenous and Colonial Others'', London and New York: Routledge Curzon. {{ISBN|0-415-20856-4}}.</ref><ref>Pharr, Susan J. (1990), Burakumin Protest: The incident at Yoka High School_, 133–145, in Michael Weiner(ed.), ''Race, Ethnicity and Migration in Modern Japan Volume II Indigenous and Colonial Others'', London and New York: Routledge Curzon. {{ISBN|0-415-20856-4}}.</ref><ref>Ichinomiya Yoshinari and Group K21 and Terazono Atsushi (eds.) (2003), Dowa riken no shinso 2 (Jinken Mafia-ka suru "Buraku Kaiho Domei" no renkinjutsu o ou! — The true face of Dowa interests 2 (Chasing the alchemy of the "Buraku Liberation League" which Mafiaizes human rights) ("Invasion of human rights" incidents in liberation education and human rights education), Tokyo: [[Takarajimasha]].</ref>

In 1990, [[Karel van Wolferen]]'s criticism of the BLL in his much-acclaimed book ''[[The Enigma of Japanese Power]]'' prompted the BLL to demand the publisher halt publication of the Japanese translation of the book.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}} Van Wolferen condemned this as an international scandal.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

The other major {{transliteration|ja|buraku}} activist group is the {{Nihongo|National {{transliteration|ja|Buraku}} Liberation Alliance|全国部落解放運動連合会|Zenkoku Buraku Kaihō Undō Rengōkai}}, or {{transliteration|ja|Zenkairen}}, affiliated to the [[Japanese Communist Party]] (JCP). It was formed in 1979<ref>Neary, Ian (1997), Burakumin In Contemporary Japan_, 50–78, in Michael Weiner (ed.), ''Japan's Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity'', London: Routledge p. 66 {{ISBN|0-415-15218-6}}.</ref> by BLL activists who were either purged from the organization or abandoned it during the late 1960s, due to, among other things, their opposition to the decision that subsidies to the {{transliteration|ja|burakumin}} should be limited to the BLL members only. Not all {{transliteration|ja|burakumin}} were BLL members, and not all residents of the areas targeted for subsidies were historically descended from the outcastes.<ref name="Upham 1987">Upham (1987).</ref>

The {{transliteration|ja|Zenkairen}} often disputed the BLL, accusing them of chauvinism. The conflict between the two organizations increased during 1974 when a clash between teachers belonging to a JCP-affiliated union and BLL activists at a high school in Yoka, rural [[Hyōgo Prefecture]], put 29 in hospital.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}

In 1988, the BLL formed the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR). The BLL sought for the IMADR to be recognized as a [[United Nations]] [[Non-governmental organization|Non-Government Organization]], but in 1991, the {{transliteration|ja|Zenkairen}} informed the [[United Nations]] about the alleged human rights violations committed by the BLL in the course of their "denunciation sessions" held with accused "discriminators".<ref name="Upham 1987"/><ref>Ichinomiya, Group K21 and Terazono (eds.) (2003).</ref>{{better source needed|reason=Reference refers only to the characterisation and terminology of the 'crimes', not to the IMADR application to the UN. What crimes were they?|date=June 2021}}

According to a BLL-funded think tank, when cases of discrimination were alleged, the {{transliteration|ja|Zenkairen}} often conducted denunciation sessions as fierce as those of the BLL. Nonetheless, the IMADR was designated a UN human rights NGO in March 1993.<ref>Buraku Liberation and Human Rights Research Institute (2005 [2004]), Photo Document of the Post-war 60 Years-Development of the Buraku Liberation Movement, Osaka: Kaiho Publishing Company Ltd. {{ISBN|4-7592-4116-7}}</ref>

On March 3, 2004, the {{transliteration|ja|Zenkairen}} announced that "the {{transliteration|ja|buraku}} issue has basically been resolved" and formally disbanded. On March 4, 2004, they began a new organization known as the {{Nihongo|"National Confederation of Human Rights Movements in The Community"|全国地域人権運動総連合|Zenkoku Chiiki Jinken Undō Sōrengō'}} or {{transliteration|ja|Zenkoku Jinken Ren}}.<ref>"Zenkoku Buraku Kaihou Undou Rengkai" (National Buraku Liberation Alliance) (2004), "Zenkairen Dai 34 Kai Teiki Taikai Ni Tuite" ('About the Zenkairen 34th Regular Meeting), available at http://www.geocities.jp/zenkairen21/01-5.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223211604/http://www.geocities.jp/zenkairen21/01-5.html |date=December 23, 2008 }} [February 26, 2008].</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://zjr.sakura.ne.jp/ |script-title=ja:全国地域人権運動総連合 |title=Zenkoku chiiki jinken undō sō rengō |trans-title=National Federation of Regional Human Rights Movements |language=ja |access-date=July 29, 2019}}</ref>