I heard an interesting phenomenon that occurred amongst certain city officials.

Workers may get promotion opportunities if they work for a long time. Usually, they welcome it. However, in that city, one employee has refused himself any promotion. He did not tell anyone why. Let's call this person Mr. A.

One of Mr. A's colleagues was from a Buraku. Let's call him Mr. B. They belong to neighboring communities in a semi-rural area. They have known each other since boyhood. An opportunity for promotion came to Mr. B. He readily accepted the chance. Mr. A then raised an objection to Mr. B's promotion, claiming that he was unhappy, without stating any reasons. Mr. B was upset by the unexpected objection. He guessed that was because he was from a Buraku. He actively supported the BLL, and revealed his feelings to a representative of that BLL. Mr. A denied any sense of discrimination and immediately told the matter to an acquaintance, Mr. C. It was clear that he wanted him to be a go-between.

Mr. C believes that he was chosen by Mr. A because he was mutual acquaintances of both men. To clarify his position, it should be stated that Mr. C is not Burakumin. After some discussion among the parties concerned, it was concluded that Mr. A's statement had nothing to do with Buraku discrimination. There was no solid evidence for judging. However, Mr. C asserts that this is a discriminatory incident. Although Mr. A does not have any authority over personnel issues, the fact that he publicly declared his opposition without giving a reason is in itself a sign of the power of discrimination embedded in society. And above all, if Mr. A can be assured that he has nothing to do with Buraku discrimination, there is no need for his tgoing to the trouble of coming to him for advice. And he says that the fact that he comes to him, a mutual acquaintance, for advice is an expression of his guilt and a desire to have Mr. B's feelings caressed.

I agree with Mr. C. The fact that Mr. A, who has never complained about any other personnel before, complains only about this reflects his sense of superiority over Mr. B, despite being a colleague; When Mr. B is promoted, Mr. A becomes his subordinate because he has refused to be promoted himself. The criteria for determining whether this was a case of discrimination are unclear. But the two men’s relationship was essentially asymmetrical. For Mr. A, Mr. B's counter-attack was probably unforeseen. Otherwise, such a statement would not have been made. At that moment, Mr. A must have suddenly felt a sense of fear, as Mr. C describes it. If so, where did the fear come from?

The answer is simple. The signification that the word the ‘Buraku’ and the image of ‘Buraku’ has formed, which exists as a potential even though people interact with it casually on a daily basis, is manifested as an actual. And that too, with just the slightest trigger...