Contested liberation: the Japanese Communist Party, human rights groups, and the new anti-discrimination law

Abstract

The 2016 Law for the Promotion of the Elimination of Buraku Discrimination (LPEBD) was a significant development in the history of postwar Buraku liberation politics. Why then was there such strong opposition to it by the Japan Communist Party and JCP-affiliated groups? This article explains this opposition to the new law by placing it within a larger postwar historical context. Once the content and meaning of the strong opposition to the law’s passing is placed in historical perspective, and the reasons for and motivations behind the law’s pronouncement are contextually clarified, the importance of the critiques provided by these groups becomes more readily apparent. The concerns raised about the possible negative impact the law might have upon individuals and communities identified as belonging to the contemporary Buraku liberation movement are cogent and worthy of close consideration, particularly in light of the murky circumstances and distinct lack of political debate that actually surrounded the passing of the bill. The article, however, also concludes by discussing some of the problems with the JCP interpretative framework, and suggests the need for new interpretative paradigms to envisage the twenty-first century Buraku liberation movement.