Hora Buraku (a discriminated community in Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture) (洞部落)
Hora Buraku was a discriminated community which used to exist in Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture. In the history of the postwar Buraku (discriminated communities) Liberation Movement, it has been raised as a good example to criticize the Emperor system from the point of view of Buraku problems.
History
From the foot to the slightly upper area of Mt. Unebi overlooking the mausoleum of Emperor Jinmu (Misanzai-kofun Tumulus) at its foot, there used to be a village called Hora (Edago Hora, Oaza Yamamoto, Shirakashi-mura, Takaichi County, Yamato Province).
This village was located on the south side of the mausoleum of Emperor Jinmu, just around the area overlooking the mausoleum, and it was a discriminated community which was said to be a hamlet for Shuko, so-called grave keepers, of this mausoleum, with approximately 120 households as of 1854 and over 200 households as of 1920.
Shortly after the beginning of Taisho period, the government started official improvement of the area around the mausoleum of Emperor Jinmu, and due to the expansion of the area and so on, Hora Village was forced to relocate. After experiencing many difficulties in deciding the new place to settle, the village was relocated to a nearby plain region in 1917.
Excavation
It was after the World War II, in the late 1960's, that the history of Hora Buraku first came to attention. Being focused on under "Tennosei to Buraku sabetsu" (Emperor system and Buraku discrimination) by Ryo SUZUKI, this problem became recognized as an important issue to attribute the cause of Buraku problem to the Emperor system, with the theory that it was a good example of domineeringness by the state power having the emperor at its center.
Re-excavation
Although the relocation of Hora Buraku was considered to have been forcibly executed by the state power, Masanori TSUJIMOTO (later became a member of the central executive committee at Buraku Liberation League), who was born and brought up in this buraku after relocation, disproved this recognition. According his rebuttal, the people in Hora Village was not enforced to move but voluntarily decided to relocate in awe of the imperial mausoleum and so on. The people also received compensation expenses for the relocation.
Present
The area formed after the relocation was subsequently assigned as a target area for antidiscrimination measures, and currently still exists as Dowa chiku (a designated area where Buraku people live). The previous Hora Village only remains as structural remnants in the miscellaneous small trees.