Dowa Policy and Japanese Politics (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies)

277 Pages·2022·5.05 MB·English

by  Ian Neary

Dōwa Policy and Japanese Politics
This book locates the development of Dōwa policy projects within their his-
torical and political context, offering examples of human rights protection
in a non-Western society.
Charting Dōwa policy from its origins in the pre-war period to its re-
vival after 1945 up to the turn of the 21st century, chapters in this study
provide a social and historical review supplemented by detailed analyses
of policy process and implementation at both national and local levels. No
previous publication on the ‘Buraku Problem’ has focused on the direct im-
pact of Dōwa policy in overcoming prejudice and economic inequalities.
Topics covered range from left-wing Buraku Liberation League demands
in the late 1950s, the Special Measures Law for Dōwa Policy Projects (SML)
in the 1960s, and the evolution of a human rights based Dōwa policy into
the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Through its evaluation of the relative successes
and failures to improve local infrastructure and opportunities for marginal
communities, this book invites comparative analysis with policies in other
Asian and Western polities which seek to mitigate descent-based and racial
discrimination.
Dōwa Policy and Japanese Politics will prove a valuable resource for stu-
dents and scholars of international relations, human rights, politics, and
Japanese studies.
Ian Neary is an emeritus fellow of the Nissan Institute and St Antony’s
College, Oxford University. He has previously published Human Rights
in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, 2002 and The Buraku Issue in Modern
Japan: The Career of Matsumoto Jiichiro, 2010. The second edition of his
textbook, The State and Politics in Japan, was published in 2019.
Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies
Series Editors:
Roger Goodman, Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies, University
of Oxford, Fellow, St Antony’s College
J.A.A. Stockwin, formerly Nissan Professor of Modern Japanese Studies
and former Director of the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, University of
Oxford, Emeritus Fellow, St Antony’s College
The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan
The Realities of ‘Power’
Nakakita Kōji
Japan’s New Ruralities
Coping with Decline in the Periphery
Edited by Wolfram Manzenreiter, Ralph Lützeler and Sebastian
Polak-Rottmann
New Directions in Japan’s Security
Non-U.S. Centric Evolution
Edited by Paul Midford and Wilhelm Vosse
Child Guidance Centres in Japan
Alternative Care and the Family
Michael Rivera King
Gradual Institutional Change in Japan
Kantei Leadership under the Abe Administration
Karol Zakowski
Tenkō
Cultures of Political Conversion in Transwar Japan
Irena Hayter, George T. Sipos, Mark Williams
Rethinking Locality in Japan
Edited by Sonja Ganseforth and Hanno Jentzsch
Dōwa Policy and Japanese Politics
Ian Neary
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Nissan-Institute-Routledge-Japanese-Studies/book-series/SE0022
Dōwa Policy and Japanese
Politics
Ian Neary
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Ian Neary
The right of Ian Neary to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Neary, Ian, author.
Title: Dōwa policy and Japanese politics / Ian Neary.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY :
Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa
Business, 2021. |
Series: Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese studies series | Includes
bibliographical references and index. |
Subjects: LCSH: Civil rights—Japan. | Human rights—Political
aspects—Japan. | Minorities—Legal status, laws, etc.—Japan. |
Discrimination—Law and legislation—Japan. | Buraku people—
Civil rights. | Buraku people—Japan—History.
Classification: LCC KNX2460 .N43 2021 | DDC 323.0952—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021009862
ISBN: 978-0-367-65134-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-65136-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-12799-4 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003127994
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
For Joseph and Abigail: always in my thoughts

Contents
List of illustrations ix
Foreword xi
General Editors’ preface to Ian Neary, Dōwa Policy and
Japanese Politics xv
1 Dōwa policy projects and the problems for which they
were a solution 1
2 Approaches to the problem 24
3 A brief review of modern Buraku history and the
formation of Yūwa policy 35
4 From the Occupation to the new Ten-Year Plan: Dōwa
policy and the reconstruction of Japanese politics, 1945–60 54
5 From the Shingikai to the Special Measures Law – the
formation of the Dōwa policy in the 1960s 69
6 Implementation I: the Dōwa policy process at the
national level 88
7 Implementation II: spending on Dōwa policy projects
by the main ministries 134
8 Implementation III: how Dōwa policy was implemented
locally: examples from Osaka, Nara, and Fukuoka
prefectures 156
viii Contents
9 Corrupt practices? A comment on yakuza involvement 222
10 Conclusions 229
Appendix 243
Glossary 253
Index 257
Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Total expenditure on Dōwa policy in 1974 and estimates of
Buraku population by prefecture 9
1.2 Before 1: Street level view of the Sumiyoshi area,
Osaka, 1959 10
1.3 After 1: Photograph of the same area of Sumiyoshi,
Osaka, 2020 11
1.4 Before 2: View over the rooftops of buildings in Sumiyoshi
area, Osaka, 1962 11
1.5 After 2: Photograph of the same area in Sumiyoshi,
Osaka, 2020 12
1.6 Before 3: Sumiyoshi, to the south of apartment building 11,
Osaka, 1962 12
1.7 After 3: Sumiyoshi, to the south of apartment building 11,
Osaka, 2020 13
6.1 Dōwa policy map 1969–82 100
6.2 Dōwa policy map 1982–97 112
7.1 Dōwa project funding FY1953–2001 by ministry 140
7.2 Pattern of Dōwa spending FY1969–2002 by ministry 141
7.3 Total Dōwa spending and total projects FY1960–2001 141
8.1 Dōwa policy-related expenditure in Osaka
prefecture, 1947–2002 173
8.2 Dōwa spending in Q city 1969–2002 199
8.3 Dōwa policymaking in Q city 202
A.1 Total spend over the period 1969–81 243
A.2 Total spend over the period 1982–6 245
A.3 Total spend over the period 1987–91 247
A.4 Total spend over the period 1992–6 249
A.5 Total spend over the period 1997–2001 251
Tables
4.1 Dōwa Budget Appropriations 1946–50 – by Prefecture 57
7.1 Total Dōwa Spending FY1953–2001 by Ministry 138