Posted by susan C on May 24, 2002, at 17:59:26
In reply to origins of taboo words..., posted by IsoM on May 24, 2002, at 0:00:24
in Japan, the decendants of butchers and tanners were stigmatized by their ancestor's involvement with something this Buddist society considered profane: The carcasses of animals....Menial labor....so there is no excape for the burakumin....the translation of the word..."village people". The word when written in Chinese characters? "Excessive filth"
--Gary Katzenstein, Funny Business an Outsider's Year in Japan
poster:susan C
thread:5148
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20020510/msgs/5270.html