UCLA

This dissertation critically examines the discourses surrounding the liberation of buraku communities within and beyond the Japanese empire, tracing the historical trajectory from Japan’s settler colonization of Hokkaido to the postwar Buraku Liberation Women’s Assembly. By acknowledging the pivotal role played by the Suiheisha movement in shaping buraku activism, this study highlights how its influence and legacies have, paradoxically, impeded the exploration of alternative definitions and narratives of liberation. Focusing on buraku women’s activism and buraku emigration to Hokkaido, the United States (including Hawaii) and Manchuria, the research aims to foreground the multifaceted contestations within buraku communities concerning liberation. Through an analysis of diverse perspectives and understanding of liberation, this study illuminates how individuals and groups envisioned liberation in imaginative and compassionate ways, reflecting their unique experiences and challenging the dominant narrative. By examining the experiences of buraku feminists from both Women Suiheisha and Buraku Liberation Women’s Assembly, who confronted the intersecting identities of both burakumin and women, this research uncovers the dynamics of patriarchy within the movement and the love-politics put forward by buraku feminists. Central to this investigation of competing narratives of buraku liberation is an exploration of buraku emigrants to destinations within and beyond the Japanese empire in different historical contexts. Although not all of these projects resulted in significant emigration, the very consideration of emigration, often aligned with the imperial expansion ambitions, reflected a broader longing for freedom and improved circumstances in both materialist and affective terms. Moreover, this research addresses the continued silence on Suiheisha’s support for the Total Mobilization efforts in the 1930s and 1940s and the intricate power dynamics in the movement’s collaboration with the Hyongpyongsa movement and Zainichi Korean communities in postwar buraku liberation narratives. Altogether, this dissertation attends to diverse voices and approaches within the buraku communities’ struggle for liberation and the wider implications of their engagement with colonial and imperial systems. Note on translation: Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are my own.