River with No Bridge

by Susan Wilkinson

The River With No Bridge (Hashi no nai kawa) explores with outspoken frankness a subject still taboo in Japan: the intolerance and bigotry faced daily by Japan's largest minority group, the burakumin.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804815909
• ISBN13: 9780804815901
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Compelling Portrait of Discrimination

My reget is that there are 7 (or more) volumes of this story that haven't yet been translated into English. When I recently visited the Buraku Liberation Center in Osaka, Japan, one of the staff members showed me copies of all of the volumes in Japanese. One of my other regrets is that I am just about illiterate in written Japanese and thus must depend upon English translations. Fortunately, this first volume of the entire story is readily available in this fine English translation. The author, Sumii Sue was, herself, not a Burakumin. However, being a woman in a male-dominated society, she would understand some of the elements of prejudice and discrimination. She was a social activist who fought for the rights of the oppressed throughout her own life. The main character is a school-age boy named Hatanaka Koji. This first volume of the story takes place in the very early years of the 20th century. Koji was born in the discriminated-against Buraku village of Komori. He is very intelligent and wants to do well in school. However, he faces those who wish to treat him in a degrading way, calling him and his fellow villagers names i.e. "dirty," "four-legged beast," and similar. Also he faces unfair punishment and discriminataion from some of his teachers. This account also depicts Koji's family members and others in his village. His mother is a widow; her husband had been killed in battle during the Russian-Japanese war. The family also lives with the grandmother, who recounts stories from old feudal days when she and her relatives had to live as members of the untouchable "eta" ("extreme filth") caste. One aspect I noticed is that Sumii portrays her female characters in very human ways, rather than in typical female stererotypes. These are not the "sweet Japanese maidens" that we see in too many fictional works. These are very strong people who face their struggles with fortitude. Discrimination against the Burakumin is an issue that is not very well-known these days. Many Japanese deny that this sort of prejudice still exists; some deny that it ever existed. However, many people of Buraku origin have to hide their ancestry and where they live. This is to protect themselves from job and marriage discrimination. The current Prime Minister of Japan recently was reported as telling a Burakumin member of parliament who is open about his ancestry that no Burakumin could ever advance in government. This book is a very gripping account of a piece of Japanese history that very few people are aware. I was told that the story continues with Koji's youth, that as a young adult he ends up joining the Suiheisha (Leveller's Society), one of the first of the Burakumin civil rights organizations. I want to read all about this. I hope that the other volumes will soon be translated.