Hi-nin () was an outcast group in

ancient Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new invent ...

, more specifically the Edo Period of Japanese history. The direct translation of the phrase "Hinin" is "non-human". Hinin and Eta () consisted of the lowest social classes in ancient Japan, but were not considered part of the social hierarchy. Hinin were forced to do "polluting" activities such as

begging Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public place ...

street performing Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pra ...

, and they buried the bodies of people who had been

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d. Eta directly translates to "polluted ones" and was closely intertwined with the Hinin social class. Both phrases were used for those deemed to be separate from society with a few minor distinctions between them. The occupations of those who were called Eta were mostly skinning animals and tanning. These jobs were associated with sinning due to the heavy practice of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

in Edo Japan, thus those who did these jobs were considered to be filled with sin and therefore "polluted."

History

Hinin could be adopted by poor

commoners A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

and commoners having committed crimes. The Hinin status was hereditary. Nevertheless, unlike Eta, it was possible for the offspring of hinin to rejoin the commoner class, as long as they met some requirements. In 1871 (after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

), the Hinin as an identity was legally abolished. However, Hinin were still officially discriminated against by the authorities. They were called "new commoners" (), which indicated that they had once been members of the lowest class in the past. After

the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, anti-discrimination regulations were enforced in Japan, but discrimination towards the offspring of Hinin and Eta still exist in Japanese society today.

Types of Hinin

The Hinin themselves were split into two separate categories that were based on their previous status as citizens. ''No-hinin'' (野非人(のひにん)) were those who resemble today's current status of the homeless. This group consisted of people who could not pay

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

es because of disease or other reasons. No-hinin lived in specific areas due to society pushing them out, such as under bridges or near riverbanks. ''Kakae-hinin'' (抱非人(かかえひにん)) was a category that had two subsets of people. ''Hinin-teka'' (非人手下(ひにんてか）were those who were given the class distinction for committing a crime against the “kujigata-osamegaki” (公事方御定書(くじがたおさめがき)), the law code of Edo Japan. The other subset were those who inherited the class distinction through their parents. People would be given the Hini-teka title if they, for example, committed extramarital acts within their family; were a survivor of an attempted collective couple suicide; were a survivor of an attempted collective suicide with their housemaid; were under 15 year old No-hinins and caught stealing.

Returning to Society

The "kae-hinin" subset class were unique in that they were able to buy their way back into society and get the “heimin" (平民（へいみん）) class status if some money has been paid by their family or relatives. The process is similar to the concept of

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

nowadays.

Occupation

The hinin’s occupations were Monogoi 物乞い (ものごい）, Monomorai 物貰い（ものもらい）, which is trying to get something from other persons, and Yu-gei 遊芸（ゆうげい）, which means they will perform something for an audience. And only Hinin were allowed to be Monogoi. Also, they did Kadoduke 門付け（かどづけ） which is cleaning the town. They sought and re-used discarded paper, performed cremations, cared for the sick, and they worked in prisons.

References

{{reflist 非人の種類
/ref> Social history of Japan Edo period Beggars