What is "Zatoh"(About discrimination, affirmative actions)

Do you know ¡ÈZatoh-Ichi¡É? It is the title of Takeshi Kitano¡Çs movie which got the Cannes movie prize in 2003. His technique ¡ÈIaigiri¡Éor pulling cut was so great that nobody could defeat him. Do you think that most of blind people were like Zato-Ichi in Edo era ? The answer to the question is ¡ÈNo¡Éabsolutely not. He was the most remarkable exception in the blind community. (rather a drop out in Zatou society.) What kind of life did blind people lead in Edo era? I would like to start with the history of ¡ÈZatoh¡É.


­¡¡¡What is ¡ÈZatoh¡É?
¡¦¡¡¡ÈZatoh¡É was the nickname of the blind people¡Çs union. Some blind people in 13th century were good at singing, music, making medicine, so they were able to make a living . They used their savings to create a union for blind people called ¡ÈToudouza¡É in 15th century.(its headquarters was in Kyoto.) The union provided members with education in music, medicine, massage and so on in order that they could survive in the difficult times. Even though it was a private union until the Edo era, it was able to keep its status without the help of the ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡government.
¡¡It was not until 17th century that the Tokugawa shogunate took the union under their wing. ¡¡It was said that union lobbied nobles strongly, so they could get a guarantee from the ¡¡¡¡shogunate. Their protection wasn¡Çt so good that they could survive comfortably at first. ¡¡¡¡(They monopolized massage, some music, but their work wasn¡Çt so profitable.) The shogunate ¡¡gradually reinforced their protection for the union.
¡¡They received a lot of subsidies from the government and got privileges. The most ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡remarkable one was to force debtors to pay back debts with authority. However aggressive they were, they were tolerated. For example, they could get not only demand letters endorsed by ¡¡¡¡government but also hire mobsters to collect debtors¡Çfortunes. They were hated by many ¡¡¡¡poor people. Some letters showed their emotion. ¡ÈDear father, I had no choice but to rely on the east Zatoh to pay back my debt to the west Zatoh. I ask you not to pull the plug for the ¡¡time being.¡É¡ÈNot sooner had I inherited fortune from my father that Zatohs came to our ¡¡¡¡store to claim all of my fortune. They were worse than mobsters.¡É


­¢The system of ¡ÈZatoh¡É
¡¦¡¡I would like to focus on the system of the union. It had a hierarchy consisting of four ¡¡¡¡ranks. From highest, ¡ÈKengyo¡É¡ÈKoutoh¡É¡ÈBettoh¡É¡ÈZatoh¡É. ¡ÈKengyo¡Émembers were mainly ¡¡priests, great artists, doctors. Some of them were strong lobbyists who were able to change government decisions easily. Their numbers were at most 100 through the Edo era. One of the ¡¡¡¡most famous Kengyo was a governmental doctor, Sugiyama. He saved 5th shogun Tunayoshi from ¡¡¡¡serious disease. Thanks to his contribution, Zatoh union became stronger in society. ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ÈKoutoh¡Éwere mainly teachers. Bettoh and Zatoh were ordinary people.
¡¡¡¡There were about 50,000 blind people in Japan at that time, but not all of them could ¡¡¡¡enroll in the union. To enter they had to pay money to nobles. ¡ÈSanjo¡Éfamily, one of the ¡¡¡¡prestigious noble families monopolized the power to permit blind people to enter the union. It is said that it cost at least from $5000 to $10000 in order to get a membership. ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡Furthermore they needed to pay money to get promoted. So, most members (about 80%) remained in¡ÈZatoh¡É.
¡¡¡¡It had a unique education system. ­¡ Elementary education: This course is six years long ¡¡from 15 to 21. They learned basic massage, acupuncture. ­¢ Junior high education: after an¡¡ elementary education course, they learned more specialized medical care for about eight ¡¡¡¡years.­£ High education: From around 30, they needed to learn a lot to get licenses. ¡¡¡¡¡¡­¤ Master education: It took 20 years to master all forms of medical care.

¡¡
­£ After Edo era
¡¦ The Meiji government decided to disband Zatoh in 1871 as part of moves toward democracy. Most Zatoh were deprived of their privileges and became poor. But some rich people, foreigners tried to help them. The first private blind school was established in 1877. The number of school reached about 50 through the Meiji era. The blind could learn medicine, massage, acupuncture like Edo era Zatoh. Not only blind but also deaf, other disadvantaged people could study like general people. From this period, a blind-deaf-idiot school was recognized as natural.


Afterword
¡¦¡¡I think that blind people owe what they are to Zatoh. Japanese feel blindness is more respectable somehow than other disadvantaged people because of Zatoh¡Çs feat. Human beings receive more than 90% information from their eyes, so blind people maybe more disadvantaged than any others. It is hard to overcome blindness, but their contribution is the finest. They can sharpen the other four senses as compensation for lack of eyesight. This enabled them to make the difference in our society. I¡Çve never heard of blind people getting such privileges in other countri