Large sculpture symbolic of buraku liberation sent from Osaka to its creator in Yomitan
On May 22 in Gima, Yomitan Village, Minoru Kinjo (left) and Kengo Tomonaga stand in front of the head section of Kaiho he no Ogari.
May 23, 2018 Ryukyu Shimpo
On May 22, the sculpture Kaiho he no Ogari, which had been installed on the wall of the Sumiyoshi North Citizens’ Cultural Exchange Center in Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka City, was sent back to its sculptor, Minoru Kinjo.
Kinjo had completed the work in February 1977 while corresponding with residents of Sumiyoshi.
When residents heard that the Center was going to be demolished, they reported the information to Kinjo.
The relief is 12.3 meters tall, 7 meters wide, and weighs over 3 tons.
It was divided into 8 parts for transportation.
It is the largest work that Kinjo ever made. In March 2016 the Center was closed due to Osaka City having economic difficulties.
Demolition work is planned to start in June this year.
Sumiyoshi residents commissioned the sculpture from Kinjo, which was installed as a symbol of Sumiyoshi Ward amidst the Buraku Liberation Movement.
Ogari is a word from Sumiyoshi meaning “to cry out.”
Kaiho he no Ogari installed on the Sumiyoshi North Citizens’ Cultural Exchange Center building (photograph provided by the Sumiyoshi Branch of the Buraku Liberation League’s Osaka Association)
In Kinjo’s early childhood he was barred from playing with a close friend of his who had leprosy, and later on when he worked as a teacher in Osaka he was in contact with Koreans residing in Japan and people from the burakumin areas.
He emphatically pronounced: “People stood with the liberation movement against discrimination. That was wonderful. However, there are still issues such as hate speech. This country is uninterested in human rights.”
He went on to mention that, “I hope this statue becomes a symbol invoking thought on human rights issues.”
Kengo Tomonaga, head of the Sumiyoshi Branch of the Buraku Liberation League’s Osaka Association, said, “This could become a symbolic bridge linking the issues of the burakumin areas and Okinawa’s military base issues.”
Sumiyoshi Ward residents and concerned persons have been conducting fund raising with a goal of 8 million yen to relocate the sculpture to Okinawa.
(English translation by T&CT and Erin Jones)
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