Kirk here. This article from the Kumanichi reports that the Kumamoto chapter of Buraku Liberation Studies Association (my translation of 部落解放研究会) is reminding people not to refer to the festival as the “Boshita festival” because, according to the group, “boshita” is an abbreviation of the word “horoboshita” (滅ぼした; “we destroyed them”) and refers to Kato Kiyomasa’s participation in the invasion of Korea.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/9bfbae5e8ac77839211f88d83b8993e3dc9f5acb

In the past, participants in the festival would shout “Boshita, boshita” over and over. Now they shout “Doukai, doukai” (which I can’t explain the meaning of). But, a few decades ago, due to lobbying from the Buraku Liberation Studies Association and other human rights activists, “Boshita” was removed from all official references to the festival and the word shouted was changed to “Doukai” because “Boshita” was considered to celebrate the invasion of Korea. The complaint from the human rights group referred to in this article is that ordinary citizens continue to use the term “Boshita.” They are calling on people not to do so.

Coincidentally, I’ve been looking into this matter again in recent weeks. I was prompted to do so by the following explanation in the English Wikipedia page about the festival:

— start quote — The phrase “Boshita Boshita” originated in the Korean language. A book entitled History of Kumamoto city, published in 1932, wrote that “Ehekoroboshita” was used as the shouting phrase which came from the Korean language. A Korean association in Kumamoto said that it might mean a great man (Toyotomi Hideyoshi) died. — end quote — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Festival_of_Fujisaki_Hachimangu_Shrine

(The same idea is expressed in the Japanese page about the festival.)

To state my conclusion at the beginning, I think this is an example of intellectually dishonest cherry picking (Note for non-native speakers: ‘Cherry picking’ is when you choose facts or evidence that support your position and ignore facts or evidence that don’t.) The source cited to support the Korean-origin hypothesis is Tetsuro Ashida. Prof. Ashida, a scholar of religious studies, used to teach at Kumamoto University and took an academic interest in the “Boshita” controversy. He introduces the Korean hypothesis in two of his writings but doesn’t endorse it. Rather, the conclusion he comes to is that the origin in unclear and that “Boshita” is just a meaningless word that’s fun to shout.

Prof. Ashida, does, however, point out that during the first half of the 20th century, when Japan was at its most militaristic, the expression “Boshita” was explicitly associated with Kato Kiyomasa’s invasion of Korean. The sentiment seemed to be “Wasn’t what Kato Kiyomasa did cool?! Let’s do that again!”

As I indicated above, Ashida’s position is that “Boshita” was originally a nonsense word, something that was just fun to say in a festival, and that the association with the invasion of the Korea came later. For this reason, he expresses displeasure with the decision to ban the use of the word “Boshita.” But, after reading Ashida’s writings, I still come down on the side of the Buraku Liberation Studies Association: I think it’s better to avoid the word for two reasons.

  1. At the height of Japanese militarism, the word was indeed associated with the celebration of Kato Kiyomasa’s participation in the Korean invasion. That makes it’s use ambiguous. In other words, it’s hard to know if people who insist on using “Boshita” just like the sound of the meaningless word or insist on using it because they like the idea of celebrating the Korean invasion.

  2. The festival begins will a reenactment of a procession of Kato Kiyomasa’s soldiers. The soldiers were taken to the shrine by Kato to express their gratitude for having been safely returned to Japan after the war. So, the festival already has a strong connection with Kato Kiyomasa and the invasion of Korea. That association makes the “it’s just a meaningless word – don’t worry about it – we’re not thinking about what Kato Kiyomasa did” claim that much harder to swallow in my view.