Burakumin is a term for ethnic Japanese people who are believed to be descended from members of the pre-Meiji feudal class which were associated with kegare , such as executioners, undertakers, slaughterhouse workers, butchers, and tanners. The term encompasses both the historical eta and hinin outcasts. During Japan's feudal era, these occupations acquired a hereditary status of oppression, and became an unofficial class of the Tokugawa class system during the Edo period. After the feudal system was abolished, the term burakumin came into use to refer to the former caste members and their descendants, who continued to experience stigmatization and discrimination.

An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who effects a sentence of capital punishment on a condemned person.