The bizarre thing about the complaints about the maps is that Matsuoka initially criticized Google for displaying the maps and even complained to the Justice Minister about them, but when the references to burakumin communities about which he complained were removed, a representative of the organization of which he is secretary-general asserted that removing them was an act of prejudice. It seems as though there is nothing Google can do regarding these maps besides not making them available. In a situation in which the only option that would not be considered prejudiced is to not provide useful information, the complainers are probably being oversensitive. The information about discrimination against descendants of burakumin in Japan does somewhat justify their oversensitivity, but prejudice in Japanese culture is no reason to suppress these maps.
simply displaying a historical document is not prejudice; what this is instead is just another indication that the japanese are incapable of coming to terms with their past and that their supposedly modern society continues to harbor a primitive mentality that would be considered distasteful and shocking in a westerner.
In 14th century Venice, Jews were only permitted to live in an area of the city known as Ghetto. The word has since acquired many more layers of unpleasant antisemitic connotations, yet Ghetto is marked on tourist maps of Venice today.<p>Maybe Tokyo will eventually become as open about its history -- but before that can happen, quite a few people will have to stop thinking about others by 17th century Edo period standards, it seems.