E/CN.4/2006/16/Add.2 page 8 17. At the regional level, the Osaka prefectural government recognized the depth of the discrimination still affecting the Buraku community and indicated that the elimination of all discrimination against Buraku people is their priority. Since 1969, when the central Government started providing subsidies to prefectures and towns where Buraku people reside, the prefecture worked jointly with towns to improve the living conditions in Buraku areas. These projects related to basic infrastructure such as roads and sewers, social welfare such as health counselling and assistance to the elderly and handicapped, employment counselling such as professional training and industrial development, and education, which included sensitization projects about the Buraku people and scholarships for Buraku students. 18. Following the scandal of 1975 revealing that private detectives were selling to companies and potential marriage partners directories known as “Buraku lists”, which included information on Buraku community locations, names of households etc., to be used for discriminatory purposes, in 1985 the Osaka prefecture adopted a municipal ordinance, which for the first time in Japan prohibited such investigation. 19. In 2000, the Osaka prefectural government conducted a study on the situation of the Buraku people. It revealed that, while there had been improvements in relation to housing and infrastructure, the progress had not been sufficient in the field of education and employment, or concerning changes in the mentalities of non-Buraku people. It revealed that 20 per cent of them were still reluctant to accepting a marriage with a Buraku person and that 40 per cent did not want to live in a Buraku area. Consequently, the prefecture is now working on promoting the integration of the different communities as a means to eliminate prejudice, and on human rights education. It also established special counters for Buraku people on employment counselling and for the filing of complaints. 20. The Kyoto prefectural government also considers discrimination against Buraku people a major human rights issue. The level of education and employment of Buraku people is lower than for the rest of the population of the prefecture: the rate of children going to high school is 20 per cent lower amongst Buraku people. On the employment side, Buraku people mainly work in the construction field and in precarious employment. At the end of the Second World War, the prefecture included the teaching of the history of Buraku people at school as an essential means to eradicate discrimination, but the discriminatory mentality persisted. The prefecture currently promotes a better dialogue between Buraku people and the administration. Also, it promotes exchanges between Buraku and the rest of the population, through the establishment of community centres. Finally, sensitization activities are carried out for teachers, police officers, social actors and municipalities, to invite them to include human rights education in their programmes. 21. Concerning Tokyo prefecture, a number of Buraku people have moved there, but the communities are smaller than the ones in the Osaka and Kyoto areas. They suffer the same discrimination in the field of recruitment and marriage: a number of companies continue to use “Buraku lists”. B. The Ainu 22. The Ministry of Land and Infrastructure, in charge of the Ainu policy, indicated that there are 24,000 Ainu in Japan, according to the last census. However, this census only includes the