The term Hinin is used to describe mainly (1) persons who worked in special occupations or as entertainers in feudal Japan; however they gradually became victims of discrimination, and (2) in the Edo Period, Hinin as well as Eta (Chori) were described as people of the lower classes.
非人（ひにん）は、主に、(1)日本中世の特定職能民・芸能民の呼称であり、次第に被差別民の呼称となり、(2)江戸時代には、穢多（えた、長吏）とともに賎民身分の呼称である。