I recently learned that Japan had a hierarchical caste system for a long time, similar to Hindu society, and that there were some similarities, including a caste of "untouchables" (Hindu dalit/Japanese burakumin). This is interesting to me, being someone of Hindu ancestry who doesn't know much about Japan, and it makes me wonder how much these ideas of "caste" can really be conflated.

What did these caste systems have in common, and how did they differ? I'm interested in the specific caste-related customs surrounding intermarriage, inheritance, social obligations, loss of caste, discrimination, and upward mobility.

Also, how did caste affect both societies' historical development into the present day?