Oral History of Japanese Disabled War Veterans and Their Families in the Post-World War II Period

• Project/Area Number: 15K02863
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese history
• Research Institution: University of Fukui
• Principal Investigator: Fujiwara Tetsuya 福井大学, 学術研究院医学系部門, 教授 (30362338)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,510,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥810,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
• Keywords: オーラル・ヒストリー / 戦傷病者 / 障害 / 戦争 / 現代日本史 / 障害者史 / 福井県

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research, I have conducted oral interviews with disabled war veterans and their families (wives) in Fukui Prefecture. The interviews clarify the subsequent three points. 1) The disabled veterans hardly had chance to talk about their own war and injury experiences to their families, but they tended to share their experiences with those experienced war. 2) Although the members of the Fukui Prefectural Disabled Veterans Association had a strong sense as disabled soldiers, they were less conscious as persons with disabilities. 3) The wives of disabled war veterans differed in their understandings of their husbands’ disabilities depending on the time of the husband’s injury. Accordingly, there were differences in the degree of participation in the Fukui Prefectural Disabled Veterans' Wives Association

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

文献史料が多く残されていない戦傷病者の実態を口実記録（オーラル・ヒストリー）で解き明かそうとした点に本研究の意義があると考える。また、戦傷病者の大多数が物故者となる中で、家族（妻）に焦点を当て、新たな語りから研究対象にアプローチを試みたことは同様の歴史事象の研究の先例となりうる。先の大戦から70年余が経ち、戦争の記憶の風化が懸念される中で本研究課題が戦傷病者とは何か、戦争とは何かを人々に問いかけた社会的意義は大きい。

Research Products

• [Presentation] Living with Wounded Husbands: Oral History of Japanese Disabled War Veterans' Wives in Fukui Prefecture (2019)
  • Author(s): Tetsuya Fujiwara
  • Organizer: Japan Forum Workshop, School of Orientals and African Studies, University of London,
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 福井県の戦傷病者の家族のオーラル・ヒストリー (2018)
  • Author(s): 藤原哲也
  • Organizer: 日本オーラル・ヒストリー学会
• [Presentation] 福井県の戦傷病者の生活実態：戦傷病者の家族へのオーラル・ヒストリーから (2018)
  • Author(s): 藤原哲也
  • Organizer: 障害の歴史研究会
• [Presentation] What Forgotten People Tell Us: Oral History of Japanese Disabled War Veterans and Their Families (2018)
  • Author(s): Tetsuya Fujiwara
  • Organizer: Symposium for Japan Studies at the University of Iowa
• [Presentation] 戦争と障害者の家族 傷痍軍人の妻の視点から戦後史 (2016)
  • Author(s): 藤原哲也
  • Organizer: 経営史学会関西支部会
  • Place of Presentation: 大阪学院大学（大阪府吹田市）
• [Presentation] Livelihood of Japanese Disabled War Veterans in the Post-Pacific War Period (2015)
  • Author(s): Tetsuya Fujiwara
  • Organizer: British Association for Japanese Studies Annual Conference 2015
  • Place of Presentation: University of London, UK
  • Year and Date: 2015-09-10
  • Int'l Joint Research