1997 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

Historical Studies of the Iwakura Mission in the Early Years of Meiji era

Research Project

Project/Area Number	07610342
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Japanese history
Research Institution	Sapporo Gakuin University
Principal Investigator	TANAKA Akira Sapporo Gakuin University, Faculty of Economics, Professor, 経済学部, 教授 (70000560)
Project Period (FY)	1995 – 1997
Keywords	The Iwakura Mission / Bei-0 Kairan Jikki / Bei-0 Kairan Nikki / Kunitake Kume / Acceptance of Western civilization / Development of modern Japan
Research Abstract	"Historical Studies of the Iwakura Mission in the Early Years of Meiji era" is intended to synthesize my studies pursued so far and these achievements are given in the following three summaries. 1.The Iwakura Mission and Bei-O Kairan Jikki Although various views existed in terms of specifying the membeas of the Iwakura Mission, this paper clarified the names of the members when they departed from Yokohama Port. I almost understood what the mission observed and what they did not observe in the twelve American and European countries they visited. In addition, this paper analyzed the official report, Bei-O Kairan Jikki. 2.The autobiography of Kunitake Kume, the editor of Jikki , has not been completed yet. The basis of Kunitake Kume's career as a historian can be demonstrated in his work of editing and narration of Jikki. Another issue I mentioned was the relations between Jikki and "Shinto wa saiten no kozoku" , an incident which arose in 1890s. This incident affected the development of Kunitake Kume as a historian to a great degree. From these two viewpoints above, this paper aims at probing the specific features of Kume's entire life. 3. With reference to item 1, the following conclusions have been made. (1) The names of the members of the Iwakura Mission which were formerly uncertain on the day of their departure Nov.12, 1871 were clarified. (2) A brief itinerary of the twelve countries the mission visited was reconstructed on a chronological basis. To reveal the inconsistencies occasionally found between Jikki and the formal copy of the official report presented to Dajo-kan is an ongoing subject of discussion.