Influence of the South Pacific on Children's Culture in Postwar Okinawa as Seen from the Life and Works of Hiroshi Gima.

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K13186
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Education
• Research Institution: Fukuyama City University
• Principal Investigator: SAIKI KIMIKO 福山市立大学, 教育学部, 教授 (30387633)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 喜久山 悟 熊本大学, 教育学部, 教授 (50273876)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 戦後沖縄 / 絵本 / 儀間比呂志 / 南洋群島 / 美術 / 文化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we focused on Hiroshi Gima (1923-2017), who lived in the South Pacific Islands during the prewar era. He incorporated elements of the South Pacific culture into his artistic expression, and this influence was manifested in his postwar picture books. This report summarizes our discussion about the cultural genealogy of postwar Okinawan children’s literature and culture, which has its background in South Pacific culture, as seen through Gima’s work in children’s books.
We also discuss other artists, such as Toshiko Akamatsu (1912-2000) and Hisakatsu Hijikata (1900-1977), who also began to create children’s books after their experiences in the South Pacific Islands. We performed a study comparing these artists with Gima, while also investigating their activities in the South Pacific Islands, and we provide insights into children’s books that were published during and after the war. We have already presented part of these findings to our affiliated academic society.

Free Research Field

教育学