2016 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Cross-Cultural Inquiries into Social Problems: Kuwata Kumazo and his Contemporaries, 1890-1930
| Project/Area Number |
16K02206
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| Research Institution | Osaka University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | Kuwata Kumazo / Social Policy / Poverty / Factory Law |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
I started with reconstructing the intellectual biography of Kuwata Kumazo. By intensive book research, especially in dictionaries about individual scholars in the field of economics and social policy, biographical data about Kuwata Kumazo were collected. Furthermore, all secondary literature on social reform between 1890 and 1930 was explored regarding the contributions of Kuwata Kumazo. At the next level, I was looking for primary sources and archival material concerning Kuwata Kumazo. In this context the archive of the publishing house “Mohr/Siebeck” held in the Prussian State Library in Berlin was checked for writings and messages of Kuwata Kumazo. At the archive of Freiburg University the student registers of the years 1895 to 1900 were checked for entrances about Kuwata Kumazo.
An outline of this research project was presented at an international conference at the University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder (East Germany) in May 2016 on “Capitalism and the Social Question”, in which European academic journals on social sciences and social policy were discussed. At the University of Tokyo in September I gave a paper on “Kuwata Kumazo and Emil Lederer” as part of a symposium of Todai and Halle University, Germany on “Shimin shakai and Civil Society”. As a member of the “Global History Group” at Osaka University I joined a conference on “Flows and Orders” at Konstanz University in October 2016, where I talked on “Social Reformers in Europe, 1880-1930” with a special focus on Kuwata Kumazo’s experiences in Germany and Britain.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
Referring to the research list given above, progress could be made on various issues:
a) I now can provide a rather detailed overview about Kuwata Kumazo's career as a social thinker and social politician. Especially concerning his activities in Japan his activities are rather clear. However, regarding his travels in Europe and his studies at European universities there remain gaps that need to be filled. His writings suggest that Kuwata has been a visitor of the London East, famous for its social problems, but we don’t know yet whom he met and what he did during his stay in Britain.
b) Together with my assistants here at Osaka University we managed to produce a complete list of Kuwata Kumazo's publication. It might be possible that we will find additional material in Japanese and foreign newspapers, but as academic journals are concerned we have now a pretty good overview about his work.
c) I expected to find more about the biographical background, especially about his family in Tottori ken. However, explorations in libraries and archives proofed that there was no relevant material available. The most important discovery was the library of Kuwata Kumazo held at Chuo University. This is a most important source not only for his own writings, but also for the impact other scholars had in framing his social and political thought.
d) When visiting various archives in Germany, I discovered new letters by Kuwata Kumazo; in Freiburg’s university archive I found surprising evidence that Kuwata Kumazo attended Max Weber’s lecture on “national economics”.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Research in the budget year 2017/18 will focus on the translation and analysis of all material collected so far. All printed sources of the "Shakai Seisaku Gakkai" will be checked regarding the involvement of Kuwata Kumazo. Furthermore, unknown material about the activities of Kuwata Kumazo in Germany and England will continue, with a special focus on Toynbee Hall in London and the correspondence between Kuwata and German scholars between 1895 and 1914.Kuwatas personal library and his papers held at Chuo University will be explored concerning his role in the international transfer of ideas and practices in social policy.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The collection of primary sources (unpublished and unknown material) concerning Kuwata Kumazo needs to be continued. Since there are gaps regarding Kuwata's activities during his stays in Britain and Germany at around 1895/96 I intend to visit the public record office, the LSE and Toynbee Hall in London and the German State Archives in Berlin.
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| Expenditure Plan for Carryover Budget |
Purchase of new books and Taisho period material on the socalled "social question", focusing on the "Association of Social Policy"; travels to Britain and Germany in order to explore unpublished material; travel to Tokyo for visiting the library of Chuo University which holds the papers and the private library of Kuwata Kumazo
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