A Study on the Legal System of the South Pacific Mandate under the Japanese Rule

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K13314
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Fundamental law
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: ONO Hiroshi 神戸大学, 法学研究科, 准教授 (70460996)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 南洋群島 / 軍政法

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to clarify the legal system of the South Pacific Mandate under the Japanese rule(1914-1945). The South Pacific Mandate were occupied by the Japanese Imperial Navy in 1914 during the First World War, and from 1922 were under the control of the Nanyo Government.
The first result of this study is to clarify the legal system during the period of occupation by the Japanese Imperial Navy(1914-1922). In addition, I investigated the career of judicial officers who worked in the Nanyo court of justice. As a result, it became clear that most judicial officers worked for a very long time.

Free Research Field

日本近代法制史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまで日本近代法制史で、南洋群島の法が論じられたことはなかった。それゆえ本研究期間中に申請者が発表した論考が、初めての成果であると考える。
また、本研究の成果は、南洋群島と軍政法が研究対象であることを日本近代法制史において提示したものである。これにより、民主的な「戦後日本」の建設を目指し、反面教師として日本近代国家（天皇制国家）の批判を主に行うという伝統的な研究目的に対し、「帝国の法」の全体像を解明する新たな研究目的を具体的な形で提示すること（＝日本近代法制史の再定位）ができたと考える。