Japanese Buddhist Missions to Taiwan: A Historical Study of the Continuity and Discontinuity of Colonialism

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K03122
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: History of Asia and Africa
• Research Institution: Utsunomiya University
• Principal Investigator: MATSUKANE KIMIMASA 宇都宮大学, 国際学部, 教授 (50334074)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 台湾 / 仏教 / 布教 / 植民地 / 宗派

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study focuses on Japanese Buddhist missionary activities in Taiwan during the colonial period and examines how they developed in negotiation with local cultures and religions. The analysis is mainly based on historical data on the activities of monks and their followers and their relationships with the Taiwanese.
How have the historical materials left behind by missionaries to Taiwan been preserved and maintained by various sects, temples and families? How were the facilities and artifacts left behind by Japanese Buddhists in Taiwan handled under ROC rule? Focusing on the above points, this study examines from the perspective of colonialism how missionary activities, missionaries, and missionary facilities were constructed and passed on as "memories" in Japan and Taiwan.

Free Research Field

東洋史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

戦前数多くの僧侶が日本から植民地台湾に渡り、台湾の人々と接触、交渉を行った。しかしながら彼らの活動は公的記録には残されていない。個別の寺院や家族にその活動の記録が保存されているが、それらの重要性が了解されていることは少ない。他方、日本から台湾に持ち込まれた仏像や仏具に関し、台湾においてそれらは現存しているもののその由来や意味についてはほとんどがわからないままである。本研究はそれら史料を掘り起こし、その重要性を明らかにするとともに、それらモノ、史料をいかに保存していくかについていくつかの方法を提示したところに社会的意義がある。