Japan's imperialization policy and the memories of Chinese Muslim collaborators with the Japanese Army: Polyphonic ethnography on colonial experiences

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K03290
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan University
• Principal Investigator: sawai mitsuo 首都大学東京, 人文科学研究科, 助教 (20404957)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 植民地人類学 / 皇民化政策 / 中国ムスリム / 歴史記憶 / 植民地経験

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research project, I clarify the overall picture for the imperialization policy (mainly the so-called “Islam Campaign”) of the Japanese Army and describe the colonial experiences of Hui Muslims who cooperated with the Japanese Army mainly in Huhehaote city of Inner Mongolia, Beijing city, and Shenyang city of Liaoning province by collecting the testimonies of Hui Muslims and their families who actually witnessed and heard about the imperialization policy of the Japanese Army. The research findings of this research project, based on document research and fieldwork in China, were published as a polyphonic ethnography, incorporating the testimonies of the local people and the interpretations of researchers, so that primary sources could be shared with the local people as well as with experts.

Free Research Field

社会人類学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、植民地人類学の手法を援用したが、「過去の出来事」の記録のみを目的としているわけではない。日本軍の植民地支配および対日協力は現代中国においても当事者およびその遺族の政治的立場や評価に対して現在も暗い影を落としている。つまり、植民地経験は単なる「過去の出来事」なのではなく、国家権力の意向に沿ったかたちで再解釈・政治利用される現代的産物でもある。このような植民地経験の現代的位相を念頭に置きながら、現地住民（特に少数民族）の口述資料を収集し、民族誌として記録・発表できたことは資料的価値が高く、また、挑戦的な試みであると言える。