Research on the history of modern and contemporary development in Japan and Asia, with a case study of the "Bungo Dokko" group of migrant tunnel miners

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K18510
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: History, Archaeology, Museology, and related fields
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Tanigawa Ryuichi 金沢大学, 新学術創成研究機構, 准教授 (10396913)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 岡本 正明 京都大学, 東南アジア地域研究研究所, 教授 (90372549)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: トンネル / 植民地開発 / 豊後土工 / 戦後賠償 / 出稼ぎ / 土木史

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Through this research, I have elucidated the activities of the "Bungo Dokko," a group of migrant tunnel miners in the former Minami Amabe County (now Saiki City and surrounding areas) of Oita Prefecture. It is a significant achievement that I was able to elucidate the mechanisms of the emergence of the "Bungo Dokko" as scientifically as possible while connecting it to the regional history of Saiki City and its surrounding areas. In addition, I was able to grasp in concrete terms the history of Bungo Dokko's involvement in major projects from colonial development to the postwar period of rapid economic growth, and was able to summarize this information in several papers and research presentations.

Free Research Field

建築史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

現在、当時を知る現場労働者としての豊後土工はごく僅かとなっており、この数年間がそうした人々の話を直接うかがう最後のチャンスであった。本研究はフィールドワークや高齢者へのインタビューなどを主要な研究手法としていたために、かなりの制限を受けた。しかしそれでも多くの重要な情報を集めることができ、近代日本の現場労働者たちの歴史と建設史を後世に残すことができた。そうした面で、土木史的な学術的意義と同時に、社会的意義を一定程度確保することができた。