2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Study on Name Changes and Resident Registration in Colonial Korea
| Project/Area Number |
18520538
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Asian history
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| Research Institution | Kyoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
MIZUNO Naoki Kyoto University, Institute for ResearchinHumanities, Professor (40181903)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2006 – 2007
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| Keywords | Korea / colonial rule / resident registration / family registration / name / name changing policy / 創氏改名 |
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| Research Abstract |
Taking the Japanese family register (civil register minseki until 1923) in colonial Korea as a resident registration system, this article shows that while this system displayed status relations like the family register, it also contained significant differences. These differences include the existence of a miscellaneous register (containing dependents of an employer's house) and recorded information about one's employment status and vaccination results. Through an analysis of how the names of Koreans registered in these records changed, we can also come to know how the colonial government understood these residents. I examine the measures taken by colonial authorities to keep track of residents, including the naming of women and children as well as the prohibition on using names written in Korean letters. To pursue these issues, I examined and surveyed colonial period registers housed in South Korean local administrative offices. Despite the colonial state's surveillance efforts, many individuals were not recorded in a family register-a situation which did not improve even during the final years of Japanese imperialism. Based on examinations of actual survey reports from the period, I show that Korean resistance was an important factor which explains the problem of unregistered individuals. I also summarize the findings of my book, The name change policy (Iwanami shinsho, 2008), which was implemented in 1940: 1) that Koreans were forced to change names recorded in family registers; 2) that while this change aimed to promote "assimilation" in the family system, it continued to maintain differences between Japanese and Koreans; and 3) that Koreans responded in diverse ways, which included both cases of acquiescence and resistance.
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