Evening Newspapers, Zainichi Chinese Media, Literature Circles and Zainichi Korean Literature in Postwar Osaka

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00295
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02010:Japanese literature-related
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Unoda Shoya 大阪大学, 文学研究科, 教授 (50324893)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 『国際新聞』 / 華僑メディア / サークル文化運動 / 在日文学 / 金時鐘

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The evening newspaper Kokusai Shinbun (1945-1959), launched in Osaka in October 1945, is noteworthy for how it crossed the borderlines drawn under the East Asian Cold War structure to cover the news as a Zainichi Chinese media outlet aligned ideologically with the People’s Republic of China. It provided readers with perspectives differing from those seen in mainstream Japanese newspapers during and after the occupation period. Kokusai Shinbun was also active in covering news related to the progressive culture movements in Osaka, and gave not only Zainichi Chinese people but also Zainichi Koreans opportunities to express their ideas to Japanese society as a whole. For example, Kim Sijong, a poet who later became a major figure in Zainichi Korean literature, contributed his poems and essays to this media outlet in the 1950s. In this sense, Kokusai Shinbun can be said to be one of the forgotten origins of postwar Zainichi Korean literature.

Free Research Field

日本思想史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

敗戦直後の大阪で創刊された華僑メディア『国際新聞』は，占領期から1950年代にかけて，冷戦構造に由来する分断線をまたぐかたちの特色ある報道を行うとともに，在日華僑のみならず在日コリアンの文化的営みをも支援し，戦後大阪における多文化的営みと基盤の一つとなったことを明らかにした。