"The Reorganization of Home Economics in Postwar Japan: Examining the Influence of Academic Transmissions since the Meiji Period"

2024 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K02492
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 09010:Education-related
• Research Institution: J. F. Oberlin University
• Principal Investigator: ISHIWATA TAKAKO 桜美林大学, 健康福祉学群, 教授 (40439055)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 日永 龍彦 山梨大学, 大学院総合研究部, 教授 (60253374)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2025-03-31
• Keywords: 戦後教育改革 / 家政学 / 学術的背景 / 学術移転 / 生活学 / 生活科学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study elucidated the intellectual backgrounds of key figures involved in prewar home economics education and the establishment of home economics as an academic discipline in Japan, while examining from multiple perspectives the actual content of the U.S. Home Economics model introduced after World War II. In particular, (1) it clarified the content and background of the plan to establish a Faculty of Home Economics at the newly organized Hokkaido University, analyzed the academic background of Shinichiro Takakura who led the plan and of Atsukichi Morimoto who influenced its ideas, and explored the influence of prewar “seikatsugaku” (life studies) on postwar home economics. Furthermore, (2) focusing on Sumi Oe and Tetsu Yasui, who led prewar home economics education in Japan, it revealed the academic influences they received and the connection with ideas about women's higher education through archival research in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Free Research Field

教育学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、戦前・戦後の家政学の形成過程を国際的視点と人物研究に基づき実証的に明らかにし、学術的理解を深化させた点で意義が大きい。特に、英米の影響下での戦後家政学と女子教育の変容を、キーパーソンの留学時の教育経験や関係者からの思想的影響に着目し、家政学の発展過程と教育内容の変遷を詳細に示した。社会的には、生活・教育・ジェンダーといった課題が再注目される現代において、それらが交差する家政学の歴史的意義と現代的役割を再評価する契機となった。