Historical Research on Afro-Japanese Relationship during World War II through an Analysis of Local Press in British West Africa

2010 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21810028
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: Meiji University
• Principal Investigator: MIZOBE Yasu'o Meiji University, 国際日本学部, 専任講師 (80401446)
• Project Period (FY): 2009 – 2010
• Keywords: ガーナ / 日本-アフリカ交渉史 / メディア(新聞)とプロパガンダ / 第二次世界大戦 / イギリス領西アフリカ

Research Abstract

This research aims at examining and elucidating how African local press reported and described Japan and Japanese as a member of the Axis Powers during the Second World War, using the case of the British Gold Coast Colony, which was incorporated into the Allied Powers because it was under the rule of the United Kingdom. Collecting and analyzing articles and advertisements in the local newspapers published by the African intellectuals in the Gold Coast as well as official documents of the then colonial authorities, this research clarified the way the African intellectuals' view on Japan and World War II changed as well as some aspects of the relationship between the colonial authorities and the local press during the Second World War.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] African Newspaper Coverage of Japan (The Japanese Army) During World War II : The Case of the Gold Coast Observer and the Ashanti Pioneer, 1943-1945 (2011)
  • Author(s): Yasu'o MIZOBE
  • Journal Title: 明治大学国際日本学研究 第3号 Pages: 15-25
• [Journal Article] 'Independence is not always decolonisation' : Briefly Examining African Decolonisation with a focus on Kwame Nkrumah and Modern Ghana (2010)
  • Author(s): Yasu'o MIZOBE
  • Journal Title: スワヒリ&アフリカ研究 第21号 Pages: 95-111
• [Presentation] African Press Coverage of Japan and British Censorship during World War II : Case Study of the Ashanti Pioneer, 1939-1945 (2009)
  • Author(s): Yasu'o MIZOBE
  • Organizer: First Congress of the Asian Association of World Historians(第1回アジア世界史学会)
  • Place of Presentation: 大阪大学中之島センター
  • Year and Date: 2009-05-30
• [Presentation] Independence is not always 'decolonisation' : Briefly Examining African Decolonisation with a Focus on Kwame Nkrumah and Modern Ghana (2009)
  • Author(s): Yasu'o MIZOBE
  • Organizer: 'Decolonization and Economic Growth : Comparative Studies between Asia and Africa', The Japanese Association for the Study of British Imperial and Commonwealth History(イギリス帝国史研究会)
  • Place of Presentation: 関西大学
  • Year and Date: 2009-04-25
• [Book] アフリカと帝国(井野瀬久美恵・北川勝彦編) (帝国による「保護」をめぐる現地エリートの両義性-初期植民地期イギリス領ゴールドコーストの事例から-) (2011)
  • Author(s): 溝辺泰雄
  • Total Pages: 204-224
  • Publisher: 晃洋書房
• [Remarks] 溝辺泰雄、新刊紹介『脱植民地化とイギリス帝国』(イギリス帝国と20世紀第4巻)(北川勝彦編著,ミネルヴァ書房)』、アフリカ研究、第77号、2010年、pp79-81
• [Remarks] 溝辺泰雄、アフリカ(2008年の歴史学界回顧と展望)、史学雑誌、第108巻5号、2009年、pp.301-303