Constructing Perspectives Beyond the Divisions of Okinawa/Japan/America and Female/Male – Centering on Composer Kikuko Kanai

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K18466
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 8:Sociology and related fields
• Research Institution: National Museum of Japanese History
• Principal Investigator: UCHIDA Junko 国立歴史民俗博物館, 大学共同利用機関等の部局等, 教授 (60321543)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 女性作曲家 / 沖縄音楽

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Kikuko Kanai (1906-1986), born in Miyako Island, Okinawa Prefecture, was the first female composer in Japan to compose a full-scale symphony. For approximately fifty years, from the 1930s to the 1980s, she composed works in various genres using Western musical techniques with motifs from Okinawan music. In addition, she conducted extensive research on folk songs and children's songs from the Ryukyu Islands. However, previous research on Kanai has been limited, and her contributions have not been properly recognized. Through this research, we have established a foundation for comprehensively reconstructing and re-evaluating Kanai’s activities by cataloging and digitizing her unpublished scores, photographs, concert flyers, and programs, which have been preserved and managed by her family.

Free Research Field

民俗学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

金井喜久子は、「沖縄（宮古）出身の東京在住者」であり、かつ「女性」である。そのことは、近代日本の西洋音楽の世界で活動する上で、社会的制約となっていたかもしれない。1930年代から1980年代までの約50年間の喜久子の音楽活動に関わる資料群を整理することにより、この資料群が、戦前・戦後の日本における西洋音楽の歴史のみならず沖縄をめぐる社会運動に関わる情報を豊かに含んでおり、沖縄近現代史や社会運動史、女性史、ジェンダー研究などにも有用な資料群であることが明らかになった。