A study on the transboundary reality of Japanese midwives in modern era - through the case of midwives crossing into the colonial Korea -

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K20061
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0103:History, archaeology, museology, and related fields
• Research Institution: Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties
• Principal Investigator: HO SOYEON 独立行政法人国立文化財機構奈良文化財研究所, 企画調整部, アソシエイトフェロー (00908204)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 産婆 / 近代 / 越境 / 韓半島 / 植民地朝鮮 / 出産衛生 / 日本人女性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In order to confirm the situation and characteristics of Japanese women crossing the border in modern times, this study clarified the activities of Japanese midwives who crossed the Korean peninsula, focusing on midwives who could work in other regions as long as they had license. In doing so, this research led to new discoveries about women's lives in modern East Asian history and the history of hygiene. The study also analyzed the activities of the Japanese midwives in colonial Korea and reread the history of sanitation in modern East Asia with a focus on female sanitation specialists. Moreover, by clarifying the actual situation of Japanese midwives who crossed the border from the pre-colonial Korean period to the colonial period, this study established the foundation for expanding research on the place of childbirth to the entire East Asian region and for reexamining the history of modern East Asian.

Free Research Field

近代日本と植民地の衛生・ジェンダー史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、越境者社会と原住民社会、また、植民者社会と被植民者社会の出産に介入し、自らも越境者として生活する女性労働者として日本人産婆を、近代東アジア史の越境実態を理解できる新しい分析軸として提示した。その上、これまで研究が少なかった、女性越境者として産婆の有り様を確認し、近代における女性の生き方の多様性を捉えて、その特徴について考察した。そして、植民地朝鮮期以前から植民地期まで韓半島に越境した日本人産婆の実態を明らかにすることで、今後、出産の場に関する研究を東アジア全域に拡大し、近代東アジア衛生史の問い直す土台を築いた。