Basic study on the collection of folk tales and relevant material of folk tales under the colonial rule of the Empire of Japan

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 23520211
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese literature
• Research Institution: Tokyo Gakugei University
• Principal Investigator: Ishii Masami 東京学芸大学, 教育学部, 教授 (30251565)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-28 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 昔話 / 植民地 / 柳田国男 / 関敬吾 / 教科書 / 大東亜共栄圏 / アジア / 帝国主義

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the past, the Empire of Japan expanded its sphere of influence in Asia. Japanese Empire even announced to build a “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”. At the time, the imperial government decided to collect folk tales from each territory for the purpose of understanding different cultures and lives in different territories. The folk tales that found to be similar to Japanese folk tales were taken as a tool to justify the war and Japanese domination. Therefore, YANAGITA Kunio and SEKI Keigo who studied the folk tales after the war claimed that there was no academic value in those folk tales. However, nowadays there have been growing interests in studying folk tales in Japan and overseas, returning to the past and rethinking the folk tales is not only necessary for understanding the history, but it should be taken as a responsibility for Japan. In my research, how the folk tales were related to the teaching material in each territory has been found.

Free Research Field

日本文学　民俗学