A Study of Togashi Junji's Papers: the Relationship between Newspaper Correspondents and Imperial Houshold Officials

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520772
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese history
• Research Institution: Seijo University
• Principal Investigator: MORI Yohei 成城大学, 文芸学部, 准教授 (20407612)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SEBATA Hajime 長野県短期大学, 助教 (10611618) ; KAWANISHI Hideya 神戸女学院大学, 文学部, 准教授 (20402810)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 象徴天皇制 / 天皇・皇后 / 皇太子・皇太子妃 / 皇族 / マスメディア / 皇室記者 / ジャーナリズム / 新聞・雑誌

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research, utilizing the papers of Togashi Junji, an Imperial Household correspondent for Mainichi Shimbun, which our research group has found, reveals the role of mass media and reporters in the process of the formation, the modification, and the establishment of the symbolic Emperor system.
After WWⅡ, in order to maintain the Emperor system, Imperial Household officials tried to highlight the humane and liberal aspects of the imperial family and make use of correspondents who wrote favorable articles to contribute to the formation of new images of the family.
The collaboration of the Imperial officals and reporters was also seen in the events such as the imperial tour of Emperor Showa, the marriages of young princesses, and the marriage of the Crown Prince Akihito and Shoda Michiko. However, the Imperial officals gradually changed: it prevented too much exposure of the imperial family and sometimes had friction with mass media which demanded more access to the family.

Free Research Field

メディア史、歴史学、社会学