Socio-historical Study on the Iwo Jima(Volcano) Islanders: Migrant and Refugee(Diaspora) History from the Nineteenth Century to Present

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26503013
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 文化学
• Research Institution: Meiji Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: ISHIHARA Shun 明治学院大学, 社会学部, 教授 (00419251)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 歴史社会学 / 硫黄島 / 小笠原諸島 / 離島 / 強制疎開 / 地上戦 / ディアスポラ / 冷戦

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The Iwo Jima(Volcano) islands, part of Japanese territory, are located in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. These islands were uninhabited until 19th century. In the 1890s, some people started to migrate to these islands from the Japanese mainland. During the 1910s and 1920s, sugarcane cultivation and manufacturing became a main industry of the Iwo Jima islands and the population of these Islands increased. In the 1930s through to 1944, coca cultivation and manufacturing replaced the sugar industry as the islands' main industry. In 1944 during WWII, the settlers of the Iwo Jima islands were forced to evacuate from their islands to Japan. Despite the end of war, they have not been allowed to return to their homeland until now because of the previous occupations by the US Navy and the Japanese Self-Defence Forces. In this project, I examined the migrant and refugee (diaspora) history of the Iwo Jima islanders under the total war and the cold war regimes.

Free Research Field

社会学