| 研究実績の概要 |
In the first year I completed three task: (1) archival research, and (2) interviews, in Kona. After I submitted the application for the “start-up” in April 2014, I started examining the life experiences of the Japanese Nisei in Kona, Hawaii, based on archival sources and interviews. This preliminary research suggested that the relationship between Japanese national identity and Japanese national symbols utilized by the Japanese Shrines, such as Jinja and Inari were far more profound than assumed by the existing literature. (3) These findings were presented at an international conference in June and were received with constructive comments.
Since the commencement of the “start-up” project in October 2014, the whole research project has advanced to the next level. Further investigation of indigenous and Japanese sources substantiated my previous findings that Japanese Shrines played a pivotal role in the preservation of the Japanese-ness, which accompanied the evolution of pluralistic national identities of the Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. Seven people were interviewed. Childhood recollections from many Nisei participants growing up in coffee farms provided the research with dynamic, rich, and intriguing information. The research revealed how the Inari Shrine was vital in Kona for its mystical powers, for the Inari god would bring a good crop to the Kona coffee farmers.
On the whole, the project is progressing at a much higher pace than originally expected. It has already created a solid basis by substantiating the connection between shrines and identities
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