The overseas expansion of Japanese fishery operators in the South East Asia during the Pre-war Period and the Southward Advance Theory

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00994
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 03020:Japanese history-related
• Research Institution: Kagoshima Prefectural College
• Principal Investigator: Fukuda Tadahiro 鹿児島県立短期大学, 商経学科 経済専攻, 教授 (50386562)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 南洋漁業 / 原耕

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The first time that the South Pacific fisheries issue was raised in the pre-war Imperial Diet was in 1928, in a speech by Hara Ko, a representative from Kagoshima. Subsequently, under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Colonial Affairs Ministry, a movement that could be called the 'Southward Advance Theory in the Fisheries Sector' gained momentum, and the attention of Japanese politicians, government officials, and businesses turned to South Pacific fisheries.
Japanese fishermen who advanced into the South Pacific caused various problems with local governments. Among these, the two incidents of Japanese ships being fired upon in the Dutch East Indies in 1937, which resulted in the first casualties among Japanese fishermen, and the incident of the capture of a large number of pearl shell divers in Dobo in 1936, were taken up. The focus was on how the activities of Japanese fishermen affected international relations at the time.

Free Research Field

国際関係論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本料理と言えばダシのうま味であり、ダシを取る際にはカツオ節は欠かせない材料の一つである。カツオ節の原料となるカツオは回遊魚で、どのように資源を確保するのかが問題になるのは、戦前期でも現在でも変わらない。戦前期は、南洋に進出して、南洋でカツオをカツオ節にして日本へ、そしてマグロは缶詰にして欧米各国に輸出することが計画された。しかしこうした「輸出商品型漁業」には多額の資金と労働力が必要である。こうした動きがどのような経緯で生み出され、その結果がどのような結末を引き起こしたのかを明らかにすることは、現在の水産資源確保にも重要な示唆を与えることになる。