Table of Contents
Translation
- Merits and demerits in the study of ukiyo-e: Issues stemming from how ukiyo-e is regarded in modern Japan
- The Literature of Migrant Women in the Postcolonial Period: On the Writings of First-Generation Korean Women in Japan
- Effects of Social Capital on Residents’ Interest in Community Revitalization in an Isolated Island: Focusing on the Difference between Locals and Migrants on Rebun Island, Japan
Translation
Merits and demerits in the study of ukiyo-e:
Issues stemming from how ukiyo-e is regarded in modern Japan
Author Mayumi SUGAWARA
Keywords ukiyo-e, History of ukiyo-e research, Specialized journals on ukiyo-e
Explanatory Note
From the late 19th century onwards, Japanese art gained great popularity in the West on the back of Japanese taste (Japonisme). Ukiyo-e was at the centre of this trend and was exported to Europe one after another. Ukiyo-e was not only a valuable export resource for Japan from the Meiji era onwards, but also highly valued in Europe, especially in France, where research into ukiyo-e began earlier than in Japan. In Japan, however, ukiyo-e was extremely undervalued and there was no perspective to recognize ukiyo-e as a work of art.
It can be pointed out that although full-fledged research into the history of Japanese art began in Japan after the Meiji period, only the study of ukiyo-e has developed in a peculiar way. The first full-fledged study of ukiyo-e in Japan is considered to have been the first publication of the magazine Konohana (1910).
Since then, ukiyo-e research has continued in the style of publishing magazines (specialized journals). It is interesting to note that only the study of ukiyo-e is still continuing, which distinguishes it from the study of other Japanese art forms. This paper carefully traces the history of ukiyo-e research centered on this specialized journal and points out its characteristics.
The Japanese version of this paper was published in the academic journal Kobe Review of Art History, no. 18, 2018, published by Association of Art History at Kobe University, Japan.
The Literature of Migrant Women in the Postcolonial Period: On the Writings of First-Generation Korean Women in Japan
Author Hyewon SONG
Keywords Zainichi Korean women, Zainichi literature, Korean diaspora, Postwar Japan, Literary history, Cold War
Explanatory Note
This study elucidates the relationship between literature and the first-generation (ilse) Zainichi Korean women living in Japan during the colonial and post-colonial periods. The “double colonization” arising from imperialism and feudal ideology meant that many Korean women were denied the opportunity to write about themselves, seldom appearing in public or private records. As of the liberation of Korea in 1945, ilse Zainichi women remained illiterate due to the influence of the educational system under Japanese colonial rule and of traditional Korean gender norms.
Previous studies have suggested that ilse women vanished away, leaving nothing in writing, after the liberation of Korea. In fact, immediately after the liberation they began acquiring literacy in Korean and Japanese and learning how to write. Being novel in its focus on the early writing practice of ilse women, this study elucidates the historical narrative of these women’s at-tainment of literacy while also unearthing letters, personal records, contributions to newspapers, and poems written in Korean and Japanese, seeking to construct a literary history as written by ilse women. The diversity of these women is also revealed, moving beyond the existing one-dimensional image that has been ascribed to them—an image of strong and resilient mothers who survived in the face of discrimination, poverty, and feudal ideology. Furthermore, this study examines the particular post-colonial circumstances of these women, in which their ideas and identities were significantly and inevitably shaped by what languages they learned, as well as the places where they learned these languages and the people who taught them.
The original version of this article appeared in Chōsen Gakuhō (Journal of the Academic Association of Koreanology in Japan), Vol. 223, 2012, issued by the Chōsen Gakkai.
Effects of Social Capital on Residents’ Interest in Community Revitalization in an Isolated Island:
Focusing on the Difference between Locals and Migrants on Rebun Island, Japan
Author Hayato KATAGIRI
Keywords rural Japan, depopulated area, community revitalization, social capital, interaction effect
Explanatory Note
With declining birth rates, aging population, and population outflow, the sustainability of depopulated areas has become a problem. Consequently, there are calls for community revitalization. Previous studies have pointed out that residents’ commit-ment is important for community revitalization. Here, using social capital theory, I explore the factors that induce the interest of the residents of Rebun Island, Japan, in community revitalization. I analyzed data from a questionnaire survey conducted in 2017 using ordinal logistic regression. The results showed that social capital (residents’ community trust) positively influenced the residents’ interest in community revitalization. Second, it was only among local residents that community trust positively affected interest in community revitalization. This effect was not observed among migrants. Therefore, I conclude that the effect of community trust, which is conventionally regarded as vital social capital for community revitalization, on interest in community revitalization may differ qualitatively depending on whether the resident is a local or migrant. However, further research on the nature of community trust is necessary.
This article was originally published in the refereed journal Annual Review of the Tokai Sociological Society, vol. 13, 89-102, 2021, and has been translated with the permission of the Society.
