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May 2025 No. 1061
| Articles | ||
| Regional Organizations of the Shin Sect Temples in the Kaga Domain: Administrative Temples and Temple Associations | UENO Daisuke | (1) |
| The Revival of Superstition in the Meiji Period : as Seen from the Lecture Tours of “Yokai Hakase” | TABEI Hayato | (17) |
| ロSenatorial Meetings during the Early Roman Empire: A Case Study of the Relationship between Emperors and the Senate during the Reigns of Claudius and Nero | HEMMI Yuta | (34) |
| Preparatory Papers | ||
| Preparatory Papers for the General Meeting of The Historical Science Society of Japan in May 2025 | (51) | |
| Announcement | ||
| The 2025 General Meeting of The Historical Science Society of Japan | (65) | |
Summary
Regional Organizations of the Shin Sect Temples in the Kaga Domain: Administrative Temples and Temple Associations
UENO Daisuke
This study illustrates the regional organizations of the Shin sect temples in the Kaga domain, providing insights into the relationship between politics and religion in early modern Japan.
In the Kaga domain, during the Keichō period, Kanazawa Gobō of the Higashi Honganji school, four Noto temples, and the Shōkōji Temple played the role of de facto administrative temples. During the Kan'ei period, the Shōenji Temple—connected to Kanazawa Gobō of the Nishi Honganji school—was given an administrative role by the Kaga domain. During the same period, rudimentary forms of temple associations were established in various areas of the domain.
Subsequently, in 1648, the Kaga domain's temple and shrine commissioners were established, and the administrative temples in Kaga, Noto, and Etchū were adjusted through negotiations with Higashi Honganji and Nishi Honganji. Despite some conflict, the order was finalized. Additionally, temple associations became identifiable by the mid-17th century in these provinces, and they performed functions such as communication, making decisions, providing mutual guarantees, and maintaining order.
The administrative temples and the temple associations of the Shin sect temples in the Kaga domain were instituted, albeit not whole area, by the Kan'ei period, and became firmly established in the mid-17th century.
The Revival of Superstition in the Meiji Period: as Seen from the Lecture Tours of "Yokai Hakase"
TABEI Hayato
This study aims to examine how both intellectuals and the general public received Enryō Inoue's yokaiology, which appeared in the mid-Meiji period. Previous studies have positioned Enryō's yokaiology as a discourse on the denial of yokai since the early Meiji period, and have evaluated its enlightening practicality for the public. However, what this study focuses on is that yokaiology, with its original primary focus on the elimination of superstition, was interpreted in various ways under the title of “Yokai Hakase”. In this light, the authoritative nature of the word “Hakase” in modern society, along with the popular nature of the word “yokai,” was found to have a strong influence on people's perception of the word. In conclusion, the academic nature of yokaiology, such as “Hakase” and “study,” played a role in giving new value as an object of study to yokai and ghosts, which had been the subject of denial and exclusion since the early Meiji period.
Senatorial Meetings during the Early Roman Empire: A Case Study of the Relationship between Emperors and the Senate during the Reigns of Claudius and Nero
HEMMI Yuta
Historical sources on Claudius reveal that while the Senate was highly active in legislation, the senators generally approved the emperor’s proposals without any substantive discussion.
However, during the reign of Claudius, there was a case that contradicted the image of senators simply obeying the emperor: a meeting in AD 48. At this meeting, Claudius proposed that the notables of Gallia Comata be admitted to the Senate. Due to opposition from the senators, the proposal was only partially approved, and this situation persisted until Claudius’s death. Furthermore, the senators’ opposition to Claudius’s proposal to protect their vested interests may have influenced senatorial meetings during the reign of Nero.
Considering these points, we conclude that the degree of freedom granted to senators in making and expressing their decisions was ultimately at the discretion of the emperors. In this sense, the emperors had a significant influence on senatorial meetings, but it would have been difficult for them to make the Senate pass the senatus consulta completely ignoring the wishes of its members.
April 2025 No.1060
| Articles | ||
| Changes in Vagrancy in 13th Century Japan Due to Climate Change: Considering the Relationship between Vagrancy and Lords and Villages | TSUCHIYAMA Yushi | (1) |
| The Dispute over the Siting of Keelung Junior High School in Taiwan in the 1920s | FUJII Yasuko | (18) |
| Notes and Suggestions | ||
| A Historical Significance of the Color Documentary Film “KUKAN” | ISHIJIMA Noriyuki | (36) |
| Views and Reviews | ||
| From History of Fuel to History of Energy: Reconsideration on the Past and Future of Energy | SHIN Hiroki | (42) |
| Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese) | ||
| KANBE Kosuke, A Study of Financial Administration in Ancient Japan | HATTORI Kazutaka | (48) |
| IWATANI Nobu, The Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the Outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War | KATO Yoko | (51) |
| SONG Youn’ok, Japanese Imperial Sexual Politics in the Colonial ‘Licensed Prostitution System’ | HAYASHI Yoko | (54) |
| KOBAYASHI Ryosuke, Modern Tibetan Political and Diplomatic History | IWATA Keisuke | (58) |
| Announcements | ||
| The 2025 General Meeting of the Historical Science Society of Japan | (63) | |
Summary
Changes in Vagrancy in 13th Century Japan Due to Climate Change: Considering the Relationship between Vagrancy and Lords and Villages
TSUCHIYAMA Yushi
This paper examines the changes in the existence of vagrants throughout the 13th century from the perspective of their relationship with lords and villages, taking into account environmental factors such as climate change and famine.
First, using high-resolution paleoclimate data, we provide an overview of the climate in the 13th century and show that the expansion of field crop production was the main factor in avoiding famine. Second, we point out that, as part of a policy to restore productivity after the Jisho-Juei Rebellion (1180-1185), vagrants were recruited to work on land development, but this policy was abandoned during the Syouka Famine (1258-1259), and development through recruiting vagrants disappeared when the lords expelled the vagrants. We also point out that after the Kangi Famine (1230-1231), vagrants came into conflict with lords and villages over access to the mountains, rivers, and seas that were their source of food and habitat, and were expelled, and as a result, vagrants came to be seen as "villains." Considering that the food shortages caused by famines changed the relationships between vagrants, lords, and villages, environmental factors such as climate change and natural disasters may be positioned as major factors that will greatly change the way society is as a whole.
The Dispute over the Siting of Keelung Junior High School in Taiwan in the 1920s
FUJII Yasuko
This paper examines the conflicting reactions within the local community to the government’s siting of Keelung Junior High School, which opened in Colonial Taiwan in 1927, the legacy of this dispute.
Keelung Junior High School was established at the request of residents. However, the authorities did not select a site inside Keelung City. Opinions were divided among influential local Japanese residents. Some Japanese united with Taiwanese residents to request that the site be changed to the city center, but their request was rejected. Subsequently, the site was found to not be large enough. This reignited the conflict among Japanese residents, and resulted in the Taiwan Democratic Party (a Taiwanese political party) to criticize the municipal government and influential Japanese and Taiwanese figures.
In this process, issues concerning information gaps between influential Japanese figures and the degree of responsibility devolving on influential Japanese and Taiwanese figures involved in site selection were raised. However, the authorities shut down on public debate on this matter. This left Japanese residents harboring ill-feelings and renewed distrust among Taiwanese intellectuals toward their colonlial rulers. Throughout the dispute, the fundamental question of who it is that education is meant to be directed never came to surface, and the question of residents’ autonomy in matters of education was reduced distorted into a choice of whether the high school should bear the name of Keelung or not.
A Historical Significance of the Color Documentary Film “KUKAN”
Ishijima Noriyuki
This paper deals with a historical significance of the color documentary film “KUKAN”,
which created a great sensation among Chinese and Japanese audiences. “KUKAN” was made by a young American cameraman Rey Scott, who traveled in the western provinces of China from 1939 to 1940. Especially the images of the great bombing of Chongqing in August 1940 was awfully shocking to American viewers. This film was made on the ground in color film, so its impact was that much greater. It was said that President Roosevelt, who watched this picture, began to consider bombing plans against Japan.
In the first chapter, this paper discusses who produced this film and who discovered it about 50 years later. Then it discusses the process whereby “KUKAN” was transmitted to China and made a deep impression to Chinese people who watched this picture.
In the second chapter, this paper examines the content of this film and explains the secret of why the Chinese people could continue their resistance to Japan. Next it surveys the history of the bombing against China during the Sino-Japanese war and the situation of the great bombing against Chongqing.
In conclusion, this paper introduces the impressions of some people who watched this bombing scene in Chongqing. Then it surveys the history of indiscriminate bombing from after the Second World War and show how the danger of indiscriminate bombing has reached a new level with the development of AI technology. Finally, this paper clarifies that “Kukan” is a valuable material when evaluating the Japanese war responsibility during the Sino-Japanese war.
March 2025 No.1059
| Special Issue: Reading IWANAMI KOZA SEKAI REKISHI (The Iwanami Lectures on World History) | ||
| Preface | the Editorial Board | (1) |
| The Editing Process Behind the IWANAMI KOZA SEKAI REKISHI | YOSHIZAWA Seiichiro | (2) |
| The Sinosphere and Narrating World History | TSURUMA Kazuyuki | (8) |
| Compilation of IWANAMI KOZA SEKAI REKISHI and the History of the Mongolian Empire and Yuan Dynasty | SAKURAI Satomi | (14) |
| How is ‘Japan’ Located in World History? | KOKAZE Hidemasa | (21) |
| On Locality and Internationality: a View from South East Asian History | OKADA Taihei | (29) |
| Focusing on Social History and Gender Perspective: From the Viewpoint of Modern and Contemporary German History | KITAMURA Yoko | (35) |
| Sixty Years and Three Periods of IWANAMI KOZA SEKAI REKISHI | SASAKI Makoto | (41) |
| Notes and Suggestions | ||
| The Studies on History of State Formation of Archaeology and Historiography | SEKINE Atsushi | (51) |
| Home and Abroad | ||
| The International Federation for Research in Women’s History (IFRWH) 2024 Conference in Tokyo Report | KITADA Eri | (60) |
Summary
The Studies on History of State Formation of Archaeology and Historiography
SEKINE Atsushi
The early state theory has had a major influence on recent studies of the history of state formation in Japan. This theory criticizes the Engelsian theory, which takes the overthrow of the clan system as an indicator of state formation in Japan, and has gained wide acceptance in archaeology. On the other hand, Engels' theory is still the mainstay of historical studies on the history of state formation, where the process of establishment of ideology is not highly evaluated. However, Engels' theory has several flaws, and the perspective of ideology formation in state theory is important from the perspective of contemporary history.
External factors, such as wars and diplomacy, have a significant impact on the development of society. The formation of the ancient Japanese state should be considered not in terms of class conflict, but in terms of external relations as the main factor, with ideology and political structure (taxation, military system, bureaucracy) as indicators. In this process, it will be a challenge to elucidate the relationship between “Teiki”（Chronicles）, “Kyuji”（Old Stories）, and keyhole-shaped tumuli. I hope that this paper will be an opportunity for the study of the history of state formation to flourish in both archaeology and history.
February 2025 No.1058
| Series: Writing History (5) Writing Introductory History Books | ||
| “Doing” History with Pocket Books | SATO Yuki | (1) |
| On Writing an Introductory Book about Territorial Issues with a Neighboring Country | IKEUCHI Satoshi | (6) |
| Writing a Comprehensive History of China | WATANABE Shinichiro | (9) |
| What Does an Introductory Book Tell and to Whom? | MATSUSHITA Kenichi | (14) |
| What was the Ming Dynasty, and What is a Comprehensive History? | OKAMOTO Takashi | (18) |
| In and Around REKISHIGAKU KENKYU: The Reasons Behind Why I Wrote Introduction to European History | OTSUKI Yasuhiro | (22) |
| What Do Readers Expect from Introductory Books on Economic History? | ONOZUKA Tomoji | (28) |
| Writing History in a Pocket Book | KIDO Yoshiyuki | (33) |
| Why Writing History for the General Public is Difficult | TANO Daisuke ONODERA Takuya | (37) |
| A Pocket Book Aimed at Promoting Gender History | HIMEOKA Toshiko | (42) |
| Roundtable Discussion | ||
| Creating Introductory History Books: How to Reach Out to a More Diverse Readership | OKAZAKI Mayuko SUGITA Moriyasu MATSUDA Ken OTSUKA Shotaro ODAWARA Rin KATO Yoko SATO Yuki SASAKI Makoto | (47) |
| Recent Publications | ||
| (65) | ||
No.1057 January 2025
| Special Issue: Memories of War in History III | ||
| The Transformation of Economic Cooperation Policy in the 1970s and National Memories Surrounding ‘the Heart of Nations’ | ASANO Toyomi | (1) |
| The Pacific War from the Perspective of Solomon Islanders: Characteristics and Multilayers of Memories of the War in Historical and Ethnographical Sources | FUJII Shinichi | (16) |
| Articles | ||
| The “Creation of National Forests” and Forest Research Projects in Colonial Korea: Focusing on Type I, Unnecessary Forests | HAN Rihye | (27) |
| Decolonization of History Teaching in England | YODA Jun | (44) |
| Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese) | ||
| KIHIRA Eisaku, American History of Abolition of Slavery | KIDO Yoshiyuki | (60) |
Summary
The Transformation of Economic Cooperation Policy in the 1970s and National Memories Surrounding ‘the Heart of Nations’
ASANO Toyomi
This paper is an empirical study of the dynamics of the development of an international economic cooperation program in Japan around 1970. It reveals the historical structure that gave rise to the disagreement over historical issues between Japan on the one hand, and China and Korea on the other. In order to “connect the heart of the Japanese people with the hearts of the people of Asia,” the attempt to expand economic cooperation programs, which was initiated by the LDP, could be regarded as an attempt to expand the national consensus built across the divide between rural and urban society in Japan into the diplomatic field by proposing Japan as a model for Asia, together with the three non-nuclear principles. The LDP even planned to have representatives from labor unions in the national board of Economic Cooperation Council in order to restore the bonds of the heart by exerting control over the activities of multinational corporations. However, despite the fact that the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had agreed to this plan, it was not realized, and the plan to establish an Economic Cooperation Agency that would span multiple ministries also failed. The failure of this plan can be said to have been the cause of the emergence of historical issues after the relaxation of totalitarian control in China and Korea. Historical issues become driving forces for democratization by linking values of human rights to national memory in a society where the “wealth” as the universal value in 1970s Asia had suppressed people’s hearts through economic development.
The Pacific War from the Perspective of Solomon Islanders: Characteristics and Multilayers of Memories of the War in Historical and Ethnographical Sources
FUJII Shinichi
This paper analyses Solomon Islanders' memories of the Pacific War. How has the memory of the war been recalled in the Solomon Islands? How has the memory of the war acted on the construction of the ‘national history’ of the Solomon Islands? How do the relics of the war evoke memories in the Solomon Islands today?
The experiences of those involved in the war as scouts, coastwatchers and the Solomon Islands Labour Coup have been told in public and documented by historians and anthropologists. These stories have shaped a common memory of the Pacific War as ‘a war brought by outsiders’. At the same time, memories such as those of the evacuation experienced by many Solomon Islanders have been discarded from the national history.
Today, relics of the Pacific War are also an important medium of public memory of the war in the Solomon Islands. They evoke both positive images and negative emotions. On the one hand, they are materials which bring economic benefits as tourism resources. On the other hand, such things as unexploded ordnance are still causing harm to people 80 years after the war.
The “Creation of National Forests” and Forest Research Projects in Colonial Korea:Focusing on Type I, Unnecessary Forests
HAN Rihye
This paper examines how claims toward "Type 1 unnecessary forests" were treated in the forest survey project in colonial Korea, seeking to clarify the problems arising from the forest survey project. "Type 1 unnecessary forests" were forests that were mainly subject to afforestation loans. If a claim of affiliation was declared concerning "Type 1 unnecessary" forests during the forest survey project, the option remained to treat it as a disputed area, but there was also the possibility for authorities to revoke the declarations for such claims.
This paper focuses on the "Type 1 unnecessary forests" in Kilju-gun, North Hamgyŏng Province. This area covers about 4,000 hectares, which were used for slash-and-burn farming, construction of burial mounds, collection of brushwood, and general cultivation. During the forest survey, many claims were made, but at times rendered void by the authorities. Analyzing these revoked cases, it becomes clear that there were cases where measures were taken to prioritize future afforestation loan dispositions. Thus it is important to analyze the forest survey project, starting from the national forests, while considering the injustice of the Government-General of Korea's investigations.
Decolonization of History Teaching in England
YODA Jun
The aim of this paper is to analise the changes of the images of the British Empire in the history textbooks in England from the end of the WWI to the present day.
After the WWI, the British Empire, once seen as the symbol of valour and adventurous spirit of the British, began to stress its humanitarian nature. It was depicted as the benevolent guardian helping its colonies to civilise and teaching how to rule themselves. Even in the 1960s, imperial history was the staple part of the British history in the textbooks. It was regarded as the success story, as the Empire spread the parliamentary democracy and established the notion of ‘liberty’ around the world. In the 1970s, however, imperial history suddenly lost its appeal and gave way to the ‘New History’. Even though the history of empire was forgotten, the mentality to endorse and justify the colonialism has remained among the British.
Since the 2000s, imperial history has become taken up in schools again to understand the origins of the present multi-cultural society. This new imperial history, open to the multiple interpretations under the influence of the ‘New History’, has the possibility to change their imperial mindset.