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February 2026 No.1071
| Articles | ||
| The Historical Significance of the Emperor Kotoku’s Reign in the Development of Document-Based Administration: Focusing on Document Usage in the Shoki System | SUMI Ryota | (1) |
| Series: Writing History (6) Writing Academic Papers | ||
| Writing an Academic Paper as a Historian | ODANAKA Naoki | (18) |
| What is the Academic Paper in Introduction to Japanese Medieval History | AKIYAMA Tetsuo, TANAKA Hiroki, NOGUCHI Hanayo | (22) |
| Writing an Academic Paper on Japanese History in Foreign Languages | HUANG Xiaolong | (27) |
| Specialized Magazines as Historical Materials | NAKAJIMA Hiroki | (31) |
| History of Academic Journals and a Case Study on a Historical Journal during the Meiji Era | ITO Kenji | (36) |
| Current Topics: What Was the 80-Year Post War Era ? | ||
| Historians and the HIBAKUSHA Movement: On Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize from the Japan Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations | MATSUDA Shinobu | (43) |
| International Exchange | ||
| The Kitan Network Annual Symposium (online) 2025 Participation Note | MORI Eisuke | (52) |
| Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese) | ||
| ENOMOTO Junichi, The Sui and Tang Tribute System and Ancient Japan | HIROSE Norio | (56) |
| SHIMASUE Kazuyasu, A Study of the History of Military Administration in the Tang and the Song Period | KUBOTA Kazuo | (59) |
| KUBO Ryosuke, The Dynamism of Waqf Management in Premodern Egypt: Legal Theory and Reality | ITO Takao | (62) |
Summary
The Historical Significance of the Emperor Kotoku's Reign in the Development of Document-based Administration: Focusing on Document Usage in the Shoki System
SUMI Ryota
This article focuses on the Shoki 鍾匱 (Bell-Box) system to discuss the historical significance of Emperor Kotoku's reign孝徳期 (645-654) in the development of document-based administration.
First, the Shoki system is interpreted as a system applied to cases related to the komin (citizen) system. It is pointed out that administrative affairs in this system were conducted solely based on written documents.
Next, the study confirms that written documents were not used in the administrative affairs of the emperor or his gunshin (elite clan leaders) before 645. Thus, Emperor Kotoku's reign marked a partial turning point in governance from oral administration to document-based administration.
Furthermore, the factors behind the establishment of the Shoki system are identified as twofold: the challenge of overcoming the bemin (clan-based subject) system and the need to address a crisis in royal authority. The paper argues that the shift to document-based administration was primarily driven by the latter.
Finally, regarding the evaluation of Emperor Kotoku's reign in the formation of the ritsuryo system, the paper points out that the Shoki systemdid not directly lead to the document-based administration under the later Taiho Ryo. The Shoki system also highlights the unique nature of the bureaucratic system during Emperor Kotoku's reign.
January 2026 No.1070
| Special Issue: Order and Violence III | ||
| The Subversive Activities Prevention Act: Focusing on the Drafting Work of the Ministry of Justice’s Special Review Bureau | NAKAZAWA Shunsuke | (1) |
| Violence among Young Men and Order Maintenance in the University City of Leipzig in the Early Modern Period: Focusing on the Significance of Carrying Weapons | SAITO Hiroyuki | (11) |
| Article | ||
| The Formation Process of “Military Port Administrative Space” in the Navy of the Early Meiji Period Using Yokosuka, Miura-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture as a Case Study | SATO Hikaru | (21) |
| Current Topics: Revisiting ‘Eighty Years of Post War’? | ||
| The Self-Defense Force and the History of the Battle of Okinawa | ICHINOSE Toshiya | (38) |
| Current Topics | ||
| New Curriculum’s “Advanced World History” Textbook and Changes in University Entrance Exam Focusing on Private Universities | TSUNODA Koichi | (46) |
| Book Reviews (Unless otherwise noted, the works are written in Japanese) | ||
| FURUMATSU Takashi, The Era of Multipolar Coexistence in Eastern Eurasia: Before the Mongol Empire | IIYAMA Tomoyasu | (55) |
| MATSUMOTO Yuko, Those Forgotten in the Battle Grounds: A History of Gender and Race in World War I | MARUYAM A Misato | (58) |
| Recent Publications | ||
| (62) | ||
Summary
The Subversive Activities Prevention Act: Focusing on the Drafting Work of the Ministry of Justice’s Special Review Bureau
NAKAZAWA Shunsuke
This paper examines the process by which the bill for the Subversive Activities Prevention Act reached cabinet approval, focusing on the drafting work conducted by the Ministry of Justice’s Special Investigation Bureau. It utilizes documents related to Itaru Seki, who was responsible for drafting the bill.
Beginning in 1950, the Ministry of Justice, under Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida’s directive, researched drafting legislation to outlaw the Communist Party. The Special Investigation Bureau completed a bill by April 1951, but it stalled after failing to obtain GHQ approval.
While changing its name, the Special Investigation Bureau drafted over twenty bills. Initially, these focused on requiring political organizations to disclose information, regulating political groups engaged in illegal activities, disqualifying individuals from public office, and implementing emergency isolation. Through repeated revisions, the core of the bill converged on regulating organizations engaged in violent subversive activities.
Regarding the Subversive Activities Prevention Bill, the police opposed granting investigators compulsory investigative powers. Scholars, the media, and the Ministry of Labor expressed concern that it could lead to broad application similar to the Peace Preservation Law and restrictions on freedom of speech. Meanwhile, GHQ ordered revisions to the unfavorable review procedures for organizations and the excessive investigative powers.
Violence among Young Men and Order Maintenance in the University City of Leipzig in the Early Modern Period: Focusing on the Significance of Carrying Weapons
SAITO Hiroyuki
This paper examines violence and order maintenance in the university city of Leipzig in the early modern period. Since its foundation in the early 15th century, Leipzig University has existed as a privileged organisation, enjoying its own jurisdiction. Agreements on the division of authority between the university and city authorities regarding the handling of violent student conflicts were repeatedly made. One of the key issues was the prohibition of carrying weapons, aimed at preventing conflicts from escalating and injuries occurring among students and artisans. Despite the city and the university sharing this objective, the division of authority between the two entities made enforcement difficult. In cases of violence involving students and artisans, insults often acted as a catalyst and provocative displays of weapons would escalate the conflict. Due to their socially marginalised status, there was a strong inclination to respond to defamation with force, as well as to carry and use weapons. Public authorities recognised this and labelled these ‘young men’ as a threat to public order.
The Formation Process of “Military Port Administrative Space” in the Navy of the Early Meiji Period Using Yokosuka, Miura-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture, as a Case Study
SATO Hikaru
This paper examines the process by which the administrative structure of naval ports was
formed in the early Meiji navy, with a case study of Yokosuka, Miura-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture. By placing a lens on the institutional developments surrounding the daily lives and economic activities of urban residents, this study examines the responses of the Navy, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the local community as a whole. In particular, it pays particular attention to how these actors navigated and contested the regulatory frameworks imposed on the local fishing industry.
As a result of the examination, the Navy deemed it necessary to regulate the behavior of local residents. However, the Navy's continued insistence on banning fishing in some areas of Yokosuka Bay was not acceptable due to the historical background of fishing as a livelihood in pre-modern times, the local community's use of fishing to raise capital for schools, and the presence of Kanagawa Prefecture and the Ministry of Home Affairs, which emphasized respect for “people's business” with that intention in the background.