1. Joint Research and Compilation Project on "Multilingual Version of Pictopedia of Everyday Life in Medieval Japan"

Aim of the joint research project

Of the five volumes of the Multilingual Version of Pictopedia of Everyday Life in Medieval Japan, the first and second volumes were published in our project selected in the 21st Century COE (Centers of Excellence) Program, and the third volume was put out in a first-term joint research project of the center. This research project is aimed at translating and publishing the remaining two volumes. We hope that overseas researchers in history, folklore, anthropology, literature and other fields of study will use these publications to learn about “everyday life” in medieval Japan.

Task assignment for the joint research project

2. Research Project on Pictopedias of Everyday Life in Europe during the First Half of the 19th Century

Aim of the joint research project

This research project aims to compile pictopedias describing everyday life in important European cities during the first half of the 19th century through analytical and comparative examinations of mainly nonwritten cultural materials.

In the research, “Europe” refers to English-, French-, German- and Italian-speaking countries, and “the first half of the 19th century” refers to the period from roughly the French Revolution that ended in 1799, moving forward in time to around 1870. The cities to be targeted include London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Rome and Venice.

The main materials we plan to use are pictures and woodblock prints produced during this period that depict buildings, squares, streets, waterfronts, parks, etc., with people gathered in these places in the cities mentioned above.

We believe that comparative examinations of these depictions in cities across Europe will shed light on their similarities and differences, and provide insights into everyday life in Europe during this period.

Task assignment for the joint research project

3. Former Japanese Concessions in China and Korea

Aim of the joint research project

In the research projects during the first and second terms whose main theme was the former Japanese concessions in China and Korea, each joint researcher carried out a study according to their own interest, collected a considerable amount of records and materials, and examined a wide range of related themes as well. However, during the two terms, especially the second term, the joint research largely depended on how each joint researcher carried out their own study. To improve this situation, in the third term we plan to assign joint researchers the task of researching newspapers and magazines published by Japanese nationals in China and Korea, and to publish the achievements of our joint research, which by this point will mostly be completed, while continuing to organize records and materials and carry out research on the present conditions of the concessions.

Task assignment for the joint research project

4.　Follow-up Research on the Historical Sites of Overseas Japanese Shrines

Aim of the joint research project

Research on the historical sites of overseas Japanese shrines, an area of study pioneered by our center, is now carried out by many researchers in Taiwan; it is also beginning in South Korea and expected to start in China in the future. In this sense, research on the historical sites of overseas Japanese shrines will be carried out in earnest from now on.

Joint research in this term is aimed at examining changes in the landscapes of these historical sites, mainly from the perspectives of the post-war state structure of each targeted country and their relations with Japan. The main regions to be covered by the research – regions not yet targeted by our research – include Southeast Asian countries (Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia) and North Korea (where there were 24 shrines including two kokuheisha, a type of state-endowed shrine).

Task assignment for the joint research project

5. Environmental History of Life in Brackish Water Areas

Aim of the joint research project

Many of the coastal environments of the Japanese archipelago, such as the estuaries of large rivers and lagoons, lie in brackish water areas, where freshwater and sea water mix. These low-lying, marshy areas make it difficult to sustain human activity, and have been regarded as poor soil areas requiring reclamation by, for example, developing new rice fields. This was mainly a government view of brackish water areas, however, and it goes without saying that historians who depend on records and statistics kept by the government have looked upon these areas in much the same way.

But in reality, people inhabit such areas, and the seemingly bad conditions have actually created unique folk cultures, for instance, the development of unique fishing techniques for both freshwater and saltwater fish living in these brackish water environments, taking advantage of the high productivity of such environments, and the utilization of agricultural methods to adapt to the difficulty of controlling water in low-lying, marshy areas. In addition, brackish water areas are focal points for water traffic, where cargoes are transshipped from sea-going vessels to river boats and vice versa, and historically prompted the advent of markets and inns, a phenomenon that can be interpreted as the beginning of urbanization.

This joint research aims to present an image of brackish water environments from the viewpoints of people living there by gathering the cultural elements unique to these areas as an environmental history of life in the Japanese archipelago, and to put forth a concept of “brackish water cultures.” In this process, the research also aims to develop a method of investigating the environmental histories of people’s lives as a new approach to study nonwritten cultural materials.

Task assignment for the joint research project

6. Research on How Houseboat People Lived and How Their Lives Changed

Aim of the joint research project

Based on the achievements of the joint research conducted during the second term on historical changes in the lives of houseboat people in Dokai Bay in Wakamatsu ward, Kitakyushu City, joint research in the third term will examine the realities and characteristics of houseboat people who lived and worked in the bay and estuaries in Yokohama, where large domestic and foreign vessels enter and leave the port. The research will also look at the waters of the Seto Inland Sea, where houseboat people called “ebune” lived during the Edo Period, as well as the waters around Nagasaki, where ships carrying marine and other products come and go.

The houseboat people in each of these waters were “sea people” who played a role in the modernization of the country, and their activities, both in scale and style, cargoes, and educational environments varied depending on the location. We believe that comparative examinations of these differences will clarify not only the characteristics of the houseboat people in each water area but also their previously unknown history and changes in their lives.

This research will take us to those areas to collect oral histories, documents and materials about houseboat people, including photographs and illustrations, and the research theme will be examined through a comprehensive analysis of these records.

Task assignment for the joint research project

7. Research on Basic Technologies, Including Data Mining and a User Interface, for the Internet Eco-Museum

Aim of the joint research project

Based on the achievements of the joint research project carried out during the second term on the retrieval, distribution, etc., of information about nonwritten cultural materials, this research is aimed at developing basic technologies, including data mining and a user interface that is suitable to data input and information retrieval, required for the Internet Eco-Museum and the Folklore museum that is planned in Tadami Town. Specifically, the research project consists of

1. Applying data mining to the actual materials, using an ontology.
2. Protecting personal information and managing copyrights when a material database is placed on a cloud computing system.
3. Developing a value exchange model designed to facilitate the organization, data input and distribution of materials based on game theory and swarm intelligence.
4. Developing a user interface to enable users to manage materials intuitively in the context of operation using swarm intelligence.

Task assignment for the joint research project

8 .Research on Popular Media in Wartime Japan

Aim of the joint research project

Targeting popular media in wartime, an area of interest by an increasing number of researchers of modern and contemporary Japanese history in recent years, this research aims to examine the structure of popular culture in wartime and review the characteristics of the wartime regime through analyzing the propaganda function of popular media.

Specifically, we will make greater efforts to share the viewpoints required to analyze popular culture, while collecting materials mainly from the “state-promoted picture-story shows” possessed by the Research Center for Nonwritten Cultural Materials. We will conduct research from multiple perspectives, intending to examine the realities of popular media in Japan’s colonies and its relationship with movies, manga, anime, popular songs, etc., of the same period, and to make comparisons with the situation in Nazi Germany and other countries.

The research will be carried out by, for example, collecting data and materials through fieldwork and interviews, and conducting research workshops with researchers in related areas of study also participating.

Task assignment for the joint research project

9. Joint Research and Compilation Project on Pictopedias of Everyday Life in Early Modern Japan Focusing on Southern Kyushu

Aim of the joint research project

“Pictopedia of Everyday Life in Early Modern Japan Focusing on Amami and Okinawa” is a summary of studies until FY2013, covering “Ryukyuto Shinkei (Scenes from the Ryukyu Islands),” a picture scroll depicting the manners and customs of modern Amami and predating “Nanto Zatsuwa (Miscellaneous Accounts of the Southern Islands).” This examination of the manners and customs of Amami revealed the influence of Ryukyu and Satsuma. Thus, it has been deemed necessary to study the illustrations depicting the manners and life of the southern Kyushu region focused on Satsuma, and to develop a pictopedia of the area during this term.

Task assignment for the joint research project