「満洲」における短歌についての考察 -『新京日日新聞』文芸欄「学芸」を中心に -

This paper examines the composition of tanka in “Manchuria.” At the end of the Second World War, over one million Japanese resided in “Manchuria,” where countless tanka were composed in Japanese. Previous research has primarily focused on prominent tanka poets, influential tanka magazines, and the works of Japanese literary figures who traveled to the region. However, little attention has been paid to tanka and related content published in newspapers. Accordingly, this study focuses on the literary section Gakugei of the Shinkyō Nichinichi Shimbun. The period under investigation spans from January 18, 1935, when Gakugei was first published, to July 7, 1937, the date of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. The study first clarifies the characteristics of the tanka and criticism published in Gakugei, which included both free-verse tanka and essays defending traditional forms. Gakugei brought together tanka from diverse schools, providing a space for multifaceted discussion and debate about tanka. The paper then examines how the tanka in Gakugei represented “Manchuria,” with particular attention to depictions of horse-drawn carriages. These carriages, as a distinctive feature of the Manchurian landscape, infused freshness into tanka. At the same time, some tanka reveal the social disparities inherent in life in Manchuria. Further, the study considers the urban-themed tanka of Teruyasu Inagaki, an active contributor to Gakugei. Inagaki’s urban tanka captured aspects of city construction, modern civilization, and the enjoyment of urban spaces. Yet, his depictions of neon lights and charumera in mainland cities convey an underlying sense of unease, highlighting the constructed and illusory nature of colonial “Manchuria.” From these considerations, the study concludes that tanka written in “Manchuria” integrated representations of the colony into the thirty-one syllables of tanka, portraying landscapes and experiences distinct from those of the Japanese mainland. Simultaneously, these tanka conveyed the loneliness and anxiety experienced by Japanese living in the colonies. Tanka composed across the sea could thus articulate both the suffering of the colonized and the darkness and unease of the colonial environment. The realization of these possibilities was facilitated significantly by Gakugei, which provided a platform for a wide range of tanka, irrespective of their tanka school.