식민주의 역사학으로서 만주건국대학에서의 역사 연구

Abstract

This paper examines historical studies conducted in Manchu Genkoku University (滿洲建國大學, Genkoku University), the highest educational institution established in Manchukuo (滿洲國), a foothold for Japanese invasion of the continent. At that time, Japanese academics demanded the arrangement of Manchurian history, and as the war “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (大東亞共榮圈)” was advocated, they were looking for a historical description to explain the slogan. In addition, Vice President Sakuda Soichi, the university’s core leader, emphasized that Genkoku university’s mission should be to find out the “National Study of Manchukuo (滿洲國學),” namely, the founding principles of Manchukuo (建國原理). Historical studies carried out by Genkoku University responded to the demands of Japanese academics and the mission of Genkoku University. These studies can be broadly divided into three categories: 1) research and education for the establishment of Manchurian history, 2) establishing Japan’s historical position in Asia, emphasizing the relationship between Japan and Manchuria, 3) since the late nineteenth century, exploration of the historical meaning of Japan’s invasion of Manchuria. Through such studies, Manchuria’s history by Manchurians (滿洲民族) distinguished from the Han (漢族) was organized into the Manchukuo-history (滿洲國史). Japan’s ability to create culture was confirmed in the context of history, and the “Greater East Asia Co- Prosperity Sphere” was described something not new but with historical grounds. On the other hand, the Manchurian Incident (滿洲事 變), a direct trigger for the establishment of Manchukuo, was narrated as a measure to protect “the peace of the East” from the Western invasion of Asia that had continued since the late nineteenth century. Historical studies conducted in Genkoku University not only responded to the demands of the academia and the university but also defended the reality of aggression and war. However, the results and materials of the survey and excavation conducted in that process were quite empirical, and are often included in the current encyclopedia. This raises new questions about how to evaluate the empirical results of the process of reaching a conclusion to defend the reality. On the other hand, the emergence of the terms and concepts called “the Manchurian history (滿洲史)” or “Manchukuo history (滿洲國史)” and attempts to systematize them are interesting subjects of research related to so-called “making history.” Along with the invasion of Manchuria and the foundation of Manchukuo, Japanese historians studied and described the history of Manchuria or Manchukuo, which had not been regarded as a unit of history in the past, in terms of “modern history.” This is notable in relation to another aspect of history of colonialism, namely “making history.” This will also be a topic of future research.