『아사히신문』 외지판에 나타난 금강산 인식 – 「조선잡관」과 《대금강산보》를 중심으로 –

Abstract

This study analyzes the Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, and its foreign editions during the late 1930s to investigate Mt. Kumgang as perceived by the Japanese themselves during the colonial era. First, I studied Dai Sekiguchi's second article on Mt. Kumgang in Observations of Chosun. The article is characteristic in that it emphasizes the similarity of Mt. Kumgang with the inland mountains of Japan. The concept of sequencing and categorizing mountains started from Shiga Shigetaka’s On the Landscapes of Japan(1894), and although Mt. Kumgang was perceived as less scenic than the mountains of Japan, it was considered highly useful for tourism development. Plans to develop Mt. Kumgang into a tourist attraction for the 1940 Tokyo Olympic Games, and to transform it into a national park were discussed, but due to the intensification of the war, both plans were not realized. Second, I analyzed a series of articles on the film, Gold Mountain, which was produced to promote tourism of Mt. Kumgang. The film starred Korean dancer, Seung-Hee Choi and the articles described the details of the production process from its location selection to its release date. The newspaper aroused the readers’ interest in films, and instilled a positive image of Mt. Kumgang in their minds. Through the film, the Japanese Government General of Korea sought to promote the “naisen-ittai” policy and tourism of Mt. Kumgang. The film depicted exotic dances and songs inspired by Korean folk culture. Mt. Kumgang was romanticized as a beautiful foreign place, and became a symbol of colonial Chosun. A close study of the two sources allows for the interpretation that The Asahi Shimbun perceived Mt. Kumgang as a continuum of Japanese mountains, as well as a tourism asset for Japan. This analysis led to the conclusion that the articles published in The Asahi Shimbun in the late 1930s depicted the practical usage of Mt. Kumgang as a scenic tourist attraction and tourism asset, and to promote such usage simultaneously constructed an abstract image of Mt. Kumgang.