The Kominka Movement in Taiwan : Policy Formulation and the Spread of the Tanka

LAI, Yenhung

doi:2019.9.1.81

The Journal of Japanese Language Literature Studies > Volume 9(1); 2019 > Article

Special Issue

Border Crossings: The Journal of Japanese-Language Literature Studies 2019;9(1): 81-95.
doi: https://doi.org/10.22628/bcjjl.2019.9.1.81

The Kominka Movement in Taiwan : Policy Formulation and the Spread of the Tanka

Yenhung LAI

Associate Professor Department of Japanese Language and Literature, Providence University

台湾における皇民化運動―― 政策の形成と短歌の広がり

頼衍宏

静宜大学日本語文学系副教授

Correspondence Yenhung LAI ,Email: enko@hotmail.com

Published online: 30 December 2019.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

It is generally believed that the Kominka movement in Taiwan started between the late 1930s and 1945. There have been numerous discussions of its origins and its significance, based on the historical records of the Governor’s administration at that time. However, much has been overlooked in these debates, because the starting point of the movement has been misguidedly set too late, while its end point has been set too early. More importantly, generally the initial proponents of the movement have not been accurately identified. As a result, these discussions have brushed past some of the core dimensions of the movement, leading to the misconception that Komin literature consisted merely of Komin novels. This paper argues that for the purpose of setting the record straight, it is important to recognize the role of the tanka genre in the Kominka movement from the early 1930s to the postwar period.

Keywords: Kamada Seii, Epitaph, Tsuchiya Yonekichi, Political Manipulation, Honkadori

キ―ワ―ド: 鎌田正威, 墓誌銘, 土屋米吉, 政治利用, 本歌取