Naval Towns and Modernization ：The Narrative of the Battleship Yamato Conveyed in the Yamato Museum

HYUN, Mooam

doi:2020.10.1.91

The Journal of Japanese Language Literature Studies > Volume 10(1); 2020 > Article

Special Issue

Border Crossings: The Journal of Japanese-Language Literature Studies 2020;10(1): 91-110.
doi: https://doi.org/10.22628/bcjjl.2020.10.1.91

Naval Towns and Modernization ：The Narrative of the Battleship Yamato Conveyed in the Yamato Museum

Mooam HYUN

Professor, Hokkaido University

｢海軍のまち｣をつなぐ近代化遺産のストーリー ―― 大和ミュージアムが表象する｢戦艦大和｣物語

玄武岩

北海道大学大学院メディア·コミュニケーション研究院教授

Correspondence Mooam HYUN ,Email: gen@imc.hokudai.ac.jp

Published online: 30 June 2020.

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

The four former naval port cities of Kure, Yokosuka, Sasebo and Maizuru were jointly designated as Japan Heritage ‘centers of Japan’s modernization’ by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2016. Naval bases were established in these cities with ideal natural ports by the Meiji government, and that attracted advanced technology and ambitious people, leading to further development of these naval cities as Japan’s navy culture developed. Kure City, the home of the battleship Yamato, became the most representative city of the four. This article focuses on the important role Kure City played in order to identify the common history shared by these four naval towns. The core point of the article is that Kure City was essential in integrating contemporary technology and the naval infrastructure of the day. The Yamato Museum, inaugurated in 2005, is central to this story, as it demonstrates the main trajectory of the four naval cities which became the naval headquarters at the frontier of Japan’s modernization. By connecting modern technology with naval culture, these four naval cities played a full role in the formation of Japan’s heritage.

Keywords: Modernization Heritage, Yamato Museum, Kure City, Technological Imaginary, Metahistory

キ―ワ―ド: 近代化遺産, 大和ミュージアム, 呉市, 技術的想像力, メタヒストリー