Collaborative Research
A. Production, Authority, and Ideology in Ancient Japan
| Type of Research | Scientific Research |
|---|---|
| Project Title | Historical Research on Livelihoods / Authority and Systems of Knowledge |
| Supervising Head of the Research Team | HIROSE Kazuo |
| Research Title | A. Production, Authority, and Ideology in Ancient Japan |
| Head of the Research Team | HIROSE Kazuo |
| Research Period | 2005–2007 |
| Research Team |
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| Purpose | Plain fields, large and small in size, have been formed by the natural action of rivers on the Japanese archipelago, surrounded by seas, on which there have accordingly existed a variety of lifestyles. From the Yayoi period onward, people living on the archipelago obtained food mainly from paddy-field rice cropping for which rivers and storage reservoirs were used, thereby encouraging cooperative activities and developing transportation services. Authority had been developed as well to deal with conflict of interests and ideologies and integrate groups of people. The surrounding geomorphological environment, vegetation, and climate, in addition to all this, had produced certain technological system, magic, and faiths, fostering the Japanese people's unique temperaments and cultures, including residence statuses in agricultural villages, fishing villages, and urban areas. On the other hand, wide-ranging authority beyond regional boundaries and the intellectual system to maintain it had been created as well. These two aspects were inseparably related to each other, coming to form Japan's unique "climate" and the Japanese temperament. It is the purpose of this research to make a multi-faceted analysis and arrive at a comprehensive view from this perspective of the history of the Japanese archipelago, which had been deeply involved in water-related matters till the end of the ancient period, thereby coming to answers to certain fundamental questions of Japanese identity, such as "What is Japan?" and "What is Japanese?" |
2007
Progress
| The 8th Workshop |
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Schedule: June 2 Presenter:
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The 9th Workshop |
Schedule: August 23–27 1) Perambulation of Remains and Documentary Search August 24: The group conducted documentary search at Gyeongju National Museum and Shaanxi Historical Museum and made a perambulation of Han Chang'an Castle and Duling Mausoleum. August 26: The group made a perambulation of Emperor Wu's Maoling and Emperor Jing Yanling Museum, scattered in lines north of the Wei river on the outskirts of Xian, and made a survey of source materials in the attached Maoling Museum, Yanling Museum, and Yanling Underground Museum. August 27: The group made a perambulation of Emperor Qin's Xian-yang Palace Site, his capital. 2) Research Presentation August 23: Presenters:
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| The 10th Workshop |
Schedule: December 8–9 Presenters:
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| The 11th Workshop |
Schedule: March 22–23 Presenters:
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Result
As a result of the cooperative research activities the group conducted, it had a book entitled "Ancient History of Ruling" (Edited by HIROSE Kazuo and NITO Atsushi) published by Gakuseisha.
Coverage by the Media
Morning Edition of Asahi Newspaper: WATANABE Shin'ichiro made a presentation at the Xian Workshop in China, on November 12, 20
2006
Progress
| The 1st |
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Schedule: June 3–4, 2006 June 3: Presenter:
June 4: Presenters:
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The 2nd |
Schedule: September 2–4, 2006 Presenters:
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| The 3rd |
Schedule: March 10–11, 2007 Presenters:
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Result
The group's great achievement is that it completed reporting and discussions with a view to publication of an independent book entitled "What is Governance?" Discussions made from the viewpoints of historical science and archaeology made it possible to intensively study the status of ruling in the 6th and 7th centuries. NITO Atsushi (historical scientist) argued in his report referring to the rule of the territory described in the "Record of Ancient Matters," the "Chronicles of Japan," and "Kokuzohongi," from the viewpoint of the central government, that there were broadly two different nation-building patterns: the horizontally structured Western side of Japan giving more weight to the nation-building order; and the vertically structured eastern side of Japan placing more importance on ruling by position in society. On the other hand, HIROSE (archaeologist) paid special attention in this report to composition of burial goods, percentage of buried people, scale of the grave mound, and shape and scale of the stone chamber to explore the background of the formation of the latter's tomb cluster and the significance of their existence. Considering the evidence that though people buried in the tomb cluster were recognized to have been varied in official capacity and position in the hierarchy, strong commonalities were seen in the shape of the tomb cluster, scale of grave mound, form of stone chamber, community form, etc., he concluded that a certain common "disposition" had been formed as the basis of execution of policies for the ruling of common people, among chieftains and between chieftains and people. The group believes that this year it has been able to show as the result of our cooperative research that multifaceted studies in the fields of historical science, archaeology, and folkloristics and a collection of discussions would be effective in creating a picture of history different from the conventional ones.
2005
Progress
The group held workshops in June, August, October, and December 2005, and in January 2006, five times in total. It is a great achievement that the group has been able to promote recognition and understanding among researchers not only by means of research presentations but also through actual perambulation of remains at sites.
| The 1st Cooperative Workshop by Departments of Medieval and Early Modern Histories |
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Schedule: June 4 (Sat.)–5 (Sun.), 2005 Venue: National Museum of Japanese History
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The 2nd Workshop |
Schedule: August 20 (Sat.)–21 (Sun.), 2005 Venue: National Museum of Japanese History National Museum of Japanese History
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| The 3rd Workshop |
Schedule: October 8 (Fri.)–10 (Sun.), 2005 Venue: Himaga Island, Aichi Pref. and Sakujima Island and Toshijima Island, Mie Pref.
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| The 4th Workshop |
Schedule: December 17 (Sat.)–18 (Sun.), 2005 Venue: National Museum of Japanese History
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| The 5th Workshop |
Schedule: March 25 (Sat.)–26 (Sun.), 2006 Venue: Local perambulation of Akibayama Kofun sites and Sagami Provincial Monastery, Ebina City; investigation of relics in the Ebina-City Onko Center; local perambulation of Nagae Sakurayama Kofun, Zushi City; and cooperative research presentation at the Shonan Village Center
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Result
This year the group has held cooperative workshops five times. As it is the initial year of the cooperative research, three or four cooperative researchers made research presentations at each workshop, focusing on how the subjects of research and the problem consciousness of cooperative researchers are related to the theme of cooperative research. As the result, having progressed in discussions of the following themes, the group has been able to clarify subjects of research to be conducted from next year onward.
ⅰ) What is Governance?
Through the study of the development of the systems of Bemin, Miyake, and Kuni-no-miyatsuko and rule by the medium of Kofun, the group was able to clarify the relationship between the ruler and the ruled in Ancient Japan. It will be a future challenge to discuss what it means from the viewpoint of historical science when people rule people.
ⅱ) On the Interrelationship between Power and Authority
The group discussed the origin and essence of royal power centering on the imperial system, while clarifying the actual statuses of power and authority in the ancient and medieval periods. It will be a future challenge to concretely elucidate how the ancient Japanese royalty had rationalized itself in shifting the center of authority from the Chinese dynasty to the Japanese imperial system.
ⅲ) What Was the Conceptual Structure of Primitive and Ancient People?
The group has so far discussed the conceptual structure of the primitive and ancient people in the Yayoi and Kofun periods by employing archaeological evidence. The theme of future cooperative research will be to elucidate the ideological structure from "physical" evidence as well as to develop methodologies for doing this. In addition to this, the group also intends to clarify how these conceptual structures are related to underlying beliefs prevalent in Japan.
ⅳ) Seigyo and Intergroup Relationships
The group has not only elucidated Seigyo in Ancient Japan, including paddy-field rice cropping, but has also discussed how the group of people of foreign origin and the group of people of domestic origin were related to each other in the achievement of the epochal development of Japan. From now on, the group is scheduled to increase interest in the theme, while widening the scope of the survey to include production of hand-crafted agricultural tools, etc. in addition to food production.
