General Study of the 20th Century Ⅱ

This document outlines the research result of "General Study of 20th Century I" (2004–2006). It consists of two branches, A and B; in the former, the three viewpoints employed by Study I—namely, "society (wars and soldiers)," "representation (wars and culture)," and "overseas territories (wars and Asia/the South Sea)"—were changed to "memory and representation," "regional modernism," and "the South Sea and Okinawa," respectively.

The "memory and representation" group has worked mainly on cooperative research, using four photo albums compiled by a soldier from Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture. The photos in the albums were shot in the Shanghai and Nanjing areas in November and December 1937, during the most important period of the Sino-Japanese War; the fact that the photos were taken concurrent with military activities makes these photos very valuable records. The group determined the regiment to which the photographer belonged, the route taken by the regiment, and the location of the Chinese towns seen in the photos. The group also analyzed the authenticity of the photos, as well as the techniques the photographer used, to determine the significance of the albums. In addition, the group investigated the photographer's background and elucidated the relationship between the photos and the "regional modernism" in Kofu in the 1920s.

The "regional modernism" group researched the characteristics of "regional modernism" in the 1920s, based on the realities of local communities; in so doing, they determined those communities' significance with respect to the two world wars. It was found, for example, that "regional modernism" developed in such cities as Hakodate, Akita, Niigata, Kanazawa, Tsuruga and Shimonoseki as well as in the Hanshin and Tokyo areas; it was closely interrelated with the world cultural trends of the 1920s. Sharing the results of the previous study, the group focused on specific regions that it felt should be studied.

"The South Sea and Okinawa" group focused on Okinawa as one of the "overseas territories" examined in Study I, expanding its scope to include the period after World War II. The group clarified the changes that occurred, as well as how they occurred, in the cultural situations and narratives of World War II and through the periods of the Battle of Okinawa, U.S. military occupation, and the reversion movement. The group emphasized cooperative research and investigations with local cooperators, sharing specific and concrete materials with them.

The newly established branch B has two features. The first is that research was conducted by an interdisciplinary organization, involving economic history, folklore, and the history of each of medicine and natural landscapes; geography and sociology are also expected to be included in the future. This interdisciplinary approach makes this study very unique and differentiates it from those conducted by any single field of science. The second feature is that it emphasizes both fieldwork and workshop and consolidates the study results.
The joint goal of branches A and B was to present a basis for a future exhibition, "Contemporary," at Gallery 6; this exhibition is scheduled to open in 2010. The study is a practice of "museum-based research integration," a new philosophy advocated by the National Museum of Japanese History (NMJH).