Matsumoto Nobuhiro’s research trip to the Southern Pacific islands

While Matsumoto Nobuhiro focused on acquiring books on his research trip to French

Indochina, he sought to conduct ethnographical research in his trip to the Southern Pacific

islands in July and August 1937.⁵³⁷ Matsumoto could go on this ethnographical tour owing to

his relationship with Nanyo Kohatsu K. K. This relationship developed especially when

Matsumoto and his colleages did classification of the ethnographical objects owned by this

company. ⁵³⁸

Nanyo Kohatsu K. K. cultivated sugar cane in the Mariannas Islands of Saipan, Tenian

and Rota from the early 1920s.⁵³⁹ Matsue Haruji, the director of Nanyo Kohatsu K. K., became

interested in ethnography as a result of his business activities on these islands since collecting

ethnographical objects was popular in that period. Consequently, Matsue with his employes

acquired a large number of these ethnographic objects in New Guinea in July 1932. Furthermore,

in 1935, he purchased an ethnographic collection from a Japanese man, Komine Isokichi who

lived on the Southern Pacific islands. Unfortunately, the exact place of origin of Komine’s

ethnographical objects was unknown, but it was clear that they came from Melanesia.⁵⁴⁰ Hence,

thanks to director Matsue, a substantial number of the ethnographical objects from the Southern

537 Ine-fune-matsuri: Matsumoto Nobuhiro sensei tsuitō ronbunshū, Rokkōshuppan, 1982, p. 694.

538 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, Nyū Ginia dozokuhin zushū: Nan’yō kōhatsu kabushiki gaisha shūshū, jōkan, Minami no kai hen, Nan’yō kōhatsu, 1937, pp. 3-4. Yawata, Ichirō, “Kaisetsu,” Nihon minzoku bunka no kigen: Tōnan Ajia bunka to Nihon, dai 3 kan, geppō dai 3 gō, Kōdansha, 1978, pp. 1-3.

539 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Waga Nan’yō wo miru,” Mita hyōron, dai 483 gō, Mita hyōron hakkōjo, 1937, p.

5406.Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, Nyū Ginia dozokuhin zushū: Nan’yō kōhatsu kabushiki gaisha shūshū, jōkan, Minami no kai hen, Nan’yō kōhatsu, 1937, pp. 3-4.

Pacific islands were transported to Japan.

Matsumoto learnt about the ethnographic collection of Nanyo Kohatsu K. K. from

Matsue Ichirō, Matsue Haruji’s son, at Keio University in 1934. After Matsue Haruji bought

Komine’s collection, he needed scholars to organize and classify the ethnographical objects. For

this reason, he asked Matsumoto Nobuhiro and his colleagues to do this professional work. On

this occasion, the Japan Society of Oceanian Ethnography (Minami no kai, 南の会)⁵⁴¹ was

established by ethnologists of various universities such as Matsumoto Nobuhiro, Oka Masao ,

Kobayashi Tomoo, Sugiura Ken’ichi, Nakano Tomoaki and Yawata Ichiro. These scholars

started to work on classifying the artifacts in May 1935. Their working quarters was situated in a

research room provided by Fukuyama Industry Library.⁵⁴² After the classification work had

been finished, Nanyo Kohatsu K. K. sponsored the publication of The Illustrated Catalogue of

the Ethnographical Objects from Melanesia (composing of two volumes: one in 1937 and the

other in 1940) which became the first ethnographical catalogue of the Southern Pacific culture in

Japan. Matsumoto wrote its preface in addition to the preface by director Matsue. ⁵⁴³ This

suggests that Matsumoto was regarded as an authority in ethnography. In short, owing to

Nanyo Kohatsu K. K., Matsumoto could join an ethnographical research of objects from the

541 Literary translation of 南の会 is “The Society of South,” however the affiliated scholars themselves translated it into English as “The Japan Society of Oceanian Ethnography” which was also mentioned in Matsumoto, Nobuhiro,Nyū Ginia dozokuhin zushū: Nan’yō kōhatsu kabushiki gaisha shūshū, jōkan, Minami no kai hen, Nan’yō kōhatsu, 1937.

542 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, Nyū Ginia dozokuhin zushū: Nan’yō kōhatsu kabushiki gaisha shūshū, jōkan, Minami no kai hen, Nan’yō kōhatsu, 1937, pp. 3, 5.

543 Ibid, p. 3.

Southern Pacific islands in Japan together with other Japanese ethnologists.

The founding of the Japan Society of Oceanian Ethnography followed the establishment

of the Japan Ethnological Society in January 1935.⁵⁴⁴ Among the Japanese ethnologists of that

time, Oka Masao was especially important because he was Yanagita Kunio’s student like

Matsumoto and because he studied diffusionist ethnology under Wilhem Schmidt in Vienna from

1929 to 1935.⁵⁴⁵ This means that Oka joined the Japan Society of Oceanian Ethnography shortly

after his return to Japan where he was seen as an authority in ethnology due to his doctoral

degree from Wilhelm Schmidt. Oka’s importance was visible especially in May 1935 when

Wilhelm Schmidt had his lecture on ethnology in Tokyo.⁵⁴⁶ Thus, Matsumoto’s participation on

the ethnographical research for Nanyo Kohatsu K. K. reflected the rising activity of the Japanese

ethnological circles under influence of diffusionist ethnology.

As a result of the cooperation with Nanyo Kohatsu K. K., Matsumoto went on an

ethnographical research trip to the Southern Pacific islands in summer 1937. The trip was

organized by the Japan Society of Oceanian Ethnography and Matsumoto joined it together with

Yawata Ichiro, Sugiura Ken’ichi and Nakano Tomoaki.⁵⁴⁷ They spent four nights on a ship of

544 “Nihon minzoku gakkai setsuritsu shuisho,” Minzokugaku kenkyū, dai 1 kan, dai 1 gō, Nihon minzoku gakkai, Sanseidō, 1935, pp. 219-222.

545 Ōbayashi, Taryō, “Kaisetsu,” Ijin sonota: hoka jūni hen Oka Masao ronbunshū, Iwanami shoten, 1994, pp.

267-278.

546 “Nihon minzoku gakkai setsuritsu shuisho,” Minzokugaku kenkyū, dai 1 kan, dai 1 gō, Nihon minzoku gakkai, Sanseidō, 1935, pp. 219-222.

547 Minzokugaku kenkyū, dai 4 kan, dai 1 gō, Nihon minzoku gakkai, Sanseidō, 1938, p. 199. Yawata, Ichirō,

“Kaisetsu,”Nihon minzoku bunka no kigen: Tōnan Ajia bunka to Nihon, dai 3 kan, geppō dai 3 gō, Kōdansha, 1978, p. 2.

the Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line from Japan before they reached Saipan in Micronesia.⁵⁴⁸ First,

they visited Saipan and Tenian where Nanyo Kohatsu K. K. had its buildings and sugar cane

plantations. Then, they went to Palau, where the Japanese administration of the South Seas was

located, and to Yap. On Saipan and Palau, they could witness the Japanization of the local people

as a result of the Japanese colonization.⁵⁴⁹ Finally, they visited Dutch New Guinea which

Matsumoto regarded important for further Japanese economic expansion, and therefore

advocated for the Japanese-Dutch cooperation there.⁵⁵⁰ The statement that Matsumoto made

corresponded with Matsue Haruji’s wish in his preface to The Illustrated Catalogue of the

Ethnographical Objects from Melanesia which was a “contribution to the understanding and

friendship between Holland and Japan though the medium of ethnography.”⁵⁵¹ Thus,

Matsumoto’s ethnographic trip to the Southern Pacific islands reflected Japanese economic

ambitions there.

2.2.2. The significance of Matsumoto Nobuhiro’s research trip to the Southern