Matsumoto Nobuhiro’s research trip to French Indochina

Matsumoto Nobuhiro’s trip to French Indochina represented an important watershed in

Matsumoto’s studies of Southeast Asia because Matsumoto experienced Indochinese culture

directly and acquired a wealth of research material on Indochina. Matsumoto visited Vietnam,

namely the research institutions and museums established there by the French government. His

purpose was to collect research material on Southeast Asia which was lacking in Japan. This

Nobuhiro hakase jūrai no Annan hon ni tsuite - Keiō gijuku toshokan Matsumoto bunko shozō Annan hon kaidai” (Jō), Shigaku, dai 62 kan, dai 1/2 gō, Mita shigakkai, 1992, pp. 165-183; Wada, Masahiko “Matsumoto Nobuhiro hakase jūrai no Annan hon ni tsuite - Keiō gijuku toshokan Matsumoto bunko shozō Annan hon kaidai” (Ka), Shigaku, dai 63 kan, dai 1/2 gō, Mita shigakkai, 1993, pp. 165-183; Hayashi, Masako,

“Betonamu hon ni tsuite - ‘Tōyō bunko zō Betonamu hon shomoku’ ni miru Nihon tono kakawari,” Atomi gakuen joshi daigaku bungaku fōramu, 9, Atomi gakuen joshi daigaku, 2011, pp. 188-127.

suggests that Matsumoto was aiming to establish Southeast Asian studies in Japan through this

travel.

Matsumoto visited French Indochina in summer 1933. Originally, he had a chance to go

to China, but he decided to go to French Indochina instead.⁴⁸⁶ The reason was that he became

interested in Indochina under the influence of his teacher Jean Przyluski during his studies at

Sorbonne University in 1924-1928. Moreover, Matsumoto’s friend Émile Gaspardone

(1895-1982) was a researcher at the École Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO) in Hanoi at the

time; thus Matsumoto was working under the best conditions to fullfil his purpose in Indochina.

With Gaspardone’s help, Matsumoto visited EFEO facilities in Vietnam and brought back to

Japan Western works on Southeast Asia and a collection of Vietnamese books. In EFEO in Hanoi,

Matsumoto also met the Korean scholar Kim Yung-kun (金永鍵, born in Japan in 1910) who

worked there as assistant in 1932-1940.⁴⁸⁷ Kim presented many works on the Vietnamese

culture and Vietnam’s relations with abroad including the history of the Japanese people in

Vietnam.⁴⁸⁸ However, Matsumoto mentioned about Kim only once when he introduced his

writing about the Vietnamese drifted to Japan in 1936.⁴⁸⁹

Matsumoto departed from Kobe on 29 July 1933 and arrived in Haiphong on 8 August

486 Interview with Chikamori Masashi, 23 August 2012, Keio University, Tokyo. Itō, Seiji, “Matsumoto Nobuhiro – ‘Nampōsetsu’ no kaitakusha,” Bunka jinruigaku gunzō, Nihonhen (3), Akademia shuppankai, Kyōto, 1988, p. 233.

487 Yun, De-yon, “1930-1940 nendai no Kin Ei-ken to Betonamu kenkyū,” Tōnan Ajia kenkyū, dai 48 kan, dai 3 gō, Kyōto daigaku tōnan Ajia kenkyū sentā, 2010, pp. 317, 320.

488 Ibid, pp. 314-333.

489 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Tsuiki,” Minzokugaku kenkyū, dai 2 kan, dai 1 gō, Minzokugakkai, 1936, pp.

66-69.

1933.⁴⁹⁰ He considered his study in the library of the EFEO in Hanoi to be the best time of his

research trip: “Approximately for one month and a half, I was researching through the Annamese

[=Vietnamese]⁴⁹¹ books, being helped by kind Annamese public servants in the reading room

where the fan was turned on. This was the most wonderful memory of my voyage.”⁴⁹²

Matsumoto’s impressions reveal that his delight came from being able to attain his main goal in

Indochina which was the acquisition of the written sources.

Furthermore, Gaspardone took Matsumoto on a trip by car to Cao Bằng Province in

Tonkin on 2 September 1933.⁴⁹³ Matsumoto could observe there peoples of various ethnic

minorities, such as Thái (Tho), Mèo, and Mán, especially in their natural environment. ⁴⁹⁴

Then, Matsumoto went to Huế by train. He visited the royal palace with the historical

archive and royal tombs there.⁴⁹⁵ In the historical archives, he started negotiating with

authorities in attempt to acquire copies of theAnnals of the Đại Nam (Đại Nam Thực lục, 大南

實錄) which were the much coveted annals of the last Vietnamese dynasty Nguyễn: “The Annals of the Đại Nam is a precious writing that has not been even partially introduced in Japan, and the goal of my trip was to bring a part of them to Japan. I negotiated directly with Phạm Quỳnh,

490 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Indoshina inshōki (I),” Mita hyōron, dai 437 gō, Mita hyōron hakkōjo, 1934, pp.

24-25.

491 Annam is an old naming for Vietnam. Annamese means Vietnamese.

492 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Indoshina inshōki (I),” Mita hyōron, dai 437 gō, Mita hyōron hakkōjo, 1934, p. 27.

493 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Indoshina inshōki (II),” Mita hyōron, dai 440 gō, Mita hyōron hakkōjo, 1934, p.

24.494 Ibid, p. 25.

495 Matsumoto, Nobuhiro, “Indoshina inshōki (III),” Mita hyōron, dai 445 gō, Mita hyōron hakkōjo, 1934, pp.

10-11.

but I got the answer that they would only permit me to print only a section of the

introduction.”⁴⁹⁶ In Huế, Matsumoto also visitedtheAssociation des Amis du Vieux Huế with its

small library and the Khải Định Museum in the royal palace.⁴⁹⁷ Finally, Matsumoto went by car

to Đà Nẵng (Tourane) and to Hội An (Faifo) on the 17 September. He stopped at Đà Nẵngfor the

sole purpose of seeing the Cham museum. Then, he visited the Japanese bridge and the Japanese

graves in Hội Anwhere a Japanese town used to stand.⁴⁹⁸ He could visit them because he learnt

about them from Kim Yung-kun who described Japan-related places in his writings.⁴⁹⁹ In short,

Matsumoto visited museums, archives and places related to Japan in Southern Vietnam.

Matsumoto was among the few Japanese who travelled in Vietnam of French Indochina

at that time. Since Matsumoto was fluent in French due to his studies in Paris, he had no

problems in communicating with the French and the French-speaking Vietnamese. During his

stay in Vietnam, Matsumoto could see the French quarters, meet Vietnamese intellectuals who

received French education, and witness the lives of the everyday folk in Vietnam, an experience

important to Matsumoto because the commoners were the ones that preserved their traditional

customs. In addition, he could also observe ethnic minorities living in the mountains of Tonkin.

Matsumoto’s experience was unique among Japanese scholars because he was probably the first

Japanese to visit Indochina for academic purposes. Unfortunately, Matsumoto’s notes from

496 Ibid, pp. 12-13.

497 Ibid, p. 13.

498 Ibid, pp. 13-16.

499 Yun, De-yon, “1930-1940 nendai no Kin Ei-ken to Betonamu kenkyū,” Tōnan Ajia kenkyū, dai 48 kan, dai 3 gō, Kyōto daigaku tōnan Ajia kenkyū sentā, 2010, pp. 326-327.

Indochina reveal little about his ideas concerning the native people of Indochina whose culture

interested him. It is probably because Matsumoto was not a field worker by nature and therefore,

did not have the habit of writing down notes from his observations. Consequently, the most

visible output of Matsumoto’s trip to Indochina were the Western writings and Vietnamese books

that he brought back to Japan and subsequently introduced to Japanese readers.