<論説>近代日本の青年団体 : 京都府丹後地域を事例に

Abstract

近世社会における若者組は、婚姻への介入、休み日や様々な寄付の強要などにより、家の生産に支障をきたす事があった。また明治初年におけるその財政は村財政に匹敵するほどの規模である。そこで明治初年以来村役人層は、近世来の若者組を村落共同体に従属させるべく、その統制を強めていく。ところが明治二〇年代になると、自らが生活・風俗レベルの規律化を担う事で村社会の近代化を進めようとする青年層が登場し、新たに青年会を設立してその幹部となる。しかし地域社会内部で進められる規律化の過程はゆっくりしたものであり、しかも村落共同体秩序に合致している事が必要であった。 日露戦後、帝国主義国としての国内体制強化を目指した政府は、規律化の過程を一気に加速し、村落共同体の枠を打破するために、一九一五年九月内務文部両省訓令を発した。ところが両省訓令は、その具体化に際して青年会から強い反発をうける。政府・青年会共に、生活・風俗レベルの規律化を進める必要は認めていたが、その速度・内容・担い手において認識を異にしていたのである。そして両者の相克の中から、有志団体である青年党が成立する。 本稿では京都府丹後地域を事例に、「若連中→○○会(社) →部落青年会→町村青年会(団) 」と描かれる近代日本の青年団体の変遷を具体的に跡付け、さらに部落青年会から青年党が分出する事例を提示する。

It may be said that in early modern Japan the Young Men's Group (若者組) -- which is a village association based on age-formed an obstruction to the production by the families in the village by interfering in questions of marriage, by demanding village holidays, or by forcing the families to pay all sorts of contributions. In 1868 the group's financial state was almost equal to that of the village. From that year onwards the officials of the village set out to strengthen their control of the association by placing it under the village order, so that it would not form an obstacle to the village production any more. In the 1890's, however, among these young men appeared those who wanted to promote the modernization of the village society by taking on the regulation of village life. They formed a new age-based association, known as the Young Men's Association (青年会), of which they became the leading staff members. But the process of their regulation campaign, which was carried out in them from Within the rural society, was rather slow, and moreover it had to conform to the old order of the community if it wanted to be successful. After the war with Russia, Japan, now one of the imperialistic nations, found itself pressed by the need to consolidate the order of the state. One of the measures the government took to this end was to accelerate the campaign to regulate village life. The Departments of Domestic Affairs and Education issued a joint instruction in September 1915, which aimed to modify the Young Men's Association into an institution expected to discipline the youth for national purposes. But when the government tried to put this into practice, it provoked a strong reaction from the Young Men's Associations. Indeed, both the government and the Young Men's Associations admitted the need to promote the campaign, yet they had different views about how fast it should be done, what it should involve, and who should carry it out. As a result of this conflict between the government together with the village heads, town mayors and the elementary school principals on the one hand, and the Young Men's Associations on the other, the Voluntary Young Men's Parties (青年党) arose, which were different in character from the old age-based associations. They would thereafter support the Taisho Democracy with their projects to reform the town administration and their demands for universal suffrage. In this paper on the case of the area of Tango in Kyoto Prefecture, the author traces in detail the development of the young men's organizations, and gives one example of the genesis of the Voluntary Young Men's Party out of the preceding age-based young men's association.