<論説>建国大学における地理学者とその活動 : 宮川善造を中心に

Abstract

本稿の目的は、「満洲国」の建国大学に在職した宮川善造に注目し、アジア・太平洋戦争期の「大日本帝国」の植民地の高等教育機関における地理学者の調査研究・教育活動の特徴、および彼らが果たした役割を考察することにある。建国大学研究院における活動を通じて宮川は、国土計画を主導する国務院総務庁と連携し、「満洲国」国民構成の民族別分析や国勢の図表化に取り組んだ。この経験が彼に地政学への関心を喚起させ、「満洲国」の立場を謳う「満洲の地政学」を提唱させるに至った。だが、「内地」の地政学と比較すると、その見解は「内地」側の論理とさほど変わらないものであった。「満洲国」の属国的位置づけがその理由だが、こうした見解を内容とする彼の地理教育は、日本人の好意的な受容とは対照的に、中国人学生の反発を招いた。このように宮州の活動は、「内地」とは異なる新生面を開いた一方で、植民地という環境に大きく規定されるものとなった。

The purpose of this paper is to reveal the characteristics of the activities of geographers in a Japanese colony during World War II by focusing on Zenzo Miyakawa (1904-1985) at Kenkoku University, which was founded as the highest educational institution of the liberal arts at the capital Shinkyo (Changchun) of Manchukuo in 1938. Using original documents, memoirs, and interviews with the former students of the university, I examine the research and educational activities of Miyakawa under colonial conditions that differed from those of mainland Japan. I first analyze the research activities of Miyakawa at the university. He started a geographical study of Manchukuo that was based on a new discipline created by Syoichi Sakuta who was a vice president of the university. Miyakawa organized research groups (kenkyu-han) and conducted research into population problems, in cooperation with State Council (Kokumu-in) of Manchukuo. As a result, he participated in the national planning of Manchukuo. These experiences deepened his interest in geopolitical studies. Next, I examine the ideological composition of and the positions advocated in Miyakawa's geopolitics. Criticizing the earlier geopolitics that were based on a Japanese standpoint, for example, the "Japanese geopolitics" of Saneshige Komaki, Miyakawa tried to advocate "Manchurian geopolitics" from the standpoint of Manchukuo, and explained his thinking on the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and the geopolitical position of Manchukuo. However, Miyakawa's geopolitics and "Japanese geopolitics" did not differ much in their geopolitical views. The main reason is that his geopolitics put Manchukuo in an auxiliary position to those of the Japanese Empire. Thirdly, I consider the educational activities of Miyakawa at the university. He lectured on "Manchurian geopolitics" in required geography courses. His lectures were received as "lucid" and "novel" by the Japanese students. In contrast the Chinese students regarded his lecture as education designed to enslave them, as were the lectures on history and Shinto. Through an examination of these points, I have come to the conclusion that the following two aspects were the characteristics of activities of geographers in this Japanese colony. First, unlike geographers in mainland Japan, they were engaged in the research activities in cooperation with the administrative organs of the state. Secondly, they tried to construct a new geopolitics from the standpoint of Manchukuo that was independent from that of mainland Japan. These characteristics suggest the diversity in the development of geographical research in the Japanese Empire.