2018, Vol., No.79

Journal of Japanese Culture 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.36

pISSN : 1226-3605 / eISSN : 2733-8908
https://journal.kci.go.kr/JJC

This study analyzes the Asakawa Brothers’and Yanagi Muneyoshi’s theories of Korean traditional culture in colonial Korea, to investigate the process of their research and the content of their writings, and to examine the characteristics of their views of Korean and its traditions. The Asakawa Brothers’and Yanagi Muneyoshi traveled in Korea in 1916 and recognized “unique beauty” in Korean traditional culture, which was closely connected to the lives of the Korean people. In 1924, they established the National Folk Museum of Korea in Seoul to preserve and transmit this beauty. In this study, I argue that their strong will and conviction are manifested in the “beauty of harmony” and “beauty of intimacy” of Korean traditional culture that they sought as they established the National Folk Museum of Korea, which was the fruit of their union.

This study examines situations and social factors regarding non-married women from the analysis of a Japanese movie. Based on a woman’s comic book, the movie Sue, Mai & Sawa: Righting the Girl Ship sends a strong message, drawing on a complex issue of present-day Japanese society, especially in the lives and relationships of the petit bourgeoisie. The declining populations and the increase of one-person households in modern Japan clearly show that an age of non-marriage has arrived with the a perception that marriage is a burden and a risk. Moreover, Japan’s conservative family values, which only acknowledges births stemming from legal marital relationships serves as impulses that triggers population decline. Unstable employment, the conservative tendency of family structure, and the dilemma between work and home, which have long been a part of Japanese society, consist of the a mechanism that increases the populations including “the ratio of a lifetime without marriage.” The movie addresses the structural problems of Japanese society. It mentions the problem of family care and highlights the manner in which non-married persons become responsible for elderly care. In addition, it calls into question the non-maritalization of women as a fundamental reason for the low birth rate, when considering the causes of this problems. The film conveys the message that a time has come when a new paradigm should be constructed concerning family structure, indirectly mentioning the current structural vicious circle.

The most important issue in Japan's postwar diplomacy is whether Japan chooses to be "cooperative" or "autonomous" American pressure. Although these two tendencies do not always appear consistently, the "cooperation" route characterized Japanese diplomacy, and its spirit has been passed down as the Yoshida Line. However, Yoshida Line attaches importance to America's "cooperation" more than to anything else, trying to escape from an unequal relationship with the United States. In other words, the policy sought "independence" even though it was "formally autonomous" in the framework of "cooperation" with the United States. For Yoshida Shigeru to realize the peace treaty promptly, and Hayato Ikeda to develop relations with the United States as an equal partner, Eisaku Sato developed the Japan-US cooperative route to realize the return of Okinawa. In this way, it can be said that "cooperation" and "autonomy" are complementary and form a front-back relationship of the same act in Japan's postwar diplomacy.