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Signature: ___________________________________ _____________ Date Approval Sheet Examining the Life of Oyabe Zen’ichirō: The New Formation of Modern Japanese Identity at the Turn of the Twentieth Century By Kazumi Hasegawa Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts ___________________________________ Mark Ravina, Ph.D. Advisor ____________________________________ Kimberly Wallace-Sanders, Ph.D. Co-advisor _____________________________________ Regine Jackson, Ph.D. Committee Member Accepted: __________________________________ Lisa A. Tedesco, Ph.D. Dean of the Raney Graduate School _____________ Date Examining the Life of Oyabe Zen’ichirō: The New Formation of Modern Japanese Identity at the Turn of the Twentieth Century By Kazumi Hasegawa B.A., Meiji Gakuin University, 1999 M.A., The Ohio State University, 2001 Advisors: Mark Ravina, Ph.D., Kimberly Wallace-Sanders, Ph.D. An abstract of A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts 2013 Abstract Examining the Life of Oyabe Zen’ichirō: The New Formation of Modern Japanese Identity at the Turn of the Twentieth Century By Kazumi Hasegawa My dissertation, entitled “Examining the Life of Oyabe Zen’ichirō: The New Formation of Modern Japanese Identity at the Turn of the Twentieth Century” reconstructs the life history of Oyabe Zen’ichirō (1867-1941) and examines the formation of his Japanese identity within international racial discourse of the time. His encounter with international racial discourse made him similar to and different from other Meiji intellectuals. Oyabe as a private citizen, decided to study in the United States. He studied in various educational institutions such as Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Howard University, and Yale University, which were the centers of American racial discourse in the late nineteenth century. His racial experience was not a singular relation with another race, but multiple and transnational, and included Anglo Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans in the United States as well as the Ainu and the Japanese in Japan. Examining the experiences of other Japanese intellectuals during this period, it is clear that they shared similar experiences of being disheartened by the West because of their ethnicity. Oyabe studied in the United States between 1889 and 1898. After he returned to Japan, he educated the Ainu, by establishing an Ainu school called Abuta Gakuen in Hokkaido in 1905. In the 1920s, he became one of the strongest advocates for the legendary myth that Genghis Khan, a Mongolian hero of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, was identical to Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a Japanese warrior. Although it provoked a public controversy, the book was a best seller and gained popularity. He also published several books regarding the origins of the Japanese people as a lost tribe of Israel. The common thread in Oyabe’s various enterprises was the production of a Japanese racial identity that fit with broader, transnational racial discourse. The key question for the formation of Japanese identity was how to fit the Japanese people into late nineteenth century racial discourse. Put simply, were the Japanese “white,” or not quite? My dissertation connects Oyabe to these questions of Japanese ethnic identity and international relations between the United States and Japan at the turn of the twentieth century. Examining the Life of Oyabe Zen’ichirō: The New Formation of Modern Japanese Identity at the Turn of the Twentieth Century By Kazumi Hasegawa B.A., Meiji Gakuin University, 1999 M.A., The Ohio State University, 2001 Advisors: Mark Ravina, Ph.D., Kimberly Wallace-Sanders, Ph.D. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts 2013 Acknowledgments Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Mark Ravina who has been my sensei since I arrived at Emory in 2006. He has constantly provided me with his expertise in Japanese history and sound advice during each step of the dissertation research and writing process. I had countless meetings with him to discuss my project and life in general. I am honored to have worked with him during my graduate years at Emory. Dr. Kimberly Wallace-Sanders as my co- advisor and Dr. Regine Jackson as my committee member have guided me throughout my time in this graduate program. Without their tremendous support, I simply could not have gotten through the program and finished my dissertation. Many thanks also go to archivists, researchers, and staff at various institutions and archives in the United States and Japan, all of whom made my research possible. I first encountered Oyabe Zen’ichirō, whom I researched in this dissertation project, at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University. I am indebted to Donzella Maupin at the University Archives of Hampton University for sharing Oyabe’s archives. Dr. Kristina Troost, Head of International Area Studies and Japanese Studies Librarian at Duke University, gave me a fellowship and the opportunity to use the library materials. Dr. Fukuju Shino at the Multi-media and Socio-information Studies Archive, The University of Tokyo Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, shared the collections of Tsuboi Shōgorō. Dr. Deriha Kōji at the Historical Museum of Hokkaido and helped me find the related resources in the Ainu collections. Dr. Ogawa Masato at the Hokkaido Ainu Cultural Research Center shared his expertise in the history of Ainu education. Ms. Okamoto Michiyo at the Obihiro City Library allowed me to use an office in the library to read the writings of Yoshida Iwao. Mr. Okada Hideyuki at the town office of Tōyako showed me around the town and taught me the regional history of Tōya. Dr. Kikuchi Iwao at the Miyagi Gakuen Women’s University sent me copies of resources about the Yoshitsune legends in the Tōhoku region because we had to cancel our meeting due to the earthquakes. I particularly appreciate the opportunities and support given to make my research possible in Japan, even in the middle of chaos after the Great Tōhoku Earthquakes occurred in March 2011. Today, on March 11, 2013, two years after the earthquakes, I am writing to express my gratitude to everyone who helped me in various ways to stay calm, focus, and keep researching during my stay in Hokkaido and Tokyo. Finally, my family, friends, and sensei across the globe have been inspirations for completing this program. My family, Kiyoshi, Matsuko, and Naomi, always believe in me and await my graduation all the way from Japan. Many of my friends encouraged me to get through the program. Especially, Thomas Fabisiak and Lillien Waller read all of my chapters and patiently worked with me to improve my writing. Special thanks go to Dr. Ito Ruri. She was the first feminist scholar I encountered in college, and she opened many doors for me in academia. She has led me in the journey since then. Thank you, all. Table of Contents Prologue 1 Chapter 1 The Civilized “Japanese?” Competing Narratives of Civilization at the Turn of the Twentieth Century 29 Chapter 2 The Philosophy of Jitsugyō: Oyabe, Hokkaido Kyūdojin Kyūikukai, and Ainu Education Praxis 65 Chapter 3 Minamoto no Yoshitsune Fever: Intellectual Debates over Historical Truth and Oyabe Zen’ichirō’s Interventions in Japanese Imagination in the 1920s 108 Chapter 4 Disheartened by the West: The New Formation of the Meiji Christian Intelligentsia 143 Epilogue 194 Bibliography 199 1 Prologue Oyabe Zen’ichirō (1867-1941) is less well known than Meiji intellectuals such as Fukuzawa Yukichi1, Nishi Amane, and Natsume Sōseki. If I had not encountered his name in the university archives of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University when I visited a few years ago, I would not know about him either, nor could I ever have imagined researching his life. However, once I got interested in his life and publications, I started to notice his name and fragments of his life appearing scattered throughout Meiji history. Oyabe was a Christian minister, writer, and a founder of the Abuta Gakuen (Abuta School), which provided elementary school education to the Ainu, who are now considered an “indigenous people” of Japan.2 Oyabe also spent approximately nine years in the United States; from 1889 to 1898 he studied at places like Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute, Howard University, and Yale University. Oyabe was an eclectic thinker, and his writings include books on the legends of the survival hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1159-1189), the origins of the Japanese people as a lost tribe of Israel, and the Japanese origins of Genghis Khan. Because his publications were not academic, his books were regarded as tondemo books: totally divorced from scientific and academic legitimacy.3 Recently, there have been moves to shed light on Oyabe’s life, particularly his published memoir, A Japanese Robinson Crusoe.