Ainu and Taiwan Aborigines in Japanese Literature in 20th Century

• In Event: The Politics of Affectivity: On the Discourse of the “Noble Savage” in Colonial Taiwan

Abstract

There is no orthodoxy in describing the historical human relationship between the inhabitants in Japanese mainland composed by Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu and Ainu people, who were neighbors in the northern part of Honshu. One may be entitled, however, to compare “Yezo-land” populated by the minorities like Ainu and discovered by Japanese authority to be step by step colonized and pacified to Formosa Island which was also colonized and pacified by Chinese settlers. Japanese political rule over Taiwan lasted only half a century (1895-1945) whereas Hokkaido still belongs to Japan but it seems that there were not a few who associated the Taiwanese aborigines who were suppressed by and made uprisings against Japanese Empire with Ainu people. My aim is to outline the method of comparative study of aboriginal literatures produced in 20th century in Japan, mainly referring to an third Akutagawa-prize winner, Tsuruta Tomoya’s “Story of Koshamain” (Koshamain-ki).

Author

• Masahiko Nishi, Ritsumeikan University