This research aimed at analyzing the studies on the culture originating form Southeast Asia, in a try to grasp the viewpoint in which this culture has been studied in Korea and Japan. In academic circles of Japan, until now the origin of Japanese ethn ...
This research aimed at analyzing the studies on the culture originating form Southeast Asia, in a try to grasp the viewpoint in which this culture has been studied in Korea and Japan. In academic circles of Japan, until now the origin of Japanese ethnic culture has been studied consistently considering the genealogical relationship of the culture originating form Southeast Asia as much as that of Northern Asia. On the other hand, in South Korea, from the era of Japanese imperialism until now, academics tried hard to find the origin of the Korean ethnic culture in Northern Asia and nearly never devoted themselves to the culture that originated from Southeast Asia. As one reason for this, we can take into consideration that the study of the culture that originated from Southeast Asia reminded the researchers of the Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere, and thus met with distrust.
But unfortunately, by focusing the criticism to studies of culture originating from Southeast Asia on its ideological component, there is a possibility that scientific meaning is evaluated in a non-proper manner, running into the danger of committing some faulty conclusions. For example, it seems that the "fact proposition" that genealogical relationship existed between Japanese culture and Southeast Asian culture was only understood as obviously wrong, resulting that the "proposition of what should be", namely that the Southeast Asian race should be assimilated into the Japanese race, was criticized strongly.
In order to solve these problems of recognition, it is desirable to stop regarding research about the genealogical relationship of ethnic culture and culture originated from Southeast Asia as political ideology, and to reappraise it as a theory. As a first step to reach such a purpose, I decided to investigate the grade of the aftereffect which Japanese imperialism left on the studies of the culture originating from Southeast Asia vis-a-vis the origin of ethnic culture as it can be seen in the academic circles of South Korea and Japan up to now. As an index, I considered "migration" and "cultural diffusion" as an opportunity which specifies the genealogical relationship of the cultural origins from Southeast Asia and their retrospect ethnic culture in South Korea and Japan. Since the former is premised on blood relationship, direct genealogical relationship is expected, and since the latter is not premised on it, indirect genealogical relationship is expected.
The details of my study, which is compromised of three parts, are as follows. For a start, I investigated what kind of "continuity" and "discontinuity" can be seen before and after World War II in the academic circles of Japan, which has consistently promoted studies of genealogical relationship between the cultural origins from Southeast Asia and the ethnic culture of their own country. First, it could be found that the aims of the study in the age of imperialism is related to the extension of the national identity accompanying an extension to a southern territory, and it is related to the establishment of the economic assistance system after the war, and related to display of the diversity of Japanese culture in these days. "Continuity" was seen in the interdisciplinary approach that was dominant in the prewar as well as postwar period. Concerning the content of study, "continuity" was also seen in the birthplace region of the cultural origin from Southeast Asia and the migratory route of it to Japan. Although the study of culture originating from Southeast Asia at the era of imperialism was promoted considering "migration" as a premise, the premise was denied after the war and "cultural diffusion" became the only accepted premise. Here a "discontinuity" can be seen between the prewar and postwar period. However, there is a tendency that the study of culture originating from Southeast Asia is promoted on the assumption of "migration", for reasons of the progress of physical anthropology and the expansion of the multicultural society.
Secondly, I investigated in which viewpoint the culture originating from Southeast Asia had been studied among "migration" and "cultural diffusion" in Korea and Japan after the war. More than anything, it can be pointed out that the culture originating from Southeast Asia related with the origin of their own ethnic culture are hardly found in Korea. Some researchers tried to apply the broad point of view about the cultural diffusion obtained through studying overseas to the interpretation of the South Korean culture. It seems that, however, it was soon pressed by the domestic homogeneous nation theory, and thus could only disappear. Therefore, in academic circles, the situation would not allow for terms such as "cultural diffusion" and "migration". It can be concluded here that the political or economical moment which argues for a relation between Korea and the South Asian direction did not exist. However, the progress of the multicultural society which is advancing more quickly than Japan may cause a new current to the culture originated from Southeast Asia. These days, the researcher of the Chaoxianzu who assert the Southeast Asian origin of Korean culture has appeared. We should keep an interested eye on the future of this trend.
As my third point, I introduced the viewpoint about "migration" into the theory made from the viewpoint of "cultural diffusion", and tried to re-interprete the conventional theory. These days, in Japan, the results of research which suggests "migration" of a "Southern race" in the prehistoric age are published successively in various fields, such as human genetics and environmental archaeology.
For example, the careful hypothesis of the 1970s that the ancient Southern Asia people's blood is mixed into the Korean race - albeit in small amounts - should be verified by the result of new research in the fields of human genetics. Similarly, the view of the 1980s that the maritime people arrived in the Korean Peninsula intermittently and that as a result wet rice culture diffused to the Korean Peninsula should be verified in the viewpoint whether the scale of "migration" was intermittent, or if it was large-scale. Moreover, the 1960s theory that the double burial custom of Korea was diffused from the southern direction can be interpreted as the theory that the double burial custom had been diffused by "migration" of the "southern race" to the Korean Peninsula.