Sadakichi Kita

Historian. Born in Tokushima Prefecture. After graduating from the Department of History at the Faculty of Letters of the Imperial University (the predecessor of the Faculty of Letters at the University of Tokyo), he joined the Ministry of Education, where he was involved in the screening and writing of textbooks, but left the ministry after taking responsibility for his argument about the legitimacy of the Northern and Southern Courts. He later served as a professor at Kyoto Imperial University and a lecturer at Tohoku Imperial University. His research focuses on ancient history, but also covers a wide range of areas, such as the historical geography of the Edo period and the issue of unliberated burakumin, and was characterized by the fact that he made extensive use of archaeological and folkloric materials in addition to historical documents to advance his arguments. He is also known for having debated with many scholars, including refuting architectural historian Sekino Tadashi's theory on the reconstruction of Horyuji Temple, debating with archaeologist Takahashi Kenji on methods for determining the age of ancient tombs, with archaeologist Hamada Kosaku on ancient peoples, and with archaeologist Yamauchi Sugao on the date of the end of the Stone Age.

[Masaki Kudo]

"The Collected Works of Sadakichi Kita, 14 volumes (1979-82, Heibonsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

歴史家。徳島県生まれ。帝国大学文科大学（東京大学文学部の前身）史学科卒業後、文部省に入り教科書の検定、執筆に従事したが、南北朝正閏(せいじゅん)論の責任をとって文部省を退き、その後、京都帝大教授、東北帝大講師を歴任した。研究分野は古代史を中心とするが、江戸時代の歴史地理、未解放部落の問題など多方面にわたり、文献史料のほか考古学や民俗学上の資料をも広く活用して論を進める点に特徴があった。また、建築史家の関野貞(せきのただし)の法隆寺再建論に反駁(はんばく)し、また考古学者の高橋健自(けんじ)と古墳の年代決定法に関して、考古学者の浜田耕作(こうさく)と古代民族について、考古学者の山内清男(やまのうちすがお)と石器時代の終末年代をめぐって論争するなど、多くの学者と論争を行ったことでも知られる。

［工藤雅樹］

『『喜田貞吉著作集』全14巻（1979～82・平凡社）』

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