Folklore - minzokugaku

Japanese: 民俗学 - みんぞくがく

Folklore studies the development of cultures that have been created by ordinary people in advanced countries or ethnic groups up to the present day. In order to understand the appearance of older cultures, it is characterized by looking for the appearance of older cultures that still remain in the lives of advanced ordinary people, so-called folklore and folk traditions. There are many documents that are sometimes compared to folklore materials that reveal a part of the folklore of the time, and they convey the appearance of ordinary people's lives along with the characteristics of the era, so they are also valuable materials for folklore studies. In general, cultural progress is not uniformly reflected in all people of a country or ethnic group. With the remarkable progress of transportation and communication and the spread of education, regional differences are gradually narrowing, but there is still a large gap between cities and the countryside. Old cultures that have already disappeared in urban areas still remain in remote areas, and you can see them clearly. Even in remote areas, you can find the appearance of older cultures among older people rather than younger people.

Thus, folklore studies the history of the cultural development of a country or a people, but many people emphasize the modern nature of folklore. Folklore studies should deal with folklore that still has a strong influence in modern times and has a great influence on modern life. Needless to say, the study of such folklore is particularly valuable, but there are some folklore that have come to live faintly on the fringes of modern life and cannot be ignored in understanding the transition of modern life, and the study of such folklore cannot be excluded from the field of folklore. Furthermore, there are many folklore that have been passed down to the present day but whose significance is unclear, and by collecting a large number of them and studying them in comparison with each other, the significance of many of them in cultural development becomes clear. This type of study occupies an important part of the field of folklore.

The history that folklore studies teach is significantly different from general history. In conventional historical research, even things like food, clothing, and shelter were covered in minute detail, such as the appearance of the upper class in courts, the grandiose construction of palaces, and gorgeous clothing. In literature and art, the works of outstanding masters are discussed, and things that are of great interest to ordinary people tend to be neglected. In contrast, folklore studies do not ignore things related to the upper class, but they particularly focus on the culture of ordinary people. For this reason, folklore research is becoming more and more respected as democratization progresses.

[Mogami Takayoshi]

History of Folklore

Japan

Looking at the history of the establishment of Japanese folklore studies, interest in and research into individual folklore dates back a long time. During the Edo period, when cities developed all over the country, leading scholars such as Ogyu Sorai and Motoori Norinaga argued that the ancient forms that had disappeared in urban areas still lingered in the countryside, and stressed the need for regional research. Essays from the mid- to late Edo period, such as "Shiojiri," "Tankai," "Kashiyawa," and "Matsuya Hikki," focused on and explored the traditional culture that remained in the countryside. Other works that record ancient cultures that remain over a wide area include Tachibana Nankei's "Journey to the West" and "Journey to the East", Furukawa Koshoken's "Zakki of East" and "Zakki of West", Shiba Kokan's "Diary of a Journey to the West", and Sugae Masumi's "Masumi Travelogue", who spent half his life traveling. Also noteworthy is Yashiro Hirokata's survey of the folk customs of various provinces through his questionnaire on customs. Works that make detailed observations of folk customs in smaller areas include Shaku Keijun's "Zakki of the Travels of Jippoan", Suzuki Bokushi's "Hokuetsu Seppu", and Akamatsu Sotan's "Tonegawa Zushi". After the Meiji Restoration, the Tokyo Anthropological Society was founded in 1884 (Meiji 17) by Shogoro Tsuboi of Tokyo University, and published an anthropological journal, which often discussed issues of folklore and included reports on folklore surveys in remote areas. In 1893, the Folklore Society was formed within the Anthropological Society, and reports and discussions on some folklore topics were held several times.

In this environment, the study of Japanese folklore made a great leap forward, and the foundation of Japanese folklore studies was largely due to the superhuman efforts of Kunio Yanagita. Of course, the cooperation of many researchers was also important, especially the work of Shinobu Orikuchi, who nurtured many folklore researchers with his thorough research in literature, and Keizo Shibusawa, who guided and supported talented researchers with his deep understanding of folklore. Yanagita started out as a government official and was involved in agricultural administration, which is thought to have led him to study the various folklore traditions that have such a great influence on the lives of rural farmers, fishermen, and villagers. With his strong reading ability, he searched through all kinds of related old books, and it is said that he saw every valuable book in the Cabinet Library (now held by the National Archives of Japan). He traveled all over the country to inspect and teach in various regions, and had many opportunities to come into contact with the actual state of folklore. When he left his government job to work for the Asahi Shimbun Company, he spent his days traveling from north to south of the country, and was deeply fascinated by the living appearance of folklore. In the midst of all this, Yanagita published folklore journals such as "Local Studies" (1913), "Minzoku" (1925), and "Shima" (Islands), which he edited alone or with others, and not only constantly published research on various aspects of folklore, but also continued to contribute to folklore journals published both centrally and locally, and attended research meetings and colloquia held all over the country to encourage folklore research. Among these, lectures given at meetings of researchers in 1932 and 1933 (Showa 7 and 8) were transcribed and became the first general overviews of Japanese folklore studies, "Research Methods of Local Life" and "Folk Tradition Theory" (1934). Starting in 1934, Yanagita mobilized his students to conduct large-scale folklore surveys across the country over a period of several years. He also organized the folklore materials he had collected himself and published various classifications of folklore vocabulary for the convenience of general researchers. In 1935, on the occasion of Yanagita's 60th birthday, a group of people came together to form a national organization for Japanese folklore studies, the Folklore Society, and began publishing a monthly journal, Folklore. During the turmoil following the Second World War, Yanagita provided his study for the Folklore Research Institute (1947), which organized research, and the Folklore Society was renamed the Japanese Folklore Society (1949), and its journal eventually became the quarterly Japanese Folklore. After the institute was dissolved, the Japanese Folklore Society was based at Seijo University, which had close ties to Yanagita, and continues to publish the bimonthly Japanese Folklore.

After the Second World War, the wind of respect for culture was blowing again, and the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties was enacted. The Committee for the Protection of Cultural Properties was established as an external bureau of the Ministry of Education, and the government began to designate cultural properties (later it became the Department for Protection of Cultural Properties within the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and in 2001, with the reorganization of government ministries and agencies, the Department for Protection of Cultural Properties was reorganized as the Department of Cultural Properties). Valuable folklore that shows the history of popular culture was first designated as important folklore materials, and then as folk-cultural properties, and became the subject of protection. Efforts were made to create detailed and accurate records of intangible folk-cultural properties that could not be preserved in their original form. Similar work was also carried out by the prefectural and municipal governments through their respective committees for the protection of cultural properties. In addition, in order to search for truly important folk-cultural properties, large-scale folklore surveys were conducted throughout the nation, and many detailed folklore surveys were also conducted by local governments in limited areas. Furthermore, local governments began to set up history and folklore museums all over the country, either on their own or with assistance from the national government, and in 1981 the National Museum of History and Folklore was established, making a great contribution to the spread and development of folklore studies.

[Mogami Takayoshi]

foreign country

Japanese folklore is often called folklore folklore to distinguish it from ethnology, which has the same pronunciation. Folklore is originally the name of British folklore, and was first used by William John Thoms in 1846, in the middle of the 19th century. It is said to have been devised as an easy-to-understand term to collectively refer to what were previously called popular antiquities, such as superstitions, riddles, legends, old tales, and other oral literature. The literal meaning is something like knowledge of the common people, and it eventually became the name of the academic field that studies them. It deals broadly with the traditional mental phenomena of the common people, but for a long time it did not delve into material culture. This restriction was removed in the 20th century, and it began to deal broadly with folklore. However, because Britain held vast colonies for a long time and was home to many primitive peoples, there is a clear tendency to refer to the primitive culture of those peoples when explaining the folklore of the British people.

German folklore is called Volkskunde, which has the same meaning as folklore, but is not a translation of the word. It was first used to mean the study of the common people in WH Riehl's Volkskunde as a Science, published in 1858. Perhaps because Volkskunde is mainly studied by university scholars, many of them clearly explain their final goal while dealing with folklore materials, and Riehl's emphasis is on discovering the fundamental characteristics of German nationality. In contrast, there are also those such as H. Naumann who argue that the mission of Volkskunde is not to clarify the German national spirit, but to recognize a primitive, non-individualistic community, and there are also those who do not only explore the characteristics of a single ethnic group, but also seek to pursue the spiritual forces that work in the formation, spread, and transition of ethnic ideas.

Folklore is a widely studied field outside of the UK, and in France it has become a field that is rich in folklore, but in Scandinavia, America, and Russia, folklore is understood to deal with oral literature and other folk performing arts. In these regions, some people understand that folklore in the full sense is limited to ethnology or ethnography. Ethnology has been developed since ancient times, but it was originally the study of primitive cultures of primitive peoples, and it involved broad observation of various peoples, so it was quite different from folklore, which is the study of a country and its people by someone who lives among a single nation and is fully familiar with its language and customs. However, later on, ethnologists moved away from such a rough research method and began to study a limited area by living among the people there and becoming fully familiar with the language, conducting detailed research over many years, and then organizing the results and comparing them with similar research results from other regions. If this is the case, then, as far as a particular region is concerned, one might interpret folklore as ethnology relating to a limited area. Cultural anthropology, which has spread to many countries, mainly in the United States, and social anthropology, which is carried out in many places, mainly in the United Kingdom, are roughly equivalent to ethnology, which developed on the European continent, and one could say that folklore is cultural anthropology or social anthropology relating to a limited area.

[Mogami Takayoshi]

"Folklore Theory" and "Methods of Researching Local Life" (included in The Definitive Collection of Yanagita Kunio Vol. 25, 1964, Chikuma Shobo)" ▽ "Japanese Folklore, by Wakamori Taro (1953, Kobundo)" ▽ "Folklore Research, edited by the Folklore Research Institute (1978, Meishu Publishing)" ▽ "Folklore Dictionary, supervised by Yanagita Kunio (1951, Tokyodo Publishing)" ▽ "Japanese Folklore Dictionary, edited by the Otsuka Folklore Society (1972, Kobundo)"

"Masumi Travelogue"
"Tsuki no Dewa-do" Volume 1, Tsuchide-sho Arakawa-mura (Daisen City, Akita Prefecture), by Masumi Sugae, manuscript owned by the National Diet Library

"Masumi Travelogue"

"Tone River Illustrated Guide"
A map of Kinoshita-gashi. Located on the right bank of the Tone River, west of Lake Inban, Kinoshita-gashi was an important place for shipping during the Edo period. It is said that the area was also bustling with tourists, many of whom made pilgrimages to the three shrines of Kashima, Katori, and Ikusu, and sightseeing trips to Choshiura. Volume 3, "A Map of Boats Departing for a Pilgrimage to the Three Shrines," by Akamatsu Sotan, edited by Yanagita Kunio, published in 1938 (Showa 13), Iwanami Bunko, National Diet Library .

"Tone River Illustrated Guide"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

民俗学は、文化の進んだ国あるいは民族について、一般庶民のつくりあげてきた文化の今日に至るまでの発展の模様を研究するものである。そのより古い文化の姿を知るについて、進んだ庶民生活のなかになお残っている古い文化の姿、いわゆる民俗とか民間伝承というものを尋ねてゆくことを特色とする。ときに民俗資料と対比される文献資料にも、その当時の民俗の一端を明らかにするものが数々あり、庶民生活の姿をその時代性とともに伝えてくれるもので、やはり民俗学の貴重な資料となる。いったい、文化の進歩は一国一民族のうちすべての人々に一様に現れるものではない。交通通信の目覚ましい進歩、教育の普及とともに地域差はしだいに縮まっているが、まだ都会と田舎(いなか)との間には大きな格差がある。都会地にはすでに消えた古い文化が、僻地(へきち)へ行くとまだ残っており、その姿をまざまざととらえることができる。僻地でも年若い人々より高年齢層のなかに古い文化の姿を探ることができる。

　こうして民俗学は一国一民族の文化発展の歴史を探るものであるが、民俗学の現代性を強調する人々も多い。民俗学は、民間伝承のなかでも現代になお強い勢力をもち、現代生活に大きな影響を及ぼしているようなものを取り扱うべきだとするものである。そのような民間伝承の研究がとくに貴重なことはいうまでもないが、現代生活の末端にかすかに生き続けるに至ったもので、現代生活の推移を理解するうえで無視しえないものがあり、そうした民俗の研究を民俗学の領域から排除することはできない。また民間伝承のなかには、現在に受け継がれておりながら、その意義の判然としないものが数多くあり、それらを多数集めて相互に比較考究することにより、文化発展のうえに有する意義が明らかになるものが少なくない。この種の考究は民俗学領域の重要な部分を占める。

　こうした民俗学が説くところの歴史は、従来の一般の歴史と比べ著しく異なるものである。在来の歴史研究では、たとえば衣食住のようなものでも、最上流の宮廷における姿、広壮な宮殿の造りや華麗な服飾のことなどこまごまと取り上げられた。文学や美術についても、傑出した巨匠の作品が論ぜられ、一般庶民に関心の深いものはとかく疎んぜられている。これに反し民俗学では、上流人士にかかわるものも無視はしないが、とくに力を注いで説くのは一般庶民の文化に関してである。そのため、民主化の進行とともに民俗学的な研究がますます尊重されている。

［最上孝敬］

民俗学の歴史

日本

日本民俗学成立の歴史をみると、個々の民俗に対する関心・研究はずいぶん古くからあり、各地に都市の発達をみた江戸時代、荻生徂徠(おぎゅうそらい)、本居宣長(もとおりのりなが)らの指導的学者は、都会地に消えた古来の姿がなお田舎にその影をとどめていることを説いて、地方研究の必要を説いた。江戸中期・後期の随筆類、『塩尻(しおじり)』『譚海(たんかい)』『甲子夜話(かっしやわ)』『松屋筆記(まつのやひっき)』等々は田舎(いなか)に残る伝承文化に注目しこれを考究している。そのほか橘南谿(たちばななんけい)の『西遊記(さいゆうき)』『東遊記(とうゆうき)』、古川古松軒(こしょうけん)の『東遊雑記』『西遊雑記』、司馬江漢(しばこうかん)の『西遊日記』、その半生を行旅のなかに過ごした菅江真澄(すがえますみ)の『真澄遊覧記』等、広い範囲にわたって残存する古い文化を数々記録している。そのほか屋代弘賢(やしろひろかた)の風俗問状による諸国民俗の調査も注目すべきものである。もっと狭い地域について細かに民俗の観察をしたものに釈敬順(しゃくけいじゅん)の『十方庵(じっぽうあん)遊歴雑記』、鈴木牧之(ぼくし)の『北越雪譜(ほくえつせっぷ)』、赤松宗旦(そうたん)の『利根川図志(とねがわずし)』等々がある。維新後となると1884年（明治17）に東京大学の坪井正五郎を中心として東京人類学会が結成され、人類学雑誌が刊行されたが、そのなかに民俗の問題もしばしば論議され、僻地における民俗調査の報告も出ている。また1893年以来人類学会のなかに土俗学会ができ、若干の民俗について報告討議が何回か行われた。

　こうしたなかにおいて日本の民俗研究が一大躍進を遂げ、日本民俗学の成立をみたについては、柳田国男(やなぎたくにお)の超人的活躍によるところが大きい。もちろん多くの研究者の協力により、ことに文芸関係の透徹した研究をもって幾多の民俗研究者を育てた折口信夫(おりくちしのぶ)や、民俗学に対する深い理解をもって有能な研究者を指導援助した渋沢敬三らの働きも大きかった。柳田は官吏として初め農政に携わったことから、地方農山漁村民の生涯に大きな力を及ぼしている諸民俗の研究に至ったものと思われる。その旺盛(おうせい)な読書力をもってあらゆる関係古書を渉猟し、内閣文庫（現、国立公文書館所蔵）の浩瀚(こうかん)な貴重書もすべて彼の目に触れぬものはなかったといわれる。地方の視察、指導のため、全国各地に出張し、民俗の実情に触れる機会も多く、官途を辞し朝日新聞社に関係した際など、全国北から南までの大旅行に日々を送り、民俗の生きた姿に深く魅了された。こうしたなかで柳田は単独または共同編集の民俗専門誌『郷土研究』（1913）、『民族』（1925）、『島』等を刊行し、絶えず民俗各方面の研究を発表したばかりでなく、中央および地方で発行される民俗関係誌にも寄稿を続け、各地に催される研究会、談話会に出て民俗研究を督励し続けた。そのなかで1932、1933年（昭和7、8）のころ、研究者の集会で講述されたものが筆録されて、初めての日本民俗学の概説書『郷土生活の研究法』および『民間伝承論』（1934）となった。1934年からは数年にわたり門下生を動員して全国にわたる大規模な民俗調査を行い、また柳田自ら収集した民俗資料を整理し、各種の分類民俗語彙(ごい)を刊行して一般研究者の便に供した。1935年柳田の還暦を機会に集まった人々によって、日本民俗学の全国的組織、民間伝承の会が誕生し、月刊の機関誌『民間伝承』の発行が始まった。第二次世界大戦後の混乱期には柳田はその書斎を提供して民俗学研究所（1947）として研究体制を整え、民間伝承の会も日本民俗学会と改称（1949）し、機関誌もやがて四季刊の『日本民俗学』となった。研究所解散ののちは、日本民俗学会も柳田と関係深い成城大学に本拠を置いて、隔月刊『日本民俗学』の刊行を続けている。

　第二次世界大戦後はまた文化尊重の風に乗じ、文化財保護法が施行され、当時の文部省外局として文化財保護委員会が設けられ、国による文化財の指定が行われるようになった（のちに文化庁内の文化財保護部となり、さらに2001年の省庁再編に伴い文化財保護部は文化財部へと改組）。庶民文化の歴史を示す貴重な諸民俗も、初め重要民俗資料として、やがて民俗文化財として国の指定を受け、保護の対象とされた。古き姿そのままにとどめがたい無形民俗文化財については、詳細正確な記録作成に努めることとなった。同様の仕事は都道府県や市町村によってもそれぞれの文化財保護委員会によって行われた。このほか真に重要な民俗文化財を探索するため、全国都道府県に通ずる大規模な民俗調査が行われ、また地方庁による限られた地区内の精密な民俗調査も数々施行された。さらに地方庁による独自あるいは国の援助を受けての歴史・民俗博物館の設置が各地に行われ、1981年（昭和56）には国立の歴史民俗博物館も成立するに至って、民俗学の普及進展に大いに貢献している。

［最上孝敬］

外国

日本民俗学は、同音の民族学と区別するため、しばしばフォークロアfolkloreの民俗学といわれる。フォークロアは本来イギリスの民俗学の称で、19世紀のなかば1846年にウィリアム・ジョン・タムズW. J. Thomsが初めて使い出したことばである。従来、民間故事popular antiquitiesとよんでいたもの、すなわち俗信とか、なぞなぞ、伝説、昔話その他の口承文芸などを総称する親しみやすいことばとして案出されたものとされる。その字義は庶民の知識とでもいうべきもので、やがてそれらを研究する学問の名称ともなった。庶民の伝統的な心意現象を広く取り扱うが、物質文化にまでは立ち入らない風が久しくあった。その制約も20世紀に入ると除かれ、広く民俗を取り扱うものとなった。ただイギリスは長い間広大な植民地を領有し、多数の原始民族を抱えていた関係上、イギリス国民の民俗を説くにあたっても、原始民族の原始的文化を引き合いに出して説く風が顕著である。

　ドイツの民俗学はフォルクスクンデVolkskundeとよばれ、語義はフォークロアと同じであるがその翻訳ではなく、これを初めて庶民に関する学問の意味に使ったのは1858年に現れたリールW. H. Riehlの『科学としてのフォルクスクンデ』である。フォルクスクンデは主として大学の学者による攻究が盛んなためか、民俗資料を取り扱いながらその最終の目標を明確に説くものが多く、リールにあってはドイツ民族性の根本的特質の発見が強調される。またこれに反し、ドイツ民族精神を明らかにすることより、原始的非個人主義的な共同体の認識をもってフォルクスクンデの任務と説くナウマンH. Naumannのごとき主張もあれば、一民族の特性を探究するにとどまらず、民族的観念の形成、伝播(でんぱ)、推移にあたって働く精神的勢力を追究しようとするものなど多彩である。

　なおフォークロアなる学問はイギリス以外にも広く行われ、フランスなどでりっぱに民俗学の内容を備えたものとなっているが、北欧、アメリカおよびロシアでのフォークロアは、口承文芸その他民俗芸能を扱うものと解されている。これらの地域で完全な意味での民俗学は、民族学（エスノロジーethnology）または民族誌学（エスノグラフィーethnography）の限られた地域に関するものと解する人々がいる。民族学などは古くから発達していたが、本来原始民族に関する原始的文化の研究をするものであり、それも諸民族を広く観察してゆくのであるから、一国一民族のなかに生活しその言語習俗に十分なじんだ者が、その国その民族の研究をする民俗学とはいたく異なるものであった。しかし民族学者ものちになると、そのような粗放な研究方法から脱し、限られた一地域の研究にあたって、そこの住民の間に住み着きそこの言語に十分習熟したうえでの綿密な調査を長年にわたって行い、その結果を整理したうえで、他地域に関する同様な調査結果と比較考察するように進んでいる。とすれば、一地域に関する限り、民俗学をもって、民族学の限られた地域に関するものとの解釈も出てくるわけである。アメリカを中心として諸国に広まっている文化人類学、イギリスを中心として各地に行われている社会人類学などは、ヨーロッパ大陸に発達した民族学にほぼ該当するもので、民俗学は文化人類学、社会人類学の限られた地域に関するものということもできよう。

［最上孝敬］

『『民間伝承論』『郷土生活の研究法』（『定本柳田国男集25』所収・1964・筑摩書房）』▽『和歌森太郎著『日本民俗学』（1953・弘文堂）』▽『民俗学研究所編『民俗学研究』（1978・名著出版）』▽『柳田国男監修『民俗学辞典』（1951・東京堂出版）』▽『大塚民俗学会編『日本民俗事典』（1972・弘文堂）』