Oka Masao

Oka Masao ( Japanese 岡 正雄 ; * 1898 in Matsumoto , Nagano Prefecture ; † 1982 ) was a Japanese ethnologist and founded Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna .

Life

Oka Masao studied sociology at Tokyo University from 1920 to 1924 . From 1925 to 1926 he conducted research on Minzokugaku ( folklore ) together with Yanagita Kunio . Oka discovered the book Peoples and Cultures by Father Wilhelm Schmidt , (SVD) in a Swiss bookshop . He was enthusiastic about it and showed it to Yanagita, who accepted him as a student. At the same time, Oka found herself with her peers in a group they called APE-Kai (Archeology, Prehistory, Ethnology).

Yanagita had founded the so-called Thursday salon ( Mokuyōkai ) after he had returned from Geneva . Researchers met there and were able to exchange information on the latest research results, and there were lectures. Origuchi Shinobu , a religious scholar, gave a lecture there on the phenomenon of the marebito ( 稀 人 , visitor deities ). At the time, Oka was doing an internship (Shosei) with Yanagita and was staying with his master's house. During this time he was in charge of the magazine Minzoku ( 民族 ). Oka was impressed by Origuchi's lecture and wrote an article himself: Ijin to sono ta ( 異 人 と そ の 他 , Strangers and Others, 1928). He brought the economic history and also the visitor customs of Melanesia into these considerations and thus did not limit himself to Japan. At the time that Oka was publishing his article, Origuchi had not yet published his work. Oka had a remorse for this and then, with Shibusawa's help, brought out Origuchi's work - against Yanagita's will. He then threw both of them out of the group, which then broke up.

In 1929 he studied ethnology in Vienna. His trip was financed by Shibusawa Keizō , the patron of folklore. In Vienna the Department of Ethnology had just separated from that of Physical Anthropology. The head of the institute was Father Wilhelm Koppers , (SVD). In Vienna, Oka learned historical methods and adopted their approach. It was there that he met Alexander Slawik . Slawik had already submitted his dissertation after studying East Asian Studies, but was not allowed to do a doctorate, because the subjects Sinology and Japanese Studies did not yet exist at the time. Finally he met Oka, who convinced him about ethnology. Slawik said of Oka: He “seduced me into ethnology; a godsend ”. In the late 1930s, Oka Masao, later founder of Japanese cultural anthropology, initiated the establishment of a chair for Japanese studies at the University of Vienna. His idea was promoted by Viennese ethnology professors and made possible in 1938 with the financial support of Baron Mitsui Takaharu ( 三井 高 陽 ). As a visiting professor, Oka took over the management of the institute, which officially began teaching on April 1, 1939. Oka's influence on Slawik's Japanese studies is obvious, but conversely, Slawik's interest in early Japanese history also had an impact on Oka's theories. Slawik always translated something for Oka.

In 1941 Oka returned to Japan and set up the Minzoku Kenkyūsho ( 民族 研究所 , about seminar for folklore ) and in 1943 founded the Institute for Ethnology. After the war this became Bunkashinrigaku (cultural psychology or social anthropology ). Ishida Eiichirō and Umesao Tadao , an ecologist who examined cattle herds in Mongolia, also worked there later . Ishida later turned to Andean research. In 1945 the chair for Japanese studies in Vienna was dissolved because the funds for it were not available. He was reconnected to ethnology. The researchers came back from exile. It was not until 1964 that there was a separate chair for Japanese studies.

In 1953 Oka made expeditions to the village of Ihama on the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula (organized by the capital university ). There he discovered a village organization based on an age class system . He also took part in Eskimo studies through Meiji University in 1960. At a three-day APE-kai symposium in 1958, in which, in addition to Oka, Ishida, Egami (orientalist) and Yahata (prehistoric) were also involved, they developed a theory of the spread of culture in layers or complexes, contrary to Yanagita's theory of circulation in circles . They divided the origin of the Japanese and the settlement of Japan into 5 layers. It was revolutionary and shocked some researchers, including Yanagita, after the publication. In 1964 he finally founded his own institute at the University of Tokyo.

After retiring as a professor at the University of Tokyo, Oka retired to Geneva and wrote a book there ( Winter in Geneva is lonely ). The book is about Okinawa . He writes that a tall old man lives nearby whom he has not visited. He meant Yanagita. Yanagita was feared and honored, a godfather of ethnology.

At the celebrations of the Japanese Studies Department of the Institute for East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna in the 2007/2008 winter semester, Oka Masao was once again given special attention in a lecture series entitled "160 Years of Japanese Studies in Austria".

Works

• 1933 cultural layers in old Japan. 3 volumes. Dissertation, University of Vienna (text in German). New edition, ed. by Josef Kreiner : 2 volumes. Bier'sche Verlagsanstalt, Bonn 2012, ISBN 978-3-936366-40-2 , ISBN 978-3-936366-41-9 .
• 1958 Nihon minzoku no kigen ( 日本 民族 の 起源 , German approximately: Origin of the Japanese people), conversations with Ishida Eiichirō, Egami Namio , Yawata Ichirō
• 1979 Ijin sono ta - nihon minzoku = bunka no genryū to nihon kokka no keissei ( 異 人 そ の 他 日本 民族 = 文化 の 源流 と 日本 国家 の 形成 , for example: foreigners and others - Japanese people = origin of the culture and education of the Japanese state )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Simone Berger Krems: Vienna Japanese Studies celebrates its 40th anniversary with lectures . 2005. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
2. ↑ Alfonso Falero: Umesao Tadao's Civilization-Theory viewed in the Historical Context of Japanese Anthropological Science (PDF; 6.6 MB) Retrieved on May 13, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically saved as marked defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 274: “Literally rare person . A term found in ancient Japanese literary records for a spirit or god that may visit a village during a festival, the building of a house, or other special occasions. "  
3. ^ Josef Kreiner: Origuchi Shinobu's Marebitoron in Global Perspective . 2004. Retrieved May 13, 2011. Bulletin of Nation Museum of Ethnology, 29 (1), p. 6
4. ↑ Society of Japan Research: JAPAN RESEARCH. Announcements from the Society for Japanese Research e. V. (PDF; 712 kB) 1997. Accessed on May 13, 2011.
5. ↑ Japan and Korea: an annotated bibliography of doctoral dissertations . Retrieved May 13, 2011.

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Oka is the family name, Masao the first name.