Keywords

Hokkaido, Karafuto/Sakhalin, ethnological collections

Objectives

In the Minpaku collections of ethnological materials from Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands collected up until the end of World War II, there are more than 1,000 Ainu artifacts, more than 280 Uilta artifacts, and more than 70 Nivkh artifacts. These retain their traditional characteristics and are not only important for research on the materials and techniques required to understand material culture but also, in many cases, irreplaceable treasures that can no longer be collected. Unfortunately, because of misunderstandings, mistakes and flaws in material management at the time they were collected, together with loss of information as responsibility for their management changed hands and further errors that have accrued through copying and data entry, there are numerous items for which data is either missing or mistaken. Since, however we do know in most cases who collected these materials, it is possible by retracing their steps to find ample opportunities to reassess the information we have and correct and add to it. By conducting this joint research in cooperation with experts on ethnic material culture and language, we will be able to attach correct information to these materials, while at the same time learning more about anthropologists and their relationships with the indigenous peoples they studied and materials they collected from Meiji to the end of World War II.

Research Results

One of the objectives of this research was to review information contained in specimens and materials that were collected from Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and Kuril Islands before the end of World War II and are now owned by the National Museum of Ethnology. We reviewed the records left by major collectors, focusing on the collection formerly owned by the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science, the University of Tokyo , and the collection formerly owned by the Ethnological Museum of the Japanese Society of Ethnology, which account for the major part of the National Museum's collection in terms of quantity. Most notably, we were able to photograph or scan materials that had remained almost unknown to verify new information from them as follows. Firstly, after careful cross-checking, more than thirty Aynu ethnological items listed in the Catalogue of Archaeological Specimens with Some of Recent Origin published in 1884 when the university was known as the College of Science, Imperial University of Tokyo were found to be among the items now transferred to the National Museum of Ethnology. In fact, they were determined to be the oldest specimens in existence in the collection. In addition, among the Shogoro Tsuboi Collection owned by The University of Tokyo, we found field notes and sketch books from his Sakhalin expedition in 1907 (40th year of the Meiji Era) and extract reprints of magazines that published his reports and lecture transcripts. Thus, we were able to establish new information on the sequence of events during his field research and the specimens he collected.
Moreover, from the photographs and reference cards (owned by the Miyamoto Memorial Foundation) left by Keitaro Miyamoto, a central figure of the activities in the Ethnological Museum of the Japanese Society of Ethnology (1939 - 1962), we obtained detailed information of Uilta and Nivkh materials collected in Sakhalin in 1938. In addition, the National Museum of Ethnology owns over 100 specimens and materials of an Aynu house built as an outdoor exhibit of the said Museum in 1950, and commemorative photographs at the time of its construction (approximately 280 photos taken by Miyamoto) as well as a number of research notes about rituals and housing customs have been well preserved. These were confirmed to be extremely precious academic reference materials as a whole.
By acquiring information from the time of specimen and material collection, we were able to find a treasure trove of previously unknown literature, photographs, etc., assign more accurate information to each piece of specimen and reference material, and clarify what ethnological researchers in those days were interested in.