Making History Matter Harvard East Asian Monographs 402 Making History Matter Kuroita Katsumi and the Construction of Imperial Japan Lisa Yoshikawa Published by the Harvard University Asia Center Distributed by Harvard University Press Cambridge (Mas sa chu setts) and London 2017 © 2017 by Th e President and Fellows of Harvard College Printed in the United States of Amer i ca Th e Harvard University Asia Center publishes a monograph series and, in coordination with the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, the Korea Institute, the Reischauer Institute of Japa nese Stud- ies, and other facilities and institutes, administers research proj ects designed to further scholarly understanding of China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, and other Asian countries. Th e Center also spon- sors proj ects addressing multidisciplinary and regional issues in Asia. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Yoshikawa, Lisa, author. Title: Making history matter : Kuroita Katsumi and the construction of Imperial Japan / Lisa Yoshikawa. Other titles: Harvard East Asian monographs ; 402. Description: Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts : Published by the Harvard University Asia Center, 2017. | Series: Harvard East Asian monographs ; 402 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2016028798 | ISBN 9780674975170 (hardcover : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Kuroita, Katsumi, 1874-1946. | Nationalism and historiography— Japan. | Historians— Japan—19th century. | Historians— Japan—20th century. | Japan— History—1868– Classifi cation: LCC D13.5.J3 Y67 2017 | DDC 952.0072/02— dc23 LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2016028798 Index by Anne Holmes and Rob Rudnick Printed on acid- free paper Last fi gure below indicates year of this printing 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 For Asō Hideo and Shizue (cid:15318)(cid:9165)(cid:11357)(cid:4784)(cid:2284)(cid:14324)(cid:7126)(cid:2155) Contents List of Tables and Figures ix Acknowl edgments xi List of Abbreviations xiii Note on Editorial Conventions xiv Introduction 1 Harmonizing Scholarship and Public History 8 Remembering a Historian 12 1 Becoming a Historian, 1874–96 20 A Son of Ōmura 20 Th e Fifth Higher School 28 Th e Mid- Meiji State of the Field 38 Student Life at the Imperial University 46 2 Resuscitating the Historical Field, 1896–1908 58 Gradu ate Life 58 Expanding the Historians’ Crafts 70 Writing Japa nese History 85 3 Entrenching the Historical Field, 1908–18 102 Touring Eu rope and Amer i ca 102 Th e Southern- Northern Court Incident 112 viii Contents Rewriting Japa nese History 121 Historic Site Preservation 132 4 History in Action, 1918–27 150 Commemorating Historic Figures 150 Molding Korean History 162 Th e Historians and the Earthquake 172 Contesting Over the Past and the Pres ent 184 5 Historians’ Manifest Destiny, 1927–36 199 Expanding Japan, Expanding the Orient 199 Th e Field’s Heyday 210 Founding Research Institutions 226 Empire- wide Historic Cele brations 234 Japan’s Manifest Destiny 242 Epilogue: A Historian’s Death, A Historian’s Bequest 251 Th e Scholar’s Legacies 252 Th e Teacher’s Legacies 257 History Matters 262 Appendix I: Kuroita Katsumi Bibliography 265 Appendix II: Periodization in the Th ree Editions of “Kokushi” 309 Bibliography 311 Index 347 Tables and Figures Tables 1. Positions held by select Kuroita students 211 Figures 1. Historians working at the Historiographical Institute, 1904 63 2. Tōdai graduation, Eu ro pean history division, July 1907 71 3. Cover of Japana Esperantisto, March 1907 81 4. Kuroita Katsumi, circa 1935 213