Folklore Taiwan

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Folklore Taiwan was first launched on July 10, 1941, and ceased publication on February 1, 1945. 44 issues were published in total (the last issue was not published due to the critical stage of the Second World War). The content of the publication is mainly a record of Taiwanese folklore, such as folk taboos, customs, rituals of gods and goddesses, annual festivals and rituals of life, as well as an extensive collection of folklore, nursery rhymes and proverbs. Although the main content was focused on folklore, the publication also covered art, history, geography, and nature.

Form[edit]

Folklore Taiwan was a monthly magazine of 40-60 pages, each with a preface, cover story and other columns including folk art explanation, folklore illustration, photography and illustration, literature introduction, book review, opera, snack reviews, newsletters, folklore interview, and editorial postscripts.

Influence[edit]

Retention of folklore information: In addition to a large amount of folklore data collection and recording, there were also more in-depth thematic studies.

Use of Taiwanese characters: The publication was released during a period of Japanization policy, but many Taiwanese characters were still included in the publication, together with Japanese pronunciation, so that the study of Taiwanese folklore could be integrated with the major languages of the time.

The Taiwan Folkways: After the end of the WW2, The Taiwan Folkways was launched and published, with a similar editorial style to Folklore Taiwan and a high degree of overlap between the contributors

Contribution to Taiwan History[edit]

When Folklore Taiwan was first published in 1941, it was initially defined as a folklore survey magazine that covered accounts of people from all walks of life, and its contents were divided into four main categories: material folklore, social folklore, spiritual folklore, and linguistic folklore. In terms of background time and space, it was a time when the Taiwan Government-General’s Office was actively implementing its Japanization campaign, which was a series of measures to remove the collective memory and culture of Taiwanese people's inherent Chinese-style life and identity, and to encourage and even force Taiwanese people to live a Japanese life and learn Japanese culture. In view of this, scholars in Taiwan, such as Toshio Ikeda and Kanaseki Takeo , feared that Taiwanese folklore and old practices will soon disappear, and hope to record them one by one before they disappear, hence the inception and publication of Folklore Taiwan. The authors of the magazine included political scientist Tetsu Nakamura and sociologist Ken Okada from the Taihoku Imperial University, as well as Japanese cultural figures living in Taiwan, such as archaeologist Naohichi Kokubu, photographer Kaku Mishima, and printmaker Tateishi Tetsumori.^[1]。

Since its founding issue, it was not swayed by politics, and its main members, such as Toshio Ikeda and Kanaseki Takeo , wrote articles expressing their dissatisfaction with the implementation of the Japanization movement. In order to record Taiwan's folklore and old customs, in addition to conducting various folklore surveys, members also held folklore seminars and interviews throughout the island, and through these activities, they continue to converge regional cultural workers from different parts of Taiwan. Therefore, it can be said that through the medium of Folklore Taiwan, a cultural network on Taiwanese folklore has been formed and a group of amateur researchers on local history and folklore has been cultivated. However, a well-known local scholar, Yun-Ping Yang, had showed discontent with the fact that Folklore Taiwan was recorded only from the standpoint of an observer without further action. Later, in 1996, Japanese critic Minato Kawamura questioned his viewpoint as "Greater East Asian Folklore" and debated with the magazine's author, Naohichi Kokubu. However, it cannot be denied that Folklore Taiwan left behind many important observations and data of Taiwan at that time, and it can be regarded as an important beginning of local research, not only as a survey magazine of pre-war Taiwanese folklore highly acclaimed by people in Taiwan and Japan; it also plays an important role in ensuring the continuity and progression of knowledge in post-war-related areas.^[1][2]

Relevant keywords[edit]

• Japanization
• Toshio Ikeda
• Kanaseki Takeo
• Tetsuomi Tateishi
• Naohichi Kokubu
• Yun-Ping Yang

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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