An Illustrated Magazine of Japanese Life as Folk Material −Its Information Gathering and Editing Frameworks and Local Folklore Depicted

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  • 民俗資料としての『風俗画報』 −取材・編集体制と描かれた地方民俗−
  • 民俗資料としての『風俗画報』 : 取材･編集体制と描かれた地方民俗
  • ミンゾク シリョウ ト シテ ノ 『 フウゾクガホウ 』 : シュザイ ・ ヘンシュウ タイセイ ト エガカレタ チホウ ミンゾク

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Fuzoku Gaho, or Illustrated Magazine of Japanese Life, includes myriad illustrations with diverse styles, historical backgrounds and themes. Since many illustrators, professional writers and local amateur writers were involved, the editing process was quite complicated, in turn making it difficult to evaluate the value of the magazine as a reference material. This paper will look at some of these illustrations that mainly depict the lives of local people by certain illustrators, with the aim of assessing their value.　To do so, the background of the magazine needs to be explained first. Launched by Kenzaburo Azuma after mastering litho printing techniques, the magazine quickly attained widespread popularity. It was distributed nationwide, and the publisher soon began to receive information about local folk life throughout Japan. During their meetings, the editors scrutinized what local amateur writers wrote and decided which writings to include in the magazine. Illustrators produced pictures according to the editors’ instructions. When conducting interviews in distant locations, the illustrators accompanied the editors, with the former making sketches while the latter examined the local folklore. 　Articles and illustrations created in this manner reflected the views of editors who kept records of local life, and because the editors and illustrators worked closely together, the scenes to cover were appropriately selected, and the layout of each illustration, including the motif and landmark, was precise. In this way, no matter who drew the illustrations there was no significant difference, and instructions by the editors helped maintain a certain level of consistency. 　While some scenes or objects may have been intentionally omitted from the illustrations for social or political reasons, the illustrations published were accurate representations of the folklore and incidents of the time. The illustrators had to rely on their creativity when drawing war and disaster scenes since there was no way to experience such phenomena first hand. They depicted local folklore by visiting an area, gathering information and drawing illustrations based on their observations. Thus, we can conclude that these illustrations are highly valuable as reference materials.

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