1920年代から1950年代初頭の大阪市における在日朝鮮人集住地の変遷

This paper analyzes the residential concentrations of Korean people in Osaka city and its changes from the end of the 1920s to the beginning of the 1950s. The statistical data and documents on Korean people in the city and their living conditions were obtained from the National Census, Police Survey and local administrative researches. Korean concentrations changed spatially and socially, and the economical and historical factors associated with these changes can be described as follows:<br>(1) The formation of Korean concentrations during the 1920s.<br>Since the beginning of the 1920s, a great number of Korean people migrated into Osaka city, and most of them were composed of single male workers. During this period, three concentrations were formed: (a) the southeastern ward, which was the biggest concentration of Korean workers who were employed in small factories; (b) the southwestern ward, where industrial, constructional, and odd-job workers were dominant, and (c) the ward south of the Yodo River, where most Koreans worked at medium-size glass and textile factories.<br>(2) The expansion of the Korean concentrations during the 1930s to the end of World War II.<br>During this period, the Korean population increased rapidly and was four times larger than it was at the end of the 1920s. Newly-arriving Korean people tended to settle into already-established Korean concentrations and surrounding areas. The actual Korean population distribution pattern and its occupational characteristics did not change. On the other hand, social differentiation within Korean communities became distinctive during this period. The most important development was that a few Korean entrepreneurs managed to establish their own businesses in the southeastern and southwestern concentrations.<br>(3) The disappearance and remnants of the Korean concentrations in the US occupation period (1945-52).<br>Shortly after World War II, many Korean people left Japan for their mother country. The number of Koreans in Osaka drastically and quickly decreased. Because most of the wards in central Osaka had been seriously damaged by the US forces' air attacks in WWII, the Koreans in those destroyed districts lost everything and had no reason to continue their residence in Japan. This situation resulted in the disappearance of the concentration on the south side of the Yodo River. On the other hand, the other Korean concentrations survived in the southwestern and southeastern areas due to less destruction from the air attacks. Fortunately, many Koreans in these areas did not lose their residences and workplaces. Moreover, Koreans who owned a property found it difficult to return to their home country because Korean repatriates were permitted to carry back only a limited amount of money and goods with them. In the remaining concentrations, most Koreans who owned their own business chose to stay in Osaka.<br>Based on the above analyses, the following concluding remarks can be made: (a) Since the establishment of the Korean population concentrations in these three areas, local industrial activities were a major influential factor in determining the employment status of the Korean population; (b) During the US occupation period, residents whose homes were destroyed by the bombing in WWII tended to leave Osaka and their concentrations disappeared. The Korean people who were business-owners and who lived in the less-damaged areas remained in Osaka. Consequently, the southeastern and southwestern Korean concentrations still exist even until today.