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Tsuneichi Miyamoto

みやもと つねいち

Miyamoto Tsuneichi

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1907-08-01 （Kamuro Nishikata Village, Suo-Oshima (Yashiro Island), Yamaguchi, Japan）
Died
1981-01-30 （Torit Fuchu Hospital, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan） age 73
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
folklorist, rural development leader, social educator, researcher, author
Active Years
1930-1981
Affiliations
Attic Museum (later Japan Museum of Folk Culture / Nihon Jomin Bunka Kenkyujo), Musashino Art University, Japan Institute of Tourism and Culture (Travel Culture Research Institute)
Memberships
The Folklore Society of Japan, Japan Society for Folk Tools (Japanese Mingu Society)
Influenced By
Keizo Shibusawa, Kunio Yanagita
Influenced
Yoshihiko Amino, Ryotaro Shiba, Tadayoshi Himeta, Yoichiro Kazuki, Everett Kennedy-Brown

Education

Osaka Prefectural Tennoji Normal School
Period: 1926-1929
Year of Graduation: 1929
Country: Japan
Completed advanced course at the normal school
Toyo University
Degree: 文学博士
Year of Graduation: 1961
Country: Japan
Awarded for dissertation on the Seto Inland Sea (island development and social formation)

Awards

9th Japan Essayist Club Award
1961
Work: Japan's Remote Islands
Organization: Japan Essayist Club
Result: winner
Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class
1981
Organization: Government of Japan
Result: recipient
Imawajiro Prize
1977
Organization: Imawajiro Prize Committee
Result: recipient

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Forgotten Japanese

1960 folklore / reportage

A collection of field-based reports documenting ordinary people's lives across Japan. One of Miyamoto's representative works that brought him wide recognition.

village lifeoral traditionfolk tools

Japan's Remote Islands

1960 folklore / regional studies

Survey records and essays on the society and life of the Seto Inland Sea and remote islands. Includes observations relevant to island development and social formation.

remote islandsfishing communitiesregional development

Journey into Folklore

1978 memoir / folklore

A reflective work recounting Miyamoto's fieldwork experiences and research perspective, describing methods of folklore study through travel and investigation.

fieldworkarchival preservationeveryday culture

Bibliography

  • The Forgotten Japanese (Mirai-sha, 1960)
  • Japan's Remote Islands (Mirai-sha, 1960-1966)
  • Journey into Folklore (Bungei Shunjū, 1978)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
colloquial, field-oriented descriptionplain narration based on oral recordings and field notes
Recurring Motifs
folk implementsislands and fishing villagesvillage life and ritualstravel and oral history

Health

  • tuberculosis
    1930年代（初回）〜1950年代（再発あり）
    Experienced multiple hospitalizations and relapses, causing temporary interruptions to his activities but he continued research thereafter.
  • stomach cancer
    1981
    Hospitalized and died on January 30, 1981.

Legacy

Through exhaustive fieldwork he documented everyday life across Japan, laying foundations for the study of folk tools, remote islands, and tourism culture. He left extensive publications and records, influencing both academia and local communities.

Museums

  • Tsuneichi Miyamoto Memorial Museum (Suou-Oshima Cultural Exchange Center) Suou-Oshima Town, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan Opened in 2004

Academic Societies

  • The Folklore Society of Japan
  • Japan Society for Folk Tools

Archives

  • Suou-Oshima Cultural Exchange Center (Tsuneichi Miyamoto Memorial Museum) archives
  • Collected Works of Tsuneichi Miyamoto (Mirai-sha)

Quotes

  • For me, travel is the origin of scholarship.
    Source: Journey into Folklore (1978) (1978)

Trivia

  • He is said to have stayed at over 1,200 private households during his lifetime to carry out interviews and fieldwork.
  • Born on Suo-Oshima; a memorial museum is established in his hometown.