Japanese Literary Awards

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Eiji Oguma

おぐま えいじ

Oguma Eiji

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1962-09-06 （Akishima, Tokyo, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese
Residence History
Akishima, Tokyo, Japan → Fujisawa, Kanagawa (Keio University SFC)

Career

Occupations
Sociologist, Professor, Guitarist, Researcher
Active Years
1990-
Affiliations
Keio University Faculty of Policy Management (Professor), Iwanami Shoten (former employee)
Influenced By
Masao Maruyama, Takaaki Yoshimoto, Shunsuke Tsurumi, Chizuko Ueno, Kunio Yanagita

Education

Nagoya University, Faculty of Science (Physics) (left before graduation)
Faculty of Science / Department of Physics
Period: 在学中中退
Country: Japan
Enrolled but left; later transferred to the University of Tokyo
Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo
Faculty of Agriculture / Department of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Degree: 学士
Period: 卒業
Year of Graduation: 1987
Country: Japan
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo (International Social Sciences)
International Social Sciences
Degree: 博士（学術）
Period: 修了
Year of Graduation: 1998
Country: Japan
PhD awarded for dissertation 'The Boundaries of "the Japanese"' (1998)

Awards

Suntory Academic Award
1996
Work: A Genealogy of 'Japanese' Self-images
Category: 社会・風俗部門
Organization: Suntory Foundation
Result: 受賞
Japan Sociological Society Encouragement Award (Book)
2003
Work: Democracy and Patriotism: Postwar Japanese Nationalism and Publicness
Organization: Japan Sociological Society
Result: 受賞
Mainichi Publishing Culture Award
2003
Work: Democracy and Patriotism: Postwar Japanese Nationalism and Publicness
Category: 第2部門
Organization: Mainichi Shimbun
Result: 受賞
Osaragi Jiro Forum Award
2004
Work: Democracy and Patriotism: Postwar Japanese Nationalism and Publicness
Organization: Osaragi Jiro Forum Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Kadokawa Foundation Arts and Culture Award
2010
Work: 1968
Organization: Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation
Result: 受賞
Bestselling New Book Award (Shinsho Award)
2013
Work: How to Change Society
Organization: Shinsho Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Kobayashi Hideo Award
2015
Work: The Man Who Returned Alive: A Japanese Soldier's War and Postwar
Organization: Kobayashi Hideo Award Committee
Result: 受賞
Japan Film Revival Encouragement Award
2016
Work: In Front of the Prime Minister's Office
Organization: Japan Film Revival Organization
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

A Genealogy of 'Japanese' Self-images

1995 Non-fiction / Historical Sociology 320 pages

Investigates the origins and formation of the notion of a "single Japanese ethnicity," situating it within colonial and pre/postwar political contexts.

NationalismIdentityColonialismHistorical Sociology
Translations
  • English translation: A Genealogy of 'Japanese' Self-images (Trans Pacific Press, 2002)

The Boundaries of 'the Japanese'

1998 Non-fiction / Historical Sociology 360 pages

Uses cases such as Okinawa, Ainu, Taiwan, and Korea to examine how the boundaries of "Japanese" have shifted within state and colonial relations.

National identityBoundary studiesTreatment of minoritiesModern history
Translations
  • English translation: The Boundaries of 'the Japanese' (Trans Pacific Press, 2014)

Democracy and Patriotism: Postwar Japanese Nationalism and Publicness

2002 Non-fiction / Intellectual History 400 pages

Traces the relationship between 'democracy' and 'patriotism' in postwar Japan and argues for the diversity of Japanese nationalism through intellectual history.

Postwar intellectual historyNationalismPublic sphere

1968

2009 Non-fiction / History 800 pages

A comprehensive reexamination of Japanese student and social movements around 1968, based on extensive source materials.

Student movementsSocial movementsMemory and historicization

The Man Who Returned Alive: A Japanese Soldier's War and Postwar

2015 Non-fiction / Biography 240 pages

A biographical nonfiction based on interviews with the author's father, portraying an ordinary man's wartime and postwar life to illuminate social-historical issues.

War and memoryFamily historyPostwar history

Bibliography

  • A Genealogy of 'Japanese' Self-images (1995)
  • The Boundaries of 'the Japanese' (1998)
  • India Diary: From a Land of Cows and Computers (2000)
  • Democracy and Patriotism (2002)
  • 1968 (2009)
  • The Man Who Returned Alive (2015)
  • Other works (dialogue collections, edited volumes, essay collections)

Translations of Works

  • A Genealogy of 'Japanese' Self-images (English translation, Trans Pacific Press, 2002)
  • The Boundaries of 'the Japanese' (English translation, Trans Pacific Press, 2014)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Scholarly prose based on exhaustive literature reviewAnalytical, constructivist approach with rigorous argumentation
Recurring Motifs
Construction of nationalismReexamination of postwar historyPublicness and identity

Legacy

A leading sociologist who has significantly influenced studies of Japanese nationalism and postwar intellectual history. His rigorous scholarship is widely respected, although some works have provoked debate over interpretation and methods.

Academic Societies

  • Japan Sociological Society

Archives

  • Keio University archives (related holdings)

In Popular Culture

  • Musical activity with Quikion (guitarist; live performances and recordings)

Quotes

  • Having studied physics for a while, I could understand to some extent what was happening during the nuclear accident. Even listening to reliable experts, this was seriously bad.
    Source: Interview / related writings (2011)
  • Escape from the 'Galapagos-like' arguments of the conservative camp
    Source: Asahi Shimbun (comment) (2014)

Trivia

  • Attended Tokyo Metropolitan Tachikawa High School and enrolled at Nagoya University (physics) but left; later graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Agriculture.
  • Performs as guitarist (and bouzouki) in the band Quikion and has released several indie albums.
  • His father, Kenji Oguma, was interned in Siberia after World War II.