永嶺重敏: NAGAMINE, Shigetoshi, ＜読書国民＞の誕生―明治30年代の活字メディアと読書文化: Dokusho Kokumin no Tanjyo: Meiji 30 Nendai no Katsuji Media to Dokusho Bunka.: The Birth of the Reading Public: Printing Media and Reading Culture during the Meiji 30s. Tokyo, Japan: 日本エディタースクール出版部: Japan Editor School Publisher, 2004. xvi, 273 p., illus. ISBN 4888883408, 2,940 yen.

This book explores the treasure house of the remaining relics of the origin of the Cultured Society from Japan’s enlightened pre-modern world. In the political transition from the national isolationism of the Tokugawa Period (1615-1868), people were ready to move forward towards the literati during the period of the Meiji restoration (1868-1912). With the level of expertise in Japan’s media history, Nagamine succeeds in convincing the reader of his literary theory. He analyzed the driving force behind people’s reading using articles from “Chiho Dokusha Kai” (the Local Reading Public Association series) of “Bunko” (the collection of books) published during the period between Meiji 31 to 33 (1897-1900 (p. 3). He further analyzed the ideology of reading through public demographic studies reflecting the historical background to the economic, social, and transportation infrastructures, which played significant roles in the development of the cultured society of the Meiji era.

The author Shigetoshi Nagamine was born in 1955 in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan. He graduated from the University of Kyushu, where he was a literature major. He is currently working at the reference editorial library, the University of Tokyo (東京大学史料編纂所図書室). He is affiliated with Publishing Society of Japan (日本出版学会), Library Information Society of Japan (日本図書館情報学会) and Media History Research Society (メディア史研究会). He received Japan Publisher Society Award (日本出版学会賞) for Zasshi to Dokusha no Kindai (「雑誌と読者の近代」Magazines and Readers in the Modern Nation), and Japan Library Information Society Award (日本図書館情報学会賞受賞) for Modan Toshi no Dokusho Kukan「モダン都市の読書空間」 (Reading Space in Modern Cities)

In this book Nagamine defines読書国民 (dokusho kokumin) those who read magazines, newspapers, novels, etc. as part of their customs as reading citizens (preface vi). The reason for the peculiar choice of the word “citizens: kokumin” in the phrase is that Nagamine clearly intends the reader to identify with keen interrelationship between the nation and the public in the successful development of the Meiji’s restoration.

This book is divided into three sections. In Chapter 1, the author emphasizes the transformation from the print culture of the Tokugawa period and early Meiji which created the potential for information distribution on a scale never before achieved in spite of the limited transport infrastructure. This included a limitation on print matter distribution including book rental businesses. Renting books from a commercial book rental store called 貸本屋 (kashi honya) was a common way of reading among the general public, especially among those living in rural regions. In fact, kashi honya not only were a precursor to today’s libraries, but endure to some extent over a century later in Japan, though on a much more limited scale. Evidently, kashi honya were a major contributory factor in the distribution of print culture. In Chapter 2, the author discusses the development of the railroad, which greatly changed the scale and pace of the printed media distribution, and especially how people read. He emphasizes that one of the major contributions to increasing readership in the Meiji 30s was access to a public space on trains. Moreover, in terms of readership in Japan, the development of the railways promoted not only distribution of printing matter but also the establishment of reading culture. It is interesting to know that other passengers viewed reading in public as a stylish way of passing time in the train in that era. Subsequently, people’s reading manners changed from traditional reading aloud to silent reading in public. This intellectual curiosity that dominated the Meiji era also played a role in promoting reading in modern Japan. As a result, the increase in readership created a need for more libraries at a national level. In Chapter 3, Nagamine explores the development of a nationwide newspaper distribution system and an increase in the number of libraries in the local regions. As the printed media industry grew, more people called for more nearby local libraries. Accordingly, the public was gradually awakened to the realization of the Meiji’s democracy over the social stratification.

This book follows in the wake of 『近代読者の成立』Kindai Dokusho no Seiritsu (Establishment of Modern Readers) (Tokyo, Japan: Iwanami Shoten, 2001). 　Iwanami Gendai Bunko (岩波現代文庫)32. iv, 391 p. ISBN: 4006020325) by the literary scholar Ai Maeda. The intellectual values of reading are emphasized in Kindai Dokusho no Seiritsu, while the values of physical space for reading is emphasized in Nagamine’s book.

The motive for this book is partly derived from Nagamine’s other work,「雑誌と読者の近代」(Zasshi to Dokusha no Kindai: The Modernization of Magazines and their Readership) (x, 281p ; 22cm ISBN: 4888882614), which was published seven years before this book. Thus, there is considerable overlap in the context between these books. So, some topics already discussed in the predecessor (Zasshi to Dokusha no Kindai) are not repeated in this book. Accordingly, the reader is encouraged to read Zasshi to Dokusha no Kindai for his or her comprehensive understanding of this book (Postscript p. 271).

In terms of discourse analysis, to some extent, this book requires comprehension of the social backgrounds of the pre-modern Japan and also sensible knowledge of the Japanese language. As a matter of fact, this book contains a significant amount of passages excerpted from Meiji-era tabloids and serialized popular novels, which are written in the original old Japanese forms. In addition, Japanese proper and place names in those passages might burden the reader who is unfamiliar with the Japanese history and geography. Also, substitute characters of English words (written in katakana) are used in the diction. In terms of articulation, those English words are meant to be similar in Japanese but have different meanings in the context of the English language. This approach tends to be the drawback of the written discourse. The author could articulate his thoughts better by simply using the Japanese words, instead of the substitute characters, although he appears to be doing this to introduce print culture studies terminology for Japanese readers.

Behind “civilization and enlightenment in the Meiji era” Japan recognized the necessity to borrow from the West to build up the power of the country. The father of Meiji enlightenment Yukichi Fukuzawa led Japanese reform by introducing the western culture and literature. It is with great regret that the leading person Fukuzawa’s writings are not mentioned at all in this book, although Fukuzawa’s views were representative of Japanese intellectual thought at that time.

For a researcher requiring a comprehensive reference on the development of Japan’s printing media, this book will be of considerable value because it contains a wealth of annotated citations, which arose from the author’s careful research, at the end of the book. On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, this book is a dense piece of writing for the Japanese or foreign reader who is not familiar with the nuances of Japan’s complex history. Overall, it is ambitious to attempt to comprehensively cover variations of the themes of the origin of the print culture in Japan. Despite the aforementioned drawbacks, this book gives the reader fascinating insights into historical moments in the pre-modern age in Japan. Also, the production quality of the illustrations and charts in the book is excellent. These illustrations help make a practical and substantial contribution to the literature of Japan’s media history. This book is recommended for general reading or for students at all levels of higher education, interested in studying the culture of Tokugawa and Meiji-eras Japanese history. Public and academic librarians would find this book an affordable and valuable addition to their Asian culture collection.


Reference

• Maeda, Ai（前田、愛）. Kindai Dokusha no Seiritsu（近代読者の成立). Tokyo, Japan: Iwanami Shoten, 2001. 　
• Nagamine, Shigetoshi(永嶺, 重敏). Zasshi to Dokusha no Kindai (雑誌と読者の近代): The Modernization of Magazines and their Readership. Tokyo, Japan: Japan Editor School Publisher (東京 : 日本エディタースクール出版部), 1997