Japanese Rural Sociology before World War II

Abstract

From 1920's to early 1940's Japanese rural sociology were gradually coming into existence as special sociology with two systematic theories. The two theories were Eitaro Suzuki's 'Shizenson' theory and Kizaemon Ariga's 'Ie-rengo' theory which was mainly researching on 'Dozoku' group. This paper is to discuss how the two theories were influenced in the formative process by agricultural policy, folklore, and American rural sociology, and it is also to deal with what characteristics they came to possess as a result of the influence.Summing up, Suzuki and Ariga were alike in trying to investigate the structure of Japanese rural society with the key concepts of their own inventions. While Suzuki's 'shizenson' theory, whose method accepted the influence of American rural sociology, was chiefly founded on the facts in the rural society in the southwestern part of Japan, on the other hand Ariga's'Ie-rengo' theory, under the enormous influence of folklore, was based upon the study of 'Dozoku' group which had often been observed in the rural society in the northeastern part of Japan, and it was the theory generalizing the hierarchal pattern in social relation, admitting that it was true of the social character of Japanese people.