Abstract
This article is a study of the activities in colonial Korea of Hirotami Kawai(1872~1918) who was the original collector of ‘Kawai collection’ which the library of Kyoto University has, and his research on Korean history. Kawai graduated from the History Department in Tokyo Imperial University in 1898. He came to Korea as the chief for Seoul branch of Oriental Association College(successor of Taiwan Association School) in 1907.BR His study of Korean history was motivated by the intended purpose of being useful to the colonial authorities. The study was developed in two directions. Firstly, he asserted that Colonial authorities should take advantage of Korean old customs in colonial rule. Secondly, his research on Korean history was aimed to demonstrate the backwardness of Korean society as a colony. Kawai claimed that current stage of development of Korean history was equivalent to that of Japan in the Fujiwara period(10~12century), and presented the family system as a basis. In other words, by understanding that Bon(本) system of Korea is inherited from the ancient clan system, he asserted the backwardness of Korean society. In conclusion, Kawai’s research results lead to the stagnation theory of Korean history, so we can evaluate it as one of the origins of Japanese colonialist perspectives on Korean history.
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