著者

町田 祐一

出版者

公益財団法人史学会

雑誌

史學雜誌 (ISSN:00182478)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.117, no.9, pp.1613-1634, 2008-09-20

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The present article takes up a group in modern Japanese society "educated idler" (hereafter EI) (koto-yumin 高等遊民), whose members were highly educated but were not in social position proper to high educational background. The author examines the group's origins, structure and how it came to be perceived as a social problem. During the last years of the Meiji Era, in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War, the ranks of the EI was increasing by some 20,000 members per year due to such factors as "entrance problems" "lack of employment opportunities" and "dropping out" on the middle school level, as well as a "shortage of jobs" for graduates of technical colleges and universities. The author first attempts to place those EIs who had no visible means of support within the context of the state order by first examining pre-War newspaper reporting about "unemployment" and political concerns over the "dangers" of socialist movements, then describes the post-War attempts at state reorganization in the form of educational reform implemented by the Second Katsura Cabinet, resulting in an increase in the number of schools. However, reform efforts met with opposition in the midst of worsening conditions and were scaled down. With the occurrence of the "High Treason Incident of 1910" (Taigyaku Jiken), involving an alleged socialist plot to assassinate Emperor Meiji, and the subsequent arrests of hundreds of activists, the perceived "threat" posed by the EI and the Superintendent General's comment to crack down on it drew public opposition, resulting in a national debate over the social consequences of the EI. The author's analysis of the debate includes the media's understanding of the EI as a problem related to the social structure,the many reports documenting the lives of EI members ranging from literary figures to slum dwellers and criminals, as well as solutions calling for the dampening of lofty youthful ambition by putting young people to work. After placing the EI as a historical phenomenon characteristic of society in the post-Russo-Japanese War era, the author concludes that the educational and social policies implemented were not sufficient to solve the problem, and that the EI disappeared temporarily in the course of the economic boom generated by World War I, but reappeared during the expansion of higher learning institutions during the early Showa Era