著者

新藤 雄介

出版者

日本マス・コミュニケーション学会

雑誌

マス・コミュニケーション研究 (ISSN:13411306)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.85, pp.83-102, 2014

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This study aims to examine deposit collections during the Taisho period (1912-1926) . Deposit collections developed in connection with community-based organizations in local society. They were founded in several different venues, such as youth groups, girls' groups, barbershops, and schools. The current study will focus primarily on deposit collections and a local community. After the Russo-Japanese War (1905), the Ministry of Education and the Home Ministry needed to solve the problem of a growing population of students who were graduating from elementary school but would not go on to junior high school. The ministries intended to establish youth groups for these young elementary graduates in order to avoid an academic decline. At the same time, they also encouraged the establishment of libraries and deposit collections for social education. Against this historical background, deposit collections increased in number throughout the Taisho period. In Saitama Prefecture, youth groups began establishing permanent deposit collections as a result of the introduction of a traveling library in 1909. Members of the public donated small amounts of money and small numbers of books to the groups. This enabled the groups to establish collections easily and at a low cost. In 1919, about 40% of youth groups had a library or deposit collection, and about 70% of youth groups used them. This shows the ubiquity of deposit collections at that time. Meanwhile, deposit collections flourished within the circle of everyday life and diversified. Unlike the traveling library in Saitama Prefecture, the traveling libraries of community-based organizations went from door to door. These deposit collections were operated by not only youth groups, but also by girls' groups, barbershops, schools, and others. They also existed not only in Saitama prefecture, but in other Japanese prefectures as well.