著者

前川 美行

出版者

リトン

雑誌

死生学年報 = Annual of the institute of thanatology

巻号頁・発行日

vol.10, pp.187-206, 2014-03-31

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In this paper, the author discusses “Gakkou no Kwaidan” in relation to the psychological development of schoolchildren. Originally, “Gakkou no Kwaidan” were tales of the supernatural circulated by word of mouth among schoolchildren. After Toru Tsunemitsu, a junior-high-school teacher, collected and edited them into a book in 1990, a boom of new “Gakkou no Kwaidan” publications arose and continued through the 1990s. The author points out, however, that the boom of newly published tales reduced school children’s primitive power of narrating these stories themselves.In this article, the original tales of the supernatural in school, “Gakkou no Kwaidan” will be the focus. Why do children tell “Gakkou no Kwaidan?” Why do they like narrating the tales? The author explains two reasons for this. The first is from the viewpoint of “the sense of self” in childhood, and the second is from the viewpoint of the special space of school where children are experiencing life together.First, many researchers in developmental and clinical psychology have stressed a turning point in an 8-10 year old child’s sense of self. It is a fundamental restructuring of the self. After that occurs, they begin to be aware of the existence of “another me” (an objective self) in themselves. The author proposes that sometimes this can emerge in a mysterious and/or supernatural form.Furthermore, the author explains the significance of the power of narration. Children experience various feelings in school life such as delight, happiness, sadness, distress, rage, loneliness and so on. Unfortunately, there is also severe bullying at some schools that many children go through which can wound them deeply. In this case, narrating tales of the supernatural in school can give children reassurance, and has a great power to bring peace to 206 them and others who have been injured. In other words, the narration of such stories could be seen as a requiem of sorts.In conclusion, the author emphasizes the power of narrating “Gakkou no Kwaidan” and people should be careful not to underestimate or reduce the positive power this may have for children.

著者

福田 周

出版者

リトン

雑誌

死生学年報 = Annual of the institute of thanatology

巻号頁・発行日

vol.10, pp.207-236, 2014-03-31

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In this article, the process of psychological recovery from trauma caused by a major earthquake through the use of namazu (gigantic catfish) drawings (called namazue in Japanese) is examined. Namazue can bee seen in the tile block print pictures found in kawaraban, newspapers of the Tokugawa Period, several of which were published around the time of the Great Ansei Earthquake (1855) which struck Edo (Tokyo) at the end of the Edo Period.Ordinary people in Edo used catfish to symbolize the damage caused by the earthquake and their feelings toward it. According to Komatsu (1995), they were able to reduce their earthquake-related fear and anxiety through namazue. Komatsu classified the psychological modification process of the images of namazue into four categories: a) Direct expression, b) Imagery representing cursing, c) Personified and ambiguous images, and d) Images of recovery.This process is then compared with that of post-traumatic play therapy. Using a drawing of one elementary school student who suffered from a recent earthquake experience as an example, the same self-healing process of creating images of namazue can be seen.In conclusion, for reconstruction in the disaster area of the Great East Japan Earthquake to proceed, the author recommends that: 1) people should be mindful of the potential psychological effects that namazue may have on psychological recovery from trauma; 2) people should trust their own, innate human power of recovery; and 3) an environment should be created in which the psychological recovery process can proceed smoothly.