The Debut of Manchuria Fairy Tale Writer, Nobuo Ishimori

Abstract

Nobuo Ishimori (16 June 1897 - 14 August 1987), a famous writer of children’s literature, was invited to Manchuria to edit Japanese language textbook for pupils in Manchuria in 1926. During 1928~1932, Ishimori penned more than 30 fairy tales in the journal, Kyouwa, published by the South Manchuria Railway Company (Mantetsu), which was founded by the Empire of Japan and had a strong cultural influence on Manchuria until the end of World War II. Thus, Kyouwa, which had a circulation of more than twenty thousand, had become the promoter of Japan, which dominated the culture of Manchuria. This paper examines Ishimori’s contributions to Kyouwa and reflects on how he became a writer of children’ literature and represented Manchuria. First, it analyzes the history and general context of Kyouwa and focuses on the contents regarding children. Second, it analyzes Ishimori’s work in Kyouwa and argues how Ishimori changed his theme from opposing militaristic education to depicting Manchurian life emotionally. In conclusion, this paper argues that Kyouwa played a role in the development of Japanese children’s literature in Manchuria and Ishimori became a children’s literature writer in Manchuria according to his publications in Kyouwa.

Keywords

• Nobuo Ishimori
• Kyouwa
• children’s literature
• Machuria
• Mantetsu