How the Culture of Children Manifests in Make-Believe Play: Examining the Cosmology of Play Proposed by Keiji Iwata

Abstract

The concept of “the culture of children” in the field of play was proposed by Konosuke Fujimoto (1933–1995), a Japanese educational anthropologist in the 1960s. Fujimoto considered children’s society to exist independently of the society constituted by adults. He defined children’s lifestyles, especially the variety of play, as the culture of children. While Fujimoto’s view, based on cultural relativism, respected the uniqueness of children’s lifestyles, the concept of “the culture of children” was problematic in that it made the power imbalance between children and adults invisible. This concept ultimately strengthened the typical image of the relationship between immature children and mature adults, based on the developmental perspective. In addition, it generalized the view that play was only children’s lifestyle.

This study reconsidered the concept of the culture of children by examining the cosmology of play proposed by Japanese anthropologist, Keiji Iwata (1922–2013). Iwata regarded play as interactions between humans and Nature. His philosophy was based on an ontological perspective that criticized the dichotomy between Culture and Nature. In the cosmology of play, the culture of children would manifest as both a sense of wonder and self-expression.

Based on Iwata’s view, this study considered not only children, but also adults, including the author, as performers who create play together. The study’s ethnographical method took a transcendental approach that included both extrinsic and intrinsic perspectives. The focus was on working in a sense of wonder and self-expression in make-believe play. How a sense of wonder and self-expression influence human life was also considered.

Study results suggested that the cultural relationship between children and adults can be reassembled into another relationship, one between humans and Nature, in make-believe play. As this study explored only a part of Iwata’s philosophy, its limitations should be noted and future research steps discussed.