The Masses in Local Communities during the 1920s

Abstract

According to the popular belief held today regarding the masses and popularization

in Japan, the Great Kanto earthquake marked the dawn of popularization

and popular culture. But the notion has come into circulation without sufficient

factual evidence. The reality among people during this period was

revealed with reference to subscription records of newspapers, magazines,

books, and the like in Yanagawa, a small town in Fukushima Prefecture. The

media, as it turned out, did not evenly take root in society. On the contrary,

society was polarized between the upper class, who enjoys the benefits of

media and the lower class, who hardly embraced media. In fact, their gap widened.

In no way does the term popularization describe what really happened.

This is just an example pointing to the need to scrutinize the prevailing belief

that popularization in Japanese society took place in the 1920s.