2023 Volume 47 Pages 106-124
This paper clarifies that the postwar enlightenment activities conceived and practiced by “The Foundation 20th Century Research Institute,” a group of intellectuals established just after the end of the war, that not only sought to reintroduce prewar ideas and theories that had regressed during wartime, but also aimed to appreciate them once again in harmony with the intellectual climate that prevailed immediately after the end of the war. The institute also sought to engage in detailed explanation and criticism of these ideas and theories from the standpoint of the members’ specializations. In the analysis, in addition to the results of the author’s recent survey of materials, particular attention is paid to the official documents related to the 20th Century Research Institute, which have been newly confirmed at the National Archives of Japan.
The author’s research reveals a list of lectures held by the institute in various locations, as well as the publication of shorthand transcripts of lectures and serial publications, highlighting that the institute was more actively engaged in various other activities than has been previously thought. Being so active in this regard, the institute sought to instill in its members, an attitude of thinking and acting for themselves rather than unquestioningly accepting government and military propaganda, as was the case during the prewar and wartime periods, or aimlessly following the mindset and spirit of powerful political figures or people of influence in the government and the military.
Through these activities of the 20th Century Research Institute, it emerges that the institute attempted to envision and implement what we may call a “postwar period of ideas.” Amidst a climate that prioritized hasty changes in various fields, the activities of the 20th Century Research Institute are noteworthy for being an aspect of the ideological movement in Japan just after the end of the war.
