The field of comparative psychology (also called animal psychology) in Japan, as it developed from 1900 to 1945, is reviewed. After evaluating more than 100 research papers (including short abstracts), six researchers were selected as examples of typical Japanese comparative psychologists in approximately the first half of the 20th century. The chosen researchers, K. Masuda, R. Kuroda, S. Kanda, J. G. Yoshioka, S. Takagi, and T. Takemasa, for the most part focused their research in the areas of learning and perception or basic behavioral traits, commonly known as tropism. They studied a wide variety of subjects, from invertebrates to primates, until the end of World War II, when so-called neo-behaviorism prevailed.Key words: comparative psychology, Japanese researchers, history of psychology.It is relatively unknown to students in psychology courses that comparative psychology (also called animal psychology) developed very early on in Japan. Prior to World War II, Japan had only three psychological societies that were well established and well organized.
When the field of psychology was first introduced into Japan, it was based on the proliferation of Western thought, particularly experimentation and Darwinian evolutionary theory. The current Japanese word for psychology, shinrigaku, was coined by scholar Amane Nishi in the early 1870s. It originally meant "mental philosophy," not psychology. Nishi also translated "subject" and "object" into Japanese. Before that, objectivity was not a concept in Japan. And although psychological experimentation must have prompted the subject/object division, experiments did not take root in Japanese psychology until Yujiro Motora, considered the founder of Japanese psychology, established the first psychological laboratory in 1903 at the University of Tokyo. In regards to Darwinian evolutionary theory, it is likely that scholars (e.g., biologists, sociologists, politicians) more readily accepted the theory when introduced into Japanese society in the 1870s because Japanese embrace a view that maintains diffuse boundaries between humans and animals. Finally, the roles of Japanese scholars who studied abroad during of the inception of psychology in Japan are discussed.
The history of psychology in Japan from the late 19th century until the first half of the 20th century did not follow a smooth course. After the first psychological laboratory was established at Tokyo Imperial University in 1903, psychology in Japan developed as individual specialties until the Japanese Psychological Association was established in 1927. During that time, Tomokichi Fukurai, an associate professor at Tokyo Imperial University, became involved with psychical research until he was forced out in 1913. The Fukurai affair, as it is sometimes called, was not documented in textbooks on the history of Japanese psychology prior to the late 1990s. Among earlier generations of Japanese psychologists, it has even been taboo for discussion. Today, the affair and its after-effects are considered to have been a major deterrent in the advancement of clinical psychology in Japan during the first half of the 20th century.
During the Allied occupation of Japan after the Second World War, the Civil Information and Educational Section (CIE) Libraries played an important role in providing new foreign books and journals in the field of psychology. This paper first gives an overview of the history of psychology in Japan around the time of the Second World War. Subsequently, important excerpts from an oral history with Japanese psychologists are presented. Finally, based on information from this oral history, a survey of the books on psychology in the CIE Yokohama Library was conducted. Results of the survey indicate that CIE Libraries offered foreign books on topics in applied psychology, such as clinical psychology. The opportunities provided by this library had a profound impact on psychological study and practice in Japan. As many materials from this period are missing, including all books and journals from the CIE Hibiya Library, further research should include oral history from psychologists who visited these libraries.Key words: CIE Library, oral history, history of psychology, psychology in Japan.It is very important in the field of psychology to develop psychologists, both those who conduct research and those who practice as clinical psychologists. In the same manner as in other disciplines, students majoring in this field take required courses, read articles on psychological research, and write numerous reports on subjects pertaining to their academic field. Some of these students will become scholars and help younger psychologists grow in their studies and careers. The books and journals that students read have an important role in defining the course of psychology in the future.Today, university libraries in Japan have over 21,000 books and journals that have titles including the word "Shinrigaku" (the Japanese word for psychology) and over 80,000 that
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