Seeking double personality: Nakamura Kokyō's work in abnormal psychology in early 20th‐century Japan

Abstract

This paper examines Nakamura Kokyō's study of a woman with a split personality who lived in his home as a maid from 1917 until her death in 1940. She was his indispensable muse and assistant in his efforts to promote abnormal psychology and psychotherapy. This paper first explores the central position of multiple personality in Nakamura's theory of the subconscious, which was largely based on the model of dissociation. It then examines how it became a central issue in Nakamura's disputes with religions including the element of spirit possession, which invoked Western psychical research to modernize their doctrines. While both were concerned with the subconscious and alterations in personality, Nakamura's psychological view was distinguished from those spiritual understandings by his emphasis on individual memories, particularly those that were traumatic, and hysteria. The remaining sections of the paper will examine Nakamura's views on memory and hysteria, which conflicted with both the academic mainstream and the established cultural beliefs. This conflict may partly explain the limited success of Nakamura's academic and social campaigns.

Hypnosis, psychoanalysis, and Morita therapy: the evolution of Kokyō Nakamura’s psychotherapeutic theories and practices

“…His hypnotherapy focused on discovering the subconscious complexes. In this regard, he more often cited the works of Morton Prince, Alfred Binet and Pierre Janet (Wu, 2020). For him, the originality of psychoanalysis as a therapeutic method appeared to lie in two points: its emphasis on sexual aetiologies, and its technique of free association.…”

“…Hitherto, historical studies on Nakamura have mostly focused on the journal Hentai Shinri [ Abnormal Psychology ] which he published between 1917 and 1926; these studies explored its crucial role in the development of psychoanalysis and related fields in Japan, and the dark sides of the Taishō (1912–26) society and culture that it revealed (Ichiyanagi, 2014: 101–22; Oda et al, 2001; Satō, 2002: 519–47; Takeuchi, 2014; Wu, 2020). However, the present paper focuses on Nakamura as a psychotherapist, which had been his main job and professional identity after he abandoned literature in the mid-1910s.…”

The power within: Mass media, scientific entertainment, and the introduction of psychical research into China, 1900–1920

“…It was during his experiments with the Japanese medium Nagao Ikuko (1871–1911) that Fukurai discovered nensha (thoughtography), the ability to imprint mental images onto photographic plates. Although Fukurai's experiments caused much controversy and eventually forced him to resign from his academic position, his lifelong commitment to studies of telepathy, clairvoyance, and thoughtography, as well as his close engagement with the popular press, turned him into an international reference in psychical research (Nagayama, 2005; Takasuna, 2012; Wu, 2020).…”

“…Much of its appeal on Chinese soil stemmed from the ripening of psychical research in early‐20th‐century Japan. During the Meiji era (1868–1912), Japan set out on a course of rapid change following Western models, which introduced into the country the latest scientific discoveries from Europe and the United States—including psychical research, hypnotism, and the Ouija board (Ichiyanagi, 1997, 2021; Wu, 2020; Yoshinaga, 2006). By contrast, China, which had for centuries been respected as the political and cultural center of East Asia, was on the verge of fragmentation and social collapse.…”