The Ideology of Kokugo: Nationalizing Language in Modern Japan

Acknowledgments

xix Acknowledgments Ueda Kazutoshi is mentioned in every discussion about kokugo. However, Hoshina Kōichi, who attempted to introduce the term and concept of kokka-go (a state language) into Japanese, deserves the same recognition. Dr. Tanaka Katsuhiko, my graduate adviser at Hitotsubashi University, once told me that Dr. Kamei Takashi (who died last year) had always urged the development of scholarship on kokugogaku in its genuine sense separate from nihongogaku, that is, a field of research into various phenomena that have been discussed under the name of kokugo. He had hoped someone would recognize Hoshina’s contributions. I am not sure if I have been able to fulfill Dr. Kamei’s wish, but believe that I came to understand Hoshina very well. I only wish I could have presented this book to Dr. Kamei. The chapters below are revised versions of articles previously published as follows: Introduction: “Mori Arinori to Baba Tatsui no nihongo-ron: ‘Kokugo’ izen no nihongo” (Views of Mori Arinori and Baba Tatsui—the Japanese Language before Kokugo), Shisō, September 1990. Chapters 8 and 9: “Kokugogaku to Gengogaku” (Kokugo Studies and Linguistics ), Gendai shisō, August 1994. Chapters 11, 13, and 14: “Hoshina Kōichi to gengo seisaku” (Hoshina Kōichi and Language Policies), Bungaku, May 1989. Chapter 12: “Dōka to wa nani ka” (What Is “Assimilation”?), Gendai shisō, June 1996. Yeounsuk Lee November 1996 The Ideology of Kokugo ...