The Legacy of Jun'ichi Iwata

  In 1930, Jun’ichi Iwata conducted a research project on the classical scholar Kōjō Kasatei, born in Shima, upon the request of Mori Junzaburō, the younger brother of the famed author Mori Ōgai. Their correspondence continued until 1940, totaling over 150 letters. Through this experience, Iwata developed a deep appreciation for the rich local customs in the Shima region, which led him to begin collecting folk customs.

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  In 1932, Iwata joined the Kinki Folklore Society, where he met Keizō Shibusawa, the founder of the Attic Museum (later known as the Japan Folk-Cultural Institute), and became a fellow member. In January 1945, at the request of Shibusawa, Iwata worked on compiling an inventory for the evacuation of Prime Minister Konoe’s personal library and on compiling the Japanese Fish Names Collection by extracting fish names from the diaries of the Japanese aristocracy.

 

  Amid these efforts, Iwata tragically passed away at the age of 45 due to a sudden gastric hemorrhage caused by a stomach ulcer.

 

Major Works

• Shima no Ama (The Ama Women of Shima) (Attic Museum Bulletin, No. 40), Attic Museum, 1940

• Shima no Hashirigane (Shima’s Striking Metal), privately published by Jun’ichi Iwata, 1940

• Toba Shima no Minzoku: Shima-jin no Seikatsu Jiten (Folk Customs of Toba and Shima: A Dictionary of the Shima People’s Life), Toba Shima Cultural Research Association, 1970

• Shima no Ama: Fuku, Shima no Gyo-fu no Mukashi-gatari (The Sea Women of Shima: Including the Old Tales of Shima Fishermen), privately published by Yukio Nakamura, 1971