100 Years of Research of Latin America at Kobe University
１．The beginning centered on immigrant research
April 28th, 1908 -------Among the crowds that watched Kasato-Maru, the first immigrant ship headed for Brazil, depart from the pier at the Port of Kobe was Shinji Tazaki, a professor at Nagasaki School of Commerce. Scouted by Tetsuya Mizushima, the first Dean of Kobe Higher School of Commerce, Tazaki was set to transfer to Kobe Higher School of Commerce and just happened to be visiting Kobe on this day for a meeting with Mizushima. During his student years, Tazaki participated in a project related to sending mine workers to New Caledonia. This experience convinced him that in order for Japan to continue developing, the country would have to focus on overseas immigration. On that day, Tazaki strongly felt that the key to the future was in Latin America. Tazaki succeeded Mizushima to become the 2nd Dean of Kobe Higher School of Commerce and later assumed the position of President after the school became the Kobe University of Commerce. During this period, Tazaki continuously encouraged his students to study Latin American. Under his influence, alumni of Kobe Higher School of Commerce established the Amazonia Industrial Company, the purpose of which was the development of the Amazon region. Despite being in the position of university president, Tazaki spent six months on site working in Amazon to support the alumni.
In 1912, Enryo Inoue, the founder of Toyo University, returned from an observational trip to Latin America. At a seminar conducted at Kobe Higher School of Commerce. It was here that interested students formed the Kindred Spirits Social Club on Latin America to launch the opening period of r research on Latin America at Kobe University. Alumni from this club include Tsukasa Uetsuka (a member of the House of Representatives), who worked diligently toward Amazonia development and immigration projects, Kinroku Awazu and Kotaro Tsuji, the co-founders of Amazon Industrial Comapany, and Kunito Miyasaka, the founder of a commercial bank Banco America do Sul. In 1931, the Kindred Spirits Social Club on Latin America developed into the Migration Research Association. They published 7 issues of their journal Migration Research before it became inevitable to cease activities in 1941 due to the start of Pacific War.
In 1938, the Latin America Library was established at the Research Institute of Commerce of Kobe University of Commerce (the predecessor of the current RIEB) based on the donation of collections of Hachiro Fukuhara (Kanebo Corporation, later the South America Migration Corporation) and Ryoji Noda (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). In 1941, the institute established the Latin America Research Unit, which was led by Kinji Kaneda, who was involved in immigrant research (and later became the president of Kobe City University of Foreign Studies). However, research activities were ceased due to the start of the Pacific War.
After the war, a new Kobe University was established in 1949 and in 1951, the former Migration Research Association was relaunched as the Latin America Research Association. The association used funding support from Kunito Miyasaka and Kotaro Tsuji, both of whom had migrated to Brazil, to establish the Journal Latin American Studies as a successor to MigrationResearch. Between the inaugural issue in 1954 and 1972, 16 issues were published. In 1956, the heritage of Shinji Tazaki was used to establish the Tazaki Scholarship, which aimed to promote student research in Latin America. This scholarship still exists today.
In 1951, RIEB researchers initiated the Latin America Research Group. They published the Status of Economics in Brazil and Related Policies (Latin American Research Series I, 1953). In 1956, this group was remodeled as the Latin American Economy Research Unit of RIEB authorized by the Ministry of Education. The person who led the launch of this center was Hiroshi Saito, a sociologist specialized in Japanese immigrant research who was invited from the University of São Paulo School of Politics and Sociology in 1957.
２．Later development after full-scale economic research
As Japan experienced advanced economic growth, Japan's interest in Latin America shifted from sending immigrants to natural resource trade and direct investment aiming at local market. As a result, research on Latin America at Kobe University also transitioned to a focus on economic analysis.
Yoshiaki Nishimukai, who joined RIEB in 1959, led numerous publications on Latin America in the 1960s. These publications include General Characteristics of Economic Development in Brazil (Latin America Research Series V, 1963), Issues Facing Latin American Economy (Latin America Research Series VI, 1967), Theory and Reality of Economic Integrationin Latin America (RIEB Monograph Series 15, 1969), among others. The institute also published numerous books based on research commissioned by the Institute of Developing Economies and conducted by Kobe University faculties. These books include The Economics of Latin America (I) (II), Economic Structure of Brazil, Economic Structure of Argentina, Economic Integration and Development in Latin America, Industrialization and Inflation in Brazil, and Industrial Development of Brazil.
Later, research activities related to numerous important issues of the time were produced. Such research includes Theories on Economic Integration in Latin America by Yoshiaki Nishimukai (Yuhikaku, 1981), Research on the Period of High Growth in Brazil (RIEB Monograph Series 23, 1981), and Economic Theories on Modern Latin America - Inflation and Stabilization Policies by Shoji Nishijima (Yuhikaku, 1993).
Hiroshi Matsushita joined the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies established in 1993. In 2000, Akio Hosono joined the RIEB. Together with Nishijima, they represented Japan's premier researchers on Latin America who worked together on the Rokkodai Campus. In 2002, Hosono was appointedto serve as the Ambassador to El Salvador.