｢満州国｣における地理学者に関する一考察 - 入江久夫と増田忠雄を中心として

A Study on Geographers in Manchukuo : Focusing on Hisao Irie and Tadao Masuda

This paper explores the perceptions of Manchuria by the central figures directly or indirectly involved in the establishment of Manchukuo, including Ryōhei Uchida, as well as Shūmei Ōkawa of the South Manchuria Railway Research Department and Kanji Ishiwara, who is regarded as a planner of Manchukuo. It also presents a detailed account of the thoughts and activities of Hisao Irie and Tadao Masuda of the South Manchuria Railway Research Department. Hisao Irie, at the request of the Kwantung Army, participated in the planning and implementation of the Manchurian agricultural immigration project and made a significant contribution to the stable governance of Manchukuo. Further, Irie proposed various methodologies such as “new farming techniques” and “subsidiary occupations” to provide stable livelihoods for the settler farmers who had migrated to Manchukuo. In addition, based on his experience and knowledge obtained through various activities at the South Manchuria Railway Research Department, Masuda tried to make his best effort to establish a “new geopolitics.” This attempt departed from the existing “core of geopolitical thought,” namely “Kōdō-shugi” (the ideology of Imperial Way) and the Japanese homeland, and proposed the “Manchurian geopolitics”, placing Manchukuo at its core. Above all, it was centered on “Manchurian geopolitics” in exploring the underlying logic and potential for realizing the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

本稿では｢満州国｣成立における直接あるいは間接的に関与していた人物である内田良平を始め、満鉄調査部の大川周明、そして満州国の立案者とも言える石原莞爾を中心として対満州認識の検討のみならず、特に満鉄調査部の入江久夫と増田忠雄の思想と行動を具体的に検討した。入江久夫は、関東軍の要請によって満州農業移民事業の立案過程及び実務者として関与し、満州国の安定的な統治に大きく貢献した。さらに満州国に移住した開拓移民の安定的な生活のために｢新農法｣や｢副業｣など多様な方法論を提言した。 また増田は満鉄調査部で様々な活動をした経験と知識を生かして、｢新しい地政学｣確立に全力を尽くそうとした。それは既存の｢地政学的思考の核心｣である｢皇道主義｣と日本本土から離れて、満州国に重点をおき、論理を展開しようとした｢満州地政学｣の案出であった。彼は何よりも大東亜共栄圈の実現においてその論理性と可能性を｢満州地政学｣から探ろうとしたのである。