earticle

영어

This paper focuses on the characters related to the Emperor and the Imperial Family that appear in the national moral education textbooks from the first period (1904) to the fifth period (1941), covering all 30 volumes and six grades. The textbooks are considered a medium that strongly reflects the ideological and spiritual values that were sought after by the creators and the historical background of the time. Through analyzing and researching these moral education textbooks, one can gain an understanding of the historical background of the time and also interpret what ideologies and values the government wanted to instill in the people. This paper classifies characters related to the Emperor and the Imperial Family that appear in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki (Japanese mythology and history) and those from the pre-Meiji and modern into three categories and conducts research and analysis. By examining the total number of appearances and contents, this article aim to explore the roles assigned to characters related to the Emperor and the Imperial Family in the moral education textbooks. It also investigates the differences in roles among characters related to the Emperor and the Imperial Family within the same category. Furthermore, it considers how these roles are related to the political and historical backgrounds of their respective periods and analyzes what messages the government was attempting to convey to the people.