| This thesis is an investigation into the rise of the rural youth association (seinendan) movement in Japan, focusing on the period from around 1890 to the first years of World War I. Treatment is also given to genealogical connections and differences between these associations and earlier rural social groupings, which the Greater Japan Federations of Youth Associations (est. 1925) narrativized as its historical antecedents and a primordial expression of Japanese national essence. Modern seinendan provided new opportunities for local notables and the state to deal with problems of governance and promoting rural reform. Using primary sources, extended attention is given to how elite bureaucrats conceived of self-governance as organizational paradigm for administrative units and, eventually, individuals. Lastly, the origins and instrumentalization in Japan of the concept of youth as a stage distinct from childhood are discussed in transnational context, with particular focus on the rise of youth psychology. |
