Ushinosuke Mori
Ushinosuke Mori, who often published articles under pen names Mori Heiushi and Mori, was a Japanese naturalist born in Gojo Muromachi, Kyoto. A drop out of Nagasaki Commercial School, he went to Taiwan as an army interpreter and began to conduct research, until he ended up missing on board a steamship that was on Inner Taiwan route in 1926. The scope of his research not only included anthropological investigations on Taiwan aborigines, folklore objects, and archaeology, he was also well involved in collection and research of plants, making him a Taiwan naturalist during the early Japanese occupation period. Due to his fervent love and contributions to Taiwan aboriginal studies, he was praised as the “Leading researcher of Taiwan aborigines.” The specimens he collected were mostly preserved in the National Taiwan Museum.
Life
Mori Ushinosuke studied at the Nagasaki Commercial School at a young age. He dropped out and ran away from home when he was 16, and began a wandering life.In May 1895, he went to Taiwan as an army interpreter to conduct field study on Taiwan aborigines; he traveled all around the Taiwan Island and visited local tribes, collecting a copious amount of data in fields of anthropology, history, folklore, archaeology, botany, and geography in the process and compiled books from the data. He gained titles such as “Taiwan Aboriginal Know-it-all ” and “Grand Chief of Taiwan Aboriginal Tribes.”
In 1900, when Mori Ushinosuke conducted an anthropological survey with Torii Ryūzō, he had the sudden impulse to hike the Niitakayama. After enduring two days of food shortage crisis, his party crossed the Tataka Saddle, passed the Front Peak and West Peak, and finally reached the summit of the Main Peak.
On May 17, 1915, after the Bunun chief Lahu Ali initiated the Dafun Incident, Mori Ushinosuke advocated for a non-suppressive approach on administering aboriginal affairs and the bestowment of autonomy to aborigines.
In July 1925, he boarded the steamship Kasadomaru, which was on the Inner Taiwan route. While en route, he disappeared on June 4, and the authorities ruled that he committed suicide by jumping into the sea.
Contribution and Appraisal
Mori made significant contributions to the anthropology of Taiwan and research on Indigenous peoples. In his article “On the Investigation of Taiwan’s Aboriginal Tribes,” he outlined six main areas of his field investigation:- Physical Anthropometric Survey: Utilizing physical anthropometric charts and portrait photography to understand different Indigenous groups. Mori’s measurement charts were provided by Shōgorō Tsuboi, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University and one of the founders of the Anthropological Society of Tokyo. Tsuboi had studied in England between 1889 and 1892 and was also the mentor of Ryūzō Torii.
- Exploration of Archaeological Remains: Conducting excavation records of prehistoric sites belonging to stone age and being the first to photograph Taiwan’s megalithic culture. In his 1911 article “On the Stone Age Sites in Taiwan” published in the Taiwan Times, Mori documented 169 Stone Age sites, laying a foundation for archaeological anthropology in Taiwan.
- Collection and Comparative Study of Myths and Legends: Published in various journals and periodicals such as the Journal of the Anthropological Society of Tokyo, the Taiwan Times, and the Oriental Times, as well as in volumes one and two of his monograph Taiwan Aboriginal Chronicles.
- Linguistic Collection: Published works include Paiwan Language Collection, Amis Language Collection, and Bunun Language Collection, among others.
- Collection of Ancient and Folk Songs.
- Collection and Study of Ethnographic Data: Mori’s collected and analyzed data covered topics such as the social organization of different tribes, burial practices, punishments, economic activities, and cultural observations between Indigenous tribes and the Japanese government and trading companies. These findings scattered across various articles and periodicals.
Mori also contributed to significant discoveries in the study of Taiwan’s geography. In November 1908, with the assistance of Indigenous guides from eight different tribes, an expedition team was formed, including Noro Nagayoshi, Chief Engineer of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs; Shida Umetaro, a survey contractor; and Mori Ushinosuke, an Aboriginal Affairs contractor. This “Southern Central Mountain Range Expedition Survey Team” conducted explorations and mapping to determine the location of the Niitaka Mountain Range. They ultimately confirmed that the Niitaka Mountain Range was not a subsidiary branch of the Central Mountain Range, but rather an independent mountain range.
In terms of recognition, Miyamoto Nobuhito praised him as the “Leading researcher of early Taiwanese aboriginal studies;” Torii Ryūzō praised him as the “Leading researcher of Taiwan aborigines.”
Satō Haruo --Colonial Journey 〈Wusha 〉 Thirteen: “Later, after about three days, I arrived in Taihoku. I became a guest in the house of the author of Taiwan Aboriginal Chronicles. During this journey, I received most of the help from this person. He also set the schedule of this journey for me personally. Moreover, it was also this Mr. M who introduced me to the Chief of Civil Affairs Mr. S. He is a studious incognito, but is also an adventurous in-field surveyor. It is said that there is no one else who had conducted deeper surveying on the aboriginal mountains in this island than he did, and the most amazing and respectful point was that he was never armed when he conducted those surveys…”
Work collections and publications
Published works:- Ushinosuke, Mori. 1909. The Collection of Paiwan Aboriginal Language. Published by The Aboriginal Affairs Section of the Police Department, Civil Affairs Bureau, Taiwan Sōtokufu. Archived in National Taiwan University Library, Inō collection.
- Ushinosuke, Mori. 1909. The Collection of Amis Aboriginal Language. Published by The Aboriginal Affairs Section of the Police Department, Civil Affairs Bureau, Taiwan Sōtokufu. Archived in National Taiwan University Library, Inō collection.
- Ushinosuke, Mori. 1910. The Collection of Bunun Aboriginal Language. Published by The Aboriginal Affairs Office, Taiwan Sōtokufu. Archived in National Taiwan University Library, Inō collection.
- U. Mori & S. Nakai. 1913. Landscape of Taiwan Mountains. Taihoku: Shinkodo. .
- Ushinosuke, Mori. 1915. Atlas of Taiwan Aboriginals, volume I. Taihoku: Temporary Taiwan Old Customs Investigation Committee. .
- Ushinosuke, Mori. 1915. Atlas of Taiwan Aboriginals, volume II. Taihoku: Temporary Taiwan Old Customs Investigation Committee. .
- Ushinosuke, Mori. 1917. Taiwan Aboriginal Chronicles. Taihoku: Temporary Taiwan Old Customs Investigation Committee. Archived in National Taiwan University Library, Inō collection.
- Ushinosuke, Mori. 1910. Adventure Report on Crossing the Central Mountain Range between Jiji and Bazaizhuang.
- Ushinosuke, Mori. 1910. The Collection of Taroko Aboriginal Language.
- Ushinosuke, Mori. 1910. The Collection of Taroko Aboriginal Language in Puli Society.
- ''New Taiwan''
Related studies
- Yang, Nanjun; Miyaoka, Maoko; Miyazaki, Seiko; etc., The Phantom Anthropologist: Mori Ushinosuke: A Lifetime Dedicated to Studying Taiwan Aborigines, Tokyo: Fukyosha, 2005.
- National Taiwan Museum’s permanent exhibition Discovering Taiwan: Revisit the Age of Taiwan’s Natural History and Naturalists and its dedicated exhibition book: The exhibition brought up discussions on early 20th century, a period where the Government-General of Taiwan Library was first established and called the “Age of Discovery” as the study of Taiwan’s natural history and naturalists flourished. The discussions were meant to reexamine the discoveries, discoverers, and the tradition of discovery of natural history that served as the foundation of National Taiwan Museum’s collection and shaped the museum’s style. Mori Ushinosuke’s story and specimen collection were displayed in the first unit “Way to Discovery,” outlining how naturalists of that generation emphasized personal on-site surveying-which referred to the so-called “knowledge is gained alongside people’s journeys” investigation tradition.
- The character "Hayashi Mokunosuke" in the manga *The Name of the Moon*, published in 2023, is based on Mori Ushinosuke.
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