The purpose of this study is clarifying the value of using the school year book for research in cultural anthropology.
The school year book as a publication has a history of more than 100 years in Japan. Over time, the album evolved from monochromatic print to full color and from thread binding to superior binding. The school year book is composed of a large number of photographs and has as a characteristic that it is published regularly. In addition, the school year book includes photographs of students and teachers and a record of life at the school. Therefore, the school year book provides a chronology of the living environment in the specific school. Actually, research on the chimachogori uniform of Korea relied heavily on the school year book for data.
In this paper, I analyzed the school year book. As a result, it became clear that examining the school year book every generation can make it extremely easy to identify a change in both school uniforms and the living environment.
However, circulation of the school year album is extremely limited, making it difficult for an outsider to read the school year album for a research study. Moreover, there are privacy issues in the use of personal information from school yearbooks.
I clarified the usefulness of the school year album in cultural anthropology while pointing out some problem areas in this report.