A Japanised King Solomon's Mines: Yamada Nagamasa's Treasure Narrative and Its Influence on Australia

ヤマダ　ナガマサ　ノ　ヒホウ　タン　ニットウ　ノ　ボウケン　オウ　カラ　オーストラリア　ノ　デンセツ　マデ

ハシモト, ヨリミツ

Hashimoto, Yorimitsu

Japanese Section, Deapartment of Eastern Languages, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

大阪大学大学院文学研究科日本文学・国語学研究室

Studies in Japanese Literature, Graduate School of Letters, Osaka University

W・G・ゴダード

レジナルド・インガメルズ

Minami Yoichiro

W. G. Goddard

Reginald Ingamells

Japanese treasure hunt narratives, loosely based on Haggard's King Solomons Mines, seems to emphasise that the Japanese characte(s), attempting to create an ideal empire, should have the treasure in foreign land. One of the best examples is Minami's Nitto no Boken-o [Japanese Adventurers, 1937], dealing with Nagamasa's hidden treasure in Thailand. While the framework of the novel is still reused in Japanese popular culture or manga, Nagamasa's treasure narrative coincidentally brings about the legends concerning his buried treasure in Australia.