Melanesian Ethnic Materials

Keio University has a collection of over 1,800 ethnographic objects collected on the island world of Melanesia. The main collection is of Haruji Matsue, President of the Nanyo Kohatsu Corporation, a sugar manufacturer in the 'Nanyo Archipelago' which was the Japanese mandated territory before and during the WWII. The collection also contains a number of items collected by Isokichi Komine, who had been engaged in trading in German New Guinea since the Meiji period. A catalogue of the collection was edited in 1940 by a group including Professor Nobuhiro Matsumoto, a leading researcher in ethnology at Keio University. Thanks to the relationship between Matsue's son, who was a student at the university, his collection was transferred to Mita Campus after the war. It is known as one of the valuable collection of Island Melanesia.