The Hierarchy and the Multi and Super-ethnic Regional Formation concerning African Traditional Kingdoms

首先，我们已经证明，尽管非洲民族的形象仍然是传统非洲的主导形象，后者有着丰富的国家形成历史，许多传统的王国或酋邦幸存至今，在独立的现代民族国家制度下，对人民生活福利的发展发挥了重要作用。其次，我们特别从区域形成或多民族群体融入更广泛的地方社会的角度研究了国家形成。因此，我们分析了传统非洲形象是“民族”或部落形象的原因，以及非洲国家形成的特殊逻辑。非洲大陆的中心是世界上最大的森林，而其预言地带则是干燥的稀树草原和沙漠。我们认为，在干旱地区，国家地层作为区域地层很容易实现。其原因是：1)家畜作为交通工具的存在，没有……更多的运动、交流甚至军事活动；2)没有诸如深森林、河流和沼泽等阻碍交流和运动的物质障碍。在森林地区，国家的形成非常困难，特别是因为家畜的缺乏和运动和运输的生态障碍的存在。这就是为什么非洲国家的形成主要是在像萨赫勒地区这样的预言区实现的。非洲似乎还不知道自己的国家形成。我们可以大致确认非洲内部缺乏沟通。然而，非洲并不是种族原子镶嵌的大陆。各民族之间存在着相互作用的关系；他们形成了更广泛的区域性社会。因此，从民族世界到国家社会是持续不断的国家社会在更广泛的区域社会中有更多的制度整合了多民族关系。或者说，这种对非洲民族的重新思考是1960年开始的日本民族学家工作的指导方针。我们主要编辑日本民族学家用法语或英语撰写的论文，出版了5卷《非洲王国文集》。我们还开展了与外国学者特别是非洲学者的国际合作。少

First we have demonstrated that although the image of Ethnic Africa is still dominant about the traditional Africa, this latter has known rich histories of State formation and many traditional kingdoms or chiefdoms have survived till now and played important roles for the development of the welfare of the peoples' life under the system of the independent modem nation state,Secondly we have studied the state formation especially from the point of view of regional formation or integration of multi-ethnic groups into a wider local society. Thus we have analyzed the reason by which the image of traditional Africa is 'ethnic' or tribal one and the particular logic of African State formation. Africa is a continent with the biggest forest in the world at its center and drier savanna and desert in its prophetical zones. We consider that the State formation as regional formation was easily realized in the dry zones. Its reasons are 1) existence of domestic animals used as means of transport, mo … More vement, communication and even military activities 2) absence of material obstacles for communications and movement such as deep forests, rivers and swamp. In the forest regions the state formation was very difficult especially because of the absence of domestic animals and the existence of ecological obstacles for the movement and the transport. This is why the African State formation has been mainly realized in the prophetical zones like Sahel Region. It was as if Africa has not known her own state formation. We can generally confirm the lack of internal communication in Africa.However Africa was not the continent of mosaic of ethnic atoms. Ethnic groups have existed in inter actionable relationship with each others; they formed wider regional societies. It was therefore continual from the ethnic world to the state society which has more institutionally integrated multi-ethnic relationships in wider regional societies. Or this kind of Rethinking Ethnic Africa was a guide line for Japanese ethnologists' works which started from 1960. Mainly editing the papers written in French or English by Japanese ethnologists we have published 5 volumes of African Kingdoms Collection.We have also developed international cooperation with foreign scholars, especially African ones. Less