Pioneering studies in the 1930s on perception: An historical background of experimental psychology in Japan1

Some pioneering experimental studies on perception conducted by Japanese investigators in the 1930s are reviewed. The topics and investigators of these studies were optical illusions (Obonai, Morinaga), size constancy (Akishige, Ogasawara), apparent movement in vision and audition (Ogasawara, Yuki), time‐space interaction (Abe, Abbe), recovery from blindness (Kuroda, Akishige), and animal perception (Takagi, Kuroda). The originality in the ideas and methods of these studies compared with Western studies in that period and their influence on recent experimental psychology in Japan are discussed.