Japanese Studies Internet Resources

Contents

  General Information
  Government Information / Statistics
  Humanities Related Sites
  Social Sciences Related Sites
  Academic Societies / Universities / Libraries / Museums / Think Tanks
  Books / Articles / Newspapers / Booksellers
  Image Data

  Library Sessions

Note: For those sites that have both English and Japanese versions, the English versions are listed here. Individual Japanese pages may be coded differently (S-JIS, Unicode, etc.) which require special software to view. If you need to obtain a Japanese software, click here for information.

  General Information

• Japan Information Network
  http://www.jinjapan.org/
  
  A collection of links for a variety of information about Japan.

• Detabesu Shusei
  http://www.ne.jp/asahi/coffee/house/DB/
  
  An extensive collection of databases classified in Nippon Decimal Classification system.

• Goo
  http://www.goo.ne.jp/
  
  A search engine based on one of the largest information databases in Japan. A wide range of information and news are also categorized for browsing.

• Infoseek Japan
  http://japan.infoseek.com/
  
  A search engine. A wide range of information and news are also categorized for browsing.

• Ask An East Asian Studies Librarian
  http://askvrd.org/askeasl/
  
  Reference assistance is provided by voluntary U.S. librarians in the East Asian Studies. You can either check questions & answers previously contributed in the Archives, or leave your own questions so professional librarians give you answers.

• Rikai
  http://www.rikai.com/perl/Home.pl
  
  A program for learning Japanese and Chinese, which provides readings and definitions of Chinese characters in English.

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 Government Information / Statistics

• Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet
  http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/index-e.html
  
  As the official website of the Kantei (Official Residence) of the Prime Minister of Japan, the website provides summaries of official speeches and statements made by the present Prime Minister as well as those of predecessors since 1996. Japanese version of the site provides keyword search mechanism and much more information than the English version, including biographical information of the members in the Cabinet, digest ed. of Kanpo, Hakusho, statistics, etc. It provides links to related sites including home pages of government agencies.

• E-Gov
  http://www.e-gov.go.jp/
  
  Compiled by the Administrative Management Bureau, Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications. The website facilitates to utilize a variety of information made available at home pages of government agencies of Japan. Provides keyword search capabilities.

• Minutes of the Diet
  http://kokkai.ndl.go.jp/
  
  Compiled by the National Diet Library. The website provides access to minutes of the Diet since May 20, 1947. Full text search can be done to limited parts of the documents.

• Documents originally held at the Japan Document Center, Library of Congress
  http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/asian/jdc.html
  
  The Japan Document Center (1992-2000) collected over 5,000 documents (mostly in Japanese) of grey literature on Japan, originally issued between 1993 and 1999. Its database contains English abstracts of the documents and researchers can request copy of the original documents.

• Nippon-Net -- Local Governments (Japanese only)
  http://www.nippon-net.ne.jp/
  
  Links to official home pages of Japanese local governments from prefecture to city level and provides quick access to information in the home pages by keyword search ("Chiiki Hakken").

• Statistic Bureau & Statistics Center
  http://www.stat.go.jp/english/1.htm
  
  Provides statistical data compiled by the Statistic Bureau & Statistics Center as well as information on statistical data compiled by other government agencies of Japan.

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 Humanities Related Sites

• Ariadne: Resources for Arts and Humanities
  http://ariadne.ne.jp/
  
  An extensive collection of links to relevant sites particularly in the field of arts and humanities. The resources are classified in 21 subcategories.

• National Institute of Japanese Literature
  http://www.nijl.ac.jp/e/
  
  The Institute provides several useful databases in classical Japanese literature, such as Nihon Koten Bungaku which reproduces the texts published in Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei (Iwanami Shoten, 1957-1967). The website also provides access to the Union Catalogue of Early Japanese Books in Europe compiled by Prof. Peter F. Kornicki.

• Aozora Bunko = Blue Sky Collection -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.aozora.gr.jp/
  
  As of June 2002, the Bunko has reproduced over 1,800 volumes of Japanese books in modern literature (including translations), law, etc. and provides access to these texts on the World Wide Web. Reading is supplied to some Chinese characters in the texts. "Denshi Tekisuto no Aru Basho" provides more links to electronic texts from classics to modern Japanese literature.

• Japanese Electronic Texts -- (Japanese only)
  http://jcmac5.jc.meisei-u.ac.jp/etext-i.htm
  
  A list of Japanese writings from the Nara period through modern whose texts are available in electronic formats (HTML files, CD-ROMs, etc.). Each entry includes information about creators, charges, formats, original texts, URLs, etc.

• University of Virginia Library / University of Pittsburgh Japanese Text Initiative
  http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/
  
  Under a collaborative effort by the two institutions, a number of texts of classical and modern Japanese literature have become available on the World Wide Web with keyword search capabilities. Some texts are accompanied by English translations as well.

• Machine-readable text-database of the Taisho Tripitaka (the TAISHO SHINSHU DAIZOKYO)
  http://www.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~sat/
  
  Provided by the Association for Computerization of Buddhist Texts (ACBUT). The Association attempts to make Buddhist texts of Taisho Shinshu Taizokyo (v. 1-85) available on the World Wide Web to any researchers in the world.

• Indian and Buddhist Studies Treatise Database (INBUDS)
  http://www.inbuds.org/search/index.html
  
  A bibliographic database offered by the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies.

• Toyogaku Bunken Ruimoku: Annual Bibliography of Oriental Studies (CHINA3)
  http://www.kanji.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/db/CHINA3/index.html.ja
  
  Compiled by the Documentation and Information Center for Chinese Studies, Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University. The database covers books and articles in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English, published since 1981. Netscape works best with this site.

• Linguistics and Language-Related Web Sites in Japan
  http://www.sal.tohoku.ac.jp/~gothit/kanren-en.html
  
  Maintained by GOTOO Hitosi, Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics, Tohoku University. Has many links to useful sites in the field of linguistics and language studies.

• Philosophy/Ethics/Religious Studies WWW List in Japan
  http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~IS8K-NGSK/index-e.html
  
  Provided by Kiyonori Nagasaki, Lecturer, Yamaguchi Kenritsu Daigaku. Organizes links in the categories of research institutions, academic societies, texts/databases, academic journals, etc. The Japanese page has much more links than the English page.

• Kinema Junpo Zen'eiga Sakuhin Detabese
  http://www.walkerplus.com/movie/
  
  A database of 37,000 Japanese and foreign movies shown in Japan from 1945 to 2000. Provides information such as production date, names of directors, staff, and actors, annotation, and story. You can search by keywords, movie titles, names of directors and actors.

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• "The World and Japan" Database Project
  http://www.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~worldjpn/
  
  Provided by the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, with funding from Monbusho. The project consists of four databases related to international relations: "A Chronology of the 20th Century" (Japanese), "Post WWII Japanese Politics and Diplomacy" (English / Japanese), "Foreign Policy of Asia-Pacific Countries" (Japanese), and "Abbreviations for International Relations" (Japanese).

• Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo
  http://www.hi.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
  
  The Japanese page of the site includes a number of useful databases such as the index to Dai Nihon Shiryo, and full text search databases of Dai Nihon Komonjo, Dai Nihon Kokiroku, and Heian Ibun.

• Japan Center for Asian Historical Records, National Archives of Japan
  http://www.jacar.go.jp/index_e.htm
  
  A digital archive of modern historical records related to Asia held by the National Archives of Japan, the Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Library of the National Institute for Defense Studies, National Defense Agency. A plug-in software is required to view the images.

• Ohara Institute for Social Research, HOSEI University
  http://oohara.mt.tama.hosei.ac.jp/english/toc06.html
  
  As the oldest research center of the social sciences in Japan, the Institute has developed one of the greatest resource centers for social and labor movements of Japan. The Digital Library page includes a number of databases and full text of Ohara Shakai Mondai Kenkyujo Zasshi (Apr. 1998-), Nihon Rodo Nenkan (1964-1989), etc. as well as useful links to resources in social sciences available on the World Wide Web.

• Roper Center, Japanese Data Archive
  http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/jpoll/home.html
  
  The Center has developed "the only comprehensive database of Japanese public opinion data," JPOLL (registration required), which contains more than 10,000 public opinion questions and the respective responses from Japan's major survey research sources. These studies cover social, political, and economic topics throughout the current decade.

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 Academic Societies / Universities / Libraries / Museums / Think Tanks

• National Institute of Informatics (previously NACSIS)
  http://www.nii.ac.jp/
  
  The Institute provides a number of very useful resources to the international academic community, including the following:
  
  
  • NACSIS-IR/ NACSIS-ELS
    -- Trial service for NACSIS-IR, a variety of databases, and NACSIS-ELS, a full text archive of journals published by academic societies.
    
    
  • Academic Society Home Village
    -- Links to home pages of individual academic societies in Japan.
    
    
  • NACSIS Webcat
    -- Online union catalog of books and periodicals held by Japanese academic libraries.
    
    
  • Directory of Research Activities and Resources
    -- Consists of three databases: Institute/Subject (academic institutions in Japan), Researchers (researchers associated with Japanese academic institutions), and Resources (research resources located at Japanese academic institutions). These databases can be used by two modes: Directory and Full text search.

• Links to Universities, Colleges and Institutes in Japan
  http://isl.educ.fukushima-u.ac.jp/school/
  
  Maintained by the Information Science Lab., Faculty of Education, Fukushima University. Provides quick access to home pages of Japanese institutions of higher education. Links are organized by geographical regions and individual prefectures, from north to south.

• WWW Servers in Japan, Academic Libraries
  http://www.libra.titech.ac.jp/libraries_Japan_e.html
  
  Maintained by the Tokyo Institute of Technology Library. Provides quick access to home pages of Japanese university libraries. Links are organized by geographical regions and individual prefectures, from north to south, or by Japanese alphabetical order.

• Digital Projects at National University Libraries in Japan -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.lib.u-ryukyu.ac.jp/erwg/denshika.html
  
  Links to individual digital project pages provided by national university libraries in Japan, many of which include much of image and full text data. Links are organized by institutions from north to south.

• Waseda University Library
  http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/index-j.html
  
  Waseda University Library's online catalog, WINE: Waseda University Scholarly Information Network System, allows searches in Modified Hepburn romanization system as well as in vernaculars.

• National Diet Library
  http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/index.html
  
  NDL OPAC presently contains bibliographic data of over 2.5 million Japanese books (acquired since 1868) and of over 230,000 items of Western language materials (acquired since 1986) as well as 270,000 items of doctral dissertations held by the Library. It now also provides access to the periodical index database. The website includes other interesting digital projects managed by the Library as well.

• Japan Studies Resources -- Duke University Library
  http://www.lib.duke.edu/ias/eac/japanesestudies.html
  
  A well-organized site for research in Japanese Studies, which contains a variety of bibliographic guides and useful information particularly for U.S. researchers.

• Museums, Art Galleries, Document Centers -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.ojw.or.jp/museum/
  
  Links to home pages of museums, art galleries, and document centers located in Japan. Links are organized by prefectures from north to south.

• Think Tanks -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.nira.go.jp/linke/tt-link/lf-index.html
  
  Provided by NIRA (National Institute of Research Advancement). Links to home pages of think tanks in Japan. Links are organized in Japanese alphabetical order.

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• Literary Database Compedium: Links to free searchable databases -- Jissen Women's University Library
  http://www.jissen.ac.jp/library/bjenglish.htm
  
  Provides comprehensive bibliographic guidance with international scope.

• Books in Print -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.books.or.jp/
  
  Provided by the Japan Book Publishers Association. The database contains ca. 610,000 titles of Japanese books currently available on the market.

• TRC WWW Book Search -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.trc.co.jp/trc-japa/search/trc_www.asp
  
  Provided by Toshokan Ryutsu Center. As of June 2002, the database contains over 910,000 bibliographic records for books published since 1980. Newer entries include summary of the item in addition to bibliographic details. Daily and weekly additions are classified by subjects.

• Kinokuniya Bookweb -- (Japanese only)
  http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/
  
  Kinokuniya Shoten's website offers classified listing of new books as well as simple search mechanism from their extensive database. Some entries include summary of the item in addition to bibliographic details.

• Book Contents
  http://contents.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp/contents/
  
  Provided by the University of Tokyo Library System / Digital Library Division, Information Technology Center. The Book Contents Database allows you to search for books held in the libraries of the University of Tokyo by looking at their tables of contents or information taken from their summaries and dust jackets. As of Sept. 2002, the database contains over 186,000 Japanese and English books published since 1979.

• Government Publications -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.gov-book.or.jp/index.html
  
  The website provides much information about government publications as well as search capabilities.

• Union List of Japanese Serials and Newspapers
  http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/uljsn/default.html
  
  A union list of Japanese serials and newspapers held by academic libraries in North America. As of Sept. 30, 2000, the union list includes 8,323 titles held by 44 libraries.

• SOKUHO : Current contents of academic serials in Japan -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.nii.ac.jp/sokuho/index.html
  
  Tables of contents of academic journals published in Japan are provided by the National Institute of Informatics.

• Kokunai Zasshi e no Rinkushu -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.nul.nagoya-u.ac.jp/mag/mag-a.html
  
  The Nagoya University Library has compiled a collection of links to table of contents of Japanese journals and magazines.

• Shohyo Detabesu -- (Japanese only)
  http://www3.asahi.com/opendoors/span/ronza/shohyoudb/
  
  Asahi Shinbunsha offers a bibliographic database for book reviews published in major newspapers and weekly/monthly magazines. The database covers from 1997 to present.

• Press Net -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.pressnet.or.jp/
  
  Provided by the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association. The website offers a variety of information related to newspaper industry. "Shimen Tenbo" section provides collective summary of editorials from individual papers on specific events.

• Japan Times Online
  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
  
  Provides keyword search mechanism for news since January 1999 published on Japan Times.

• Nikkei Net
  http://www.nikkei.co.jp/help/kensaku.html
  
  Provides keyword search mechanism for news of the past three months published on the Nikkei Net.

• Mainichi Newspapers
  http://www.mainichi.co.jp/news/selection/index.html
  
  Provides keyword search mechanism for news of the past two years. Or, you can access to the news of the specific date from News Calendar.

• Nihon no Furuhon'ya -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.kosho.or.jp/
  
  With many participants from Zenkoku Koshosekisho Kumiai Rengokai, the site offers the largest database of secondhand books in Japan and searchable directory of over 2,700 secondhand book sellers in Japan.

• Kanda Book Town -- (Japanese only)
  http://www.book-kanda.or.jp/
  
  Provides information about Kanda Book Town, the largest center of secondhand books in Japan. Its database contains over 100,000 titles of books for sale.

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 Image Data

• Japanese Old Photographs in Bakumatsu-Meiji Period
  http://oldphoto.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/unive/
  
  Provided by the Nagasaki University Library. As of March 1999, the Library's old photograph collection numbered over 5,000 items. You can search pictures by free keyword, or browse them by subjects or geographical divisions.

• Mainichi Photo Bank
  http://photobank.mainichi.co.jp/
  
  This is "the largest digital photographic archive in Japan" having 120,000 photographs from prewar period and ca. 200,000 photographs and tables since 1998. Provides free word search capabilities.

• Nichibunken Databases
  http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/graphicversion/dbase/datae.htm
  
  The International Research Center for Japanese Studies provides a variety of databases, some of which are very useful. Cross-Reference Simultaneous Search of Databases of Foreign Images of Japan, Early Photographs and Japanese Art is a handy tool (registration required).

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