East Asian Studies, Languages and Cultures

CiNii (Citation Information by National Institute of Informatics) is an index to Japanese academic journals. It also provides
access to full text articles from some journals. Users can: search article citations originally from various databases, covering ca. 17,000 journal titles in 8 million articles; view photographic image of the full-text articles for ca. 1500 journal titles in 2 million articles; trace articles that were referred to in the article, and trace articles that cite the article, covering ca. 1200 titles in 0.8 million articles.
[Coverage: 1948-present]

This is an index of Japanese language journals and periodical articles.
[Coverage: 1975-present]

Online access to Japanese-language reference sources, including dictionaries (Japanese, English and multi-languages), encyclopedias (Encyclopedia Nipponica, Encyclopedia of Japan, Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, etc.), etc. English-language interface: http://japanknowledge.com/en/contents/

WhoPlus contains biographical information on 330,000 people and an e-version of several biographical reference dictionaries covering 280,000 people, including "Jinbutsu refarensu jiten"人物レファレンス事典.

A Japanese-language resource, BookPlus contains: - Bibliographical information for monographs published since 1926 - Summaries and tables of contents for monographs published since 1986 - Photographic images of covers for monographs published since 2000 - Author’s information for monographs published since 2001 - Classified publications lists for monographs published during the past two weeks

Digital collection covers: Shūkan Tōyō Keizai (1997- ) Japan Company Handbook (2006- ) Hitotsubashi Bijinesu Rebyū (2006- ) MOOKs (2011- )

This is a full text edition (in Japanese) of the Asahi Shimbun from 1879, when it was first issued to the present. It is possible to compare the Tokyo and Osaka editions of the paper. Among other features, the database also includes articles from two magazines AERA and Shukan Asahi as well as a roughly 10,000 image photographic archive, taken mostly during World War II. History keyword system is a distinctive feature of Kikuzo II Visual, which is designed to efficiently search for the articles of the Meiji, the Taisho and the Showa periods. History keywords consist of selected major events of those days and names of historical figures as opposed to regular keywords given in the articles. By searching the database by history keywords, all relevant articles, even those which do not contain the very keywords, can be searched interrelatedly. In addition, a variety of history keyword lists (e.g. its chronological table and one organized by field of activity) further helps one’s search. A click on a keyword on the lists is enough to retrieve all relevant information all at once. Note: the license permits only a limited number of simultaneous users so please log off if you aren’t actively searching.
[Coverage: 1879-present]

How to use Asahi Shimbun Cross-Search

Yomidas Rekishikan is the full text database of the Yomiuri Shinbun, Japan's largest newspaper. Coverage ranges from 1874 to the present. More than 11 million Japanese-language articles from the Yomiuri Shinbun 読売新聞 are supplemented by English-language articles from the Daily Yomiuri (1989-present), Image file and biographical sketches (Who's Who in Japan) of nearly 26,000 contemporary individuals, and Showa no Chiiki-ban (Regional Sections) which contains scans of 2.76 million regional news pages dating from 1933 to 2001.

Bungei kurabu was originally published by Hakubunkan from 1895 to 1933. This online version of the journal offers access to 284 issues published between 1895 and 1912 in 108,070 pages, comprising articles by ca. 2,600 authors, including Higuchi Ichiyō, Izumi Kyōka, Ozaki Kōyō, Tayama Katai, and Yamada Bimyō. In addition to literary texts, the journal features also color illustrations at front pages (kuchie) by well-known artists of the time. Article titles in 3 journals included in the series (Taiyō, Bungei kurabu, Kōyūkai zasshi)can be searched. Full-text access is available only for “Taiyō and “Bungei kurabu.”
[Coverage: 1895-1912]

The first graphic magazine produced in Japan, Fūzoku Gahō, was originally published in Tokyo between February 1889 and March 1916 in 518 issues with over 38,000 articles. The articles published on the journal cover a wide range of subjects, including social and cultural trends and conditions in the Edo, Meiji, and Taisho periods, customs, history, literature, things/objects and affairs, geography, war and disasters. NOTE: There is a limit of 4 simultaneous users systemwide on the JapanKnowledge Platform (for all their resources). Please try later if you can’t get in immediately.
[Coverage: 1889-1916]

This is a Demand-Driven Acquisition (DDA) program for Japanese ebooks.  The full text of more than 3,000 Japanese books are currently available on this site and more will be added every six months.  Titles that meet a usage threshold will be permanently added to the collection. Note: These books do not appear in the library catalog.  You must use the Maruzen Web site to see what is available.

The Gunsho Ruiju series is a major collection of manuscripts from ancient through to the end of the early modern periods compiled under categories covering history, literature, religion, language, customs, art, music, cultivated arts, education, morality, legal codes, politics, economy, society and many other subjects. The collection uses the latest editions of the original compilations (Gunsho Ruiju and Zoku Gunsho Ruiju 3rd edition 5th printing, and Zoku zoku Gunsho Ruiju 3rd edition), with a full-text search function using contemporary shinjitai kanji forms. Also, text images of the original collections can be viewed in high resolution and downloadable for printing. Bibliographical information for each source includes category, title of digitized text, authorship, content (year of transcription, source reprint details) are included. Many textual sources are only available in this collection, and its contribution to the comprehensive research of classical Japanese culture is significant. NOTE: There is a limit of 4 simultaneous users systemwide on the JapanKnowledge Platform (for all their resources). Please try later if you can’t get in immediately.

The database reproduces 213 literary works by 67 modern Japanese writers in over 10,000 leaves of hand-written manuscripts, which were originally held by Takita Choin (1882-1925), a chief editor for the popular general-interest magazine Chūō kōron 中央公論 (1887-present), and are currently held by Nihon Kindai Bungakkan. For 209 literary works of those 213, the database also includes the photographic images of typeset texts published in Chūō kōron between 1915 and 1925. In Advanced Search (or 詳細検索) screen, the database is grouped together with Taiyō and Bungei kurabu under “Nihon Kindai Bungakukan 日本近代文学館.” Users can also browse the texts through authors’ list (https://japanknowledge.com/lib/shelf/choin/) and works’ list (https://japanknowledge.com/lib/shelf/choin/index2.html). NOTE: There is a limit of 4 simultaneous users systemwide on the JapanKnowledge Platform (for all their resources). Please try later if you can’t get in immediately.

A multidisciplinary archival platform for humanities and social sciences researchers to access various cultural and historical records of Japan. The database contains: Kusuda Minoru Collection (Satō Eisaku Papers), and documents related to: Miki Takeo; Ōhira Masayoshi; political scientist Yabe Teiji; Ōkita Saburō; Tokyo Army Military Proceedings on February 26 Incident (Part 1); Wagatsuma Sakae; local system and decentralization in Post War Japan; and a collection of materials related to social and energy policy.

Includes: Yuho Bunko Library, Documents Related to Goto Shinpei, Documents Related to Miyazawa Kiichiro, and Administrative Reform: Reports of the Provisional Commission for Administrative Reform and the Provisional Administrative Reform Promotion

Seifūzoku kishō zasshi korekushon性風俗稀少雑誌コレクション (Collection of Magazines on Japanese Mass Entertainment and Sexual Customs): Database offering cross-sectional access to potentially around 430 issues of popular entertainment/adult magazines published between 1950s and 1970s

“Nihon Shinrei” dejitaru ākaibu 「日本心霊」デジタルアーカイブ (“Nihon Shinrei” Digital Archive, Bulletin of Spirit Society of Japan, 1915-1939): A rare bulletin that gathers various people from various fields of medicine, religion, thought, and literature with "spirit" as a node