Subject Guide to Japanese Electronic Resources
Contents
- How to Find Books and Serials Held at Libraries
- How to Find Journal/Magazine Articles
- How to Find Newspaper Articles
- How to Find Japanese Web Sites
- Reference/Research
- Subject Specific Resources
How to Find Books and Serials Held at Libraries
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PAC
The SDSU's online catalog which contains about 2000 Japanese titles. PAC supports Japanese script search and display. -
WorldCat
A union catalog of over 9,000 OCLC member institutions from 80+ countries worldwide, including many public libraries. -
NDL OPAC
Online catalog of the National Diet Library, Japan. Has English search interface. -
WebcatPlus
A union catalog of over 1,000 National Institute of Informatics (NII) NACSIS-CAT member institutions from Japan and beyond. Includes records supplied by vendors and publishers and provides contents information for books published since 1986. Has English search interface.
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How to Find Journal/Magazine Articles
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雑誌記事索引 NDL Japanese Periodicals Index
Indexes to 15,712 academic periodicals covering all subjects since 1948 to present (9,692 current; 6062 ceased), mostly in Japanese and some English journals published in Japan. -
論文情報ナビゲーター CiNii: Citation Information by NII
CiNii is part of GeNii. CiNii is a bibliographic information system for scholarly journal articles, with which a user can a) search article citations originally from various databases including NDL Journal Periodicals Index since 1948, covering ca. 17,000 journal titles; b) view photographic image of the full-text articles for ca. 1,500 journal titles; c) trace articles that were referred to in the article, and trace articles that cite the article, covering ca. 1,200 titles. Has English search interface. -
占領期雑誌記事情報データベース
Created by the Institute of 20th Century Media/Committee for the Preservation of Magazines Published during the Occupation. As of March 2005, the database covers 10,980 magazine titles out of 13,800 published between 1945 and 1949 and included in the Prange Collection, University of Maryland, originally belonged to the Civil Censorship Detachment, a unit within GHQ.
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How to Find Newspaper Articles
- 毎日フォトバンク Mainichi Photo Bank
This is the largest digital photographic archive in Japan having 120,000 photographs from prewar period and ca. 80,000 photographs and tables since 1998. Provides free word search capabilities. Photos are accompanied by information on date and place taken and size of image. There is no indication about the date that photos appeared in papers. - 戦前期新聞経済記事文庫 Newspaper Article in Digital Version
This is the digital version of newspaper clippings collection developed by Kobe University. The subject focus is on economy, business and industries. It covers from the late Meiji period to the prewar era (1943.) Includes major newspapers published in Osaka and Kobe areas, and articles from local newspapers and colonial papers.
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How to Find Japanese Web Sites
- Dnavi
Created by NDL. This is a database of databases. It is a discovering tool for academic research resources on the Internet. The search results provide bibliographic data and links to the database sites. Approximately 9,000 debases on the Internet can be searched by keywords and subjects. - PAIR (Portal to Asian Internet Resources)
This is a portal site to Asian resources on the Internet selected by librarians. It catalogs over 6,000 resources in the area of humanities and social sciences and provides their annotations. - 大学Webサイト資源検索
This is an index database on university scholarly resources and research results that are available in digital format. Currently ca. 6,000 data are collected. - Ariadne: Resources for Arts and Humanities
An extensive collection of links to relevant sites particularly in the field of arts and humanities. The resources are classified in 21 subcategories. - WARP ( Web Archiving Project )
The site to archive websites and electronic journals to preserve as useful information resources for national cultural assets. Mainly websites produced by government agencies (national and local levels), universities, various fields of corporate bodies and international and cultural event sites are archived. - Wayback Machine
The largest internet archive site online.
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Reference/Research
- Rikai
Created by Todd David Rudick, a software engineer in Tokyo, utilizing the resources made available by Jim Breen and his EDICT Project. This is a program for learning Japanese, which provides readings and definitions of Chinese characters in English. - Academic Research Database Repository (click "NII-DBR")
A repository of 25 databases of various contents, originally created by Japanese academic societies, researchers, and libraries (ca. 1.2 million records), which is available from GeNii. Includes 博士論文書誌データベース Doctoral Dissertation Bibliographic Database, which is provided by the National Diet Library. Has English search interface that supports search queries in English. - Kaken
A database of the research projects funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT, 文部科学省) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS, 日本学術振興会). Covers the research topics funded for 1997-2005 and the research results for 1985-2002. - 研究開発支援総合ディレクトリReaD: Directory Database of Research and Development Activities
Maintained by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. ReaD provides information on research institutes, researchers, research projects, and research resources in Japan. - Academic Society Home Village
Provides links to home pages of individual academic societies in Japan. Supported by the National Institute of Informatics.
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Subject Specific Resources
Archaeology/Art
- 文化遺産オンライン Cultural Heritage Online
The database is compiled in cooperation with museums and related organizations in Japan under the auspices of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. It contains brief explanations and images of cultural assets. You can browse by time periods, object categories, and geographical regions. - 博物館・美術館ネットワーク Museum-net
A collection of links to various museums in Japan.
Buddhism/Religion/Philosophy
- インド学仏教学論文データベース Indian and Buddhist Studies Treatise Database (INBUDS)
A bibliographic database offered by the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies. Covers articles from academic bulletins, collected research essays, etc. since 1952. - 花園大学国際禅学研究所 International Research Institute of Zen Buddhism, Hanazono University
Several databases including Zenseki Dētabēsu are available, from which many texts of Zen Buddhism are offered for download. - 全国寺院の検索 Buddha World
A directory of famous Buddhist temples in Japan. Links to web sites or provides concise information on the temple including brief history and treasures they have inherited. You can browse by temple names, sects, or geographic locations. - 神道基本用語集 Basic Terms of Shinto
A web version of the revised booklet published in 1985 (the original edition was published in 1958), originally compiled by the Shinto Committee for the IXth International Congress for the History of Religions. Provided by Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University. - 哲学・倫理学・宗教学関係国内リンク集 Philosophy/Ethics/Religious Studies WWW List in Japan
A collection of various web resources, provided by Prof. Kiyonori Nagasaki, Yamaguchi Kenritsu University.
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Education
- 教育系電子資料ナビゲイションシステム Etopia
Portal sites that includes information related to education.
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History
- 国立公文書館アジア歴史資料センター
Japan Center for Asian Historical Records, National Archives of Japan
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. The collection covers from the middle of the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century. A plug-in software is required to view the images. - 国立公文書デジタルアーカイブ・システム
National Archives of Japan Digital Archive
Provides access to the descriptions and digitized images of the historical records preserved by the National Archives of Japan. Keyword and layered search options are available. Some Important Cultural Properties and other materials of historical importance held at the National Archives of Japan are viewable at the Digital Gallery. - Japanese Historical Maps
East Asian Library, University of California, Berkeley
Represented in this online collection are over 600 images of maps and books from the Japanese Historical Map Collection of Japan and the world which was acquired by the University of California from the Mitsui family in 1949, and is housed on the Berkeley campus in the East Asian Library.
Language / Literature
- 近代デジタルライブラリー
Collection of full text works published during Meiji era. Currently, 59,900 titles out of 16 million titles published in Meiji era and owned by NDL are digitalized. Need to install the special viewer that is downloadable at the site to read and use available functions in fullest. - 青空文庫
Electronic texts site for large collection of Japanese literary works, listed by title and name of author. - 日本語テキストイニシアチブ Japanese Text Initiative
Under a collaborative effort by the two institutions, a number of texts of classical and modern Japanese literature have become available on the Web with keyword search capabilities. Some texts are accompanied by English translations as well. - 国立国語研究所
Provides research reports and reference tools on Japanese language studies. Also provides information on Japanese as a second language. - みんなの教材サイト
This site is organized by Japan Foundation Japanese Language Institute, Urawa and offers language teaching materials and information that Japanese language instructors can use to organize lessons. Need to register to use the resources on the site. - Selected Links by Yoshiko Kubota and Hisae Kato
Recommended sites by Japanese language instructors at the Japan Foundation Japanese Language Institute, Urawa. Full of useful resources for language teaching.
Performing Arts and Films
- キネマ旬報全映画作品データベース Kinejun All Movie Database
A database of 37,000 Japanese and foreign movies shown in Japan from 1950 to 2000, and selected movies from 2001 to 2003. 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. - 日本映画データベースJapanese Movie Database
A database of ca. 76,000 individuals and 34,000 titles of Japanese movies since 1899. Revision of some data may be made by anyone.
Political Science
- 電子政府の総合窓口
Gateway site to locate the government related information. The website facilitates to utilize a variety of information made available at home pages of government agencies of Japan. Provides keyword search capabilities. - 統計データ・ポータルサイト Portal Site of Statistical Data in Japan
Official statistics made available by the Japanese government, classified by subject. Also features a site map of statistical data provided by other ministries and agencies in Japan. - 総務省統計局サイト The Statistical Bureau site
In addition to the official statistics made available by the Japanese government, the Internet versions of publications such as Japan Statistical Yearbook and Monthly Statistics of Japan are available. - Guide to Official Statistics in Japan
This is the Internet version of "Guide to Official Statistics in Japan," compiled by the Statistical Standards Department, Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. This publication aims to provide overall information about official statistics of Japan that may be useful to overseas statistics producers and users. - 国会会議録
Compiled by the National Diet Library. The website provides access to the minutes of the Diet since May 20, 1947. Full text search can be done to limited parts of the documents. Minutes of the Imperial Diet are also available. - 官報
Japanese government’s official gazettes. The latest week of gazette can be viewed in full text. The tables of contents since July 3, 1996 are currently searchable. Includes summary of new statutes, edicts, and treaties; official announcements; personnel transfers among government offices; diet calendar and public notices on bidding results etc. - 日本法令索引
Japanese constitution, laws, government and ministerial ordinances, etc. can be searched. Also, abolished and amended laws are searchable. Bills that passed since the 1st diet session ( 1947) can be searched. - 白書一覧 (Gioss net)
Lists up white papers published by various government agencies and provides links to the full text or summary versions of them. Also provides links to an English version of respective white papers. (if exists) - 調査と情報 – Issues Brief
This is a collection of booklets that discuss important political topics and brief the background of issues and raises concerns to be discussed further. The site carries copies from January 2003.
Sociology
- 労働政策研究・研修機構 Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training
Provides labor economic indicators and recent statistical survey reports. Some of the reports issued by the institute are available in PDF format. Offers several databases related to labor topics. The English page side carries a fairly good amount of information. English versions are available. - 法政大学大原社会問題研究所 Ohara Institute for Social Research, Hosei University
Links to websites of labor and social movements, the full text of "Labor Year Book" and the bibliography of English books and articles about industrial relations in Japan. Also includes online exhibit of over 3,000 posters of labor and social movements in the pre and post war Japan. - 社会学文献情報データベース Bibliography of Japanese Sociology Database
Compiled by the Japan Sociological Society. Contains bibliographic information of sociological literature either written by Japanese researchers or published in Japan. Approximately, 76,000 records have been collected.
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Selected from the original workshop developed by: Sanae Isozumi, UCSD and Toshie Marra, UCLA in October, 2005; with minor revision by: Julie Su, SDSU Libraries.
