Information Literacy Resources: Doing Research in Japan

Kristina Troost, PhD
Course: Research Methods in Japanese Studies, 2005 Spring,
Duke University

Using Libraries

1. Toshokan ni kike ! / Inoue Makoto..図書館に訊け ! / 井上真琴.
   Tōkyō : Chikuma Shobō, 2004. 東京 : 筑摩書房, 2004.
2. "Selected Libraries in Japan," part IV of A Guide to Reference Books for Japanese Studies, 1997.
   Provides a brief description including speciality, hours, what is needed to get in (and cost), address and phone number.
3. Jinbutsu kinenkan jiten 人物記念館事典

Notable Libraries

1. Japan Newspaper Museum, 日本新聞博物館 Free and open to the public; is building complete runs of all Japanese newspapers which are members of the Nihon shinbun kyōkai in microfilm as well as collecting current issues in print, online databases and CD-ROMS. In Yokohama on the Minato mirai line.
2. National Diet Library 国会図書館 Has limits on the number of people who can use it at one time and on the number of items you can request at one time, but is free and open to the public and holds things not found elsewhere. Closed stacks.
3. Toritsu Chūō Toshokan 都立中央図書館 The Tokyo Metropolitan Library Open stacks, easy to use, friendly. Books can be ordered from one branch and delivered to another.
4. International House of Japan 国際文化会館図書館 Known for its collection of western language materials on Japan, they are used to dealing with foreignors, and provide excellent reference service as well as introductions to libraries.

Japan Art Documentation Society

Includes links to art libraries and museums.

Tokyo Archives and Research Trips

Tokyo Archives and Research Trips by Steve Clarke, Yale University
This guide, done by a Japanese literature scholar, should also prove useful to scholars looking for research materials in other fields.

Doing Fieldwork in Japan

Doing Fieldwork in Japan. Edited by Theodore C. Bestor, Patricia G. Steinhoff, and Victoria Lyon Bestor. University of California Press, 2004.
Reviewed in Journal of Japanese Studies, 31, no. 1, Winter 2005.

Organized into four sections: "Starting out," "Navigating bureaucratic mazes," "Asking: surveys, interviews, access," and "Outsiders in insiders' networks." Covers experiences in arranging introductions and affiliations, in gaining access and acceptance, in struggling with language learning and use....

ReaD – Directory Database of Research and Development Activities (JST)

Database of Japanese Researchers; can be searched by individual or field.

Writing Letters

Writing letters in Japanese = Nihongo no tegami no kakikata, Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies ; Kikuko Tatematsu ... [et al.]. Tokyo : Japan Times, 1992