Subject Guides Portal: Guides by Format

-- by Henry Smith

Core set of information literacy guides in Japanese Studies. Includes interesting back-stories on each book. The latest publication date on any book is 1994 but all refer to essential resources in the field.

-- English Language
-- Information Literacy

-- Originally created by Takako Suzuki

Includes print and digital bibliographies the cover a variety of topics. Also has a section dedicated to bibliographies on the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

-- English Language
-- Hiroshima & Nagasaki

-- by Haruko Nakamura

Meiji and pre-Meiji (classical Japanese) essential bibliographies for the works of those eras. Also has helpful advice on searching for bibliographic compilations in Japanese.

-- Meiji Era
-- Pre-Meiji Era

--Various authors

Unique topics at the introductory level, from Japan's first encounters with the West to modern healthcare reform. The bibliographies suggest a mix of books, articles, and other formats to expose students to a variety of information sources.

--Unique Topics
--English Language

-- Originally created by Takako Suzuki

Military and political figures are emphasized, with one column for print and another for digital resources.

--Military figures
--Political figures

-- by Kristina Troost

Core resources for looking up information on prominent and not so prominent figures in Japanese history. Resources here can be highly specific - focusing on different Japanese era's, professions, etc.

--by Haruko Nakamura

Names in Japanese are notoriously difficult to read. Not only are name dictionaries/databases provided, but also some clever strategies to help determine the correct reading when those resources don't yield results. Also has biographical dictionaries divided by major eras.

-- Name readings

-- by Julie Rousseau
-- by John Carpenter

Extensive list of resources covering a variety of aspects related to researching individuals. Annotations detail how dictionaries organize their entries and often include insightful background information about the work and author.

-- Copyright holders
-- English language
-- Genealogies
-- Necrologies
-- Unique

-- Kristina Troost

Focuses on resources that provide information on different geographic units, from regions down to cities. Includes dictionaries on name pronunciations and historical atlases.

-- by Ryuta Komaki

Concise list of geographic related online resources. A good place to start.

-- by the C.V. Starr Library
-- map selections by Yuki Ishimastsu
-- scanned & digitized by David Rumsey and Cartography Associates
-- initiated by Peter Zhou

Contains about 2,300 early maps of Japan and the world. Represented in the online collection are over 1100 images of maps and books.

-- by [anonymous]

Divided broadly into pre-modern and modern. Collections are usually hosted by a regional academic institution.

-- by Kristina Troost

A bibliography of different digitized map collections in the US and Japan.

-- Digital Collections

-- Originally created by Takako Suzuki

Modern maps and datasets from agencies and organizations in Japan that specialize in geospatial data are linked to here.

-- Geospatial data

-- by Kuniko Yamada McVey

A selection of modern and historical map resources by sections. Includes JapanMap: created by Lex Berman originally for 2011 Japan disaster, JapanMap allows to view Japan with many layered information such as nuclear power plants, railway network, local fire stations.

-- March 2011 disasters

-- by Jordan Sand
-- revised by David Lurie
-- updated Fall 2002 by Federico Marcon

More than simply maps, the resources here help with pronouncing place names, finding out their historical and literary significance, and etymologies.

-- Etymology
-- Literature

-- by Ryuta Komaki

Starting point for knowing what major newspaper databases available online.

-- by Kuniko McVey

Covers databases for various historical newspapers and the websites of current media outlets in Japan.

-- Originally created by Takako Suzuki

Emphasis is on newspapers that cover business, finance, and current issues. Also highlights the Japanese editions of major Western news sources.

-- Business

-- by Haruko Nakamura

Compiled newspaper columns by era (Meiji, Taisho, etc.), summaries of Japanese newspaper databases and English language databases for Japanese Newspapers in English.

-- Originally by Takako Suzuki

Many journals here are published outside of Japan by a variety of different agencies in different countries. Emphasizes business and politics.

-- Business
-- Economics
-- English language
-- International relations
-- Politics

-- by Henry Smith

Detailed explanations of major English language academic journals, including brief histories about each one's origins. Summaries further cover how each journal's content has changed over the decades and if there are book reviews. Also notes frequency of indexes, which are needed to find older articles.

-- English language
-- History of journals

-- by Kristina Troost

Excellent starting point for those new to research in Japanese Studies. Lists major academic journals with helpful summaries of their content and coverage according to their subject focus. Includes some free online magazines as well. Note that Japanese journals by subject area is listed on the right.

-- English language

-- Originally created by Takako Suzuki

Focused on the Japanese economy, often in the context of international relations and statistical data. Several important open-access journals are also included.

-- Economics
-- Economic statistics
-- International relations

-- by Chiaki Sakai

Covers Journals across a number of disciplines. Links are provided to records in the National Diet Library catalog to obtain detailed bibliographic information. Follow up with a search in CiNii for individual articles.

-- by Giles Richter
-- by Jordan Sand
-- by Henry Smith
-- revised by Adam Clulow

Organized by pre-war and post-war materials. The setup is like a flow chart, starting broad and narrowing down to specialized topics.

-- post-war periodicals
-- pre-war periodicals

-- by Kuniko Yamada McVey

Scholarly databases by Japanese companies and other Japan-based organizations. Open-access subject indexes are also listed to help locate journal articles on specific topics. Finally, there are a variety of esoteric resources included that are worth browsing over for possible future reference.

-- by Haruko Nakamura

Well suited for new graduate students in Japanese Studies. Focuses on a small set of essential journals, indexes, and databases. An excellent place to start without being overwhelmed by too many choices.

-- by Harvard-Yenching Library
-- contributions from Shinobu Murai
-- contributions from Kyoko Mori

Enormous guide to statistical resources across many academic disciplines. Includes detailed explanations of print & online materials; Japanese government ministries' sources, NGOs & NPOs; and databases, both rare, as well as others that many universities typically have access to.

-- Academic portals
-- Corporations
-- Economics
-- Government statistical resources
-- Law
-- Politics
-- Public opinion polls
-- Socio-demographics

-- originally by Takako Suzuki

Business & economics are highlighted. Also includes a section for worldwide statistics tracking agencies.

-- English language
-- World statistics

-- by Haruko Nakamura

Most links in this guide connect to English Language sources from Japan's various statistics tracking ministries. Excellent place to start for interdisciplinary researchers.

-- English language
-- Gender statistics

-- by Ryuta Komaki

Divides images by various sources and subject, including history and literature. Good for discovering an array of sources quickly.

-- by Harvard-Yenching Library
-- contributions from Kazuko Sakaguchi

A wide variety of (mostly) online resources are available. Like many subject guides a variety of era and topics are covered, but there are also useful bibliographies of books on photography and photographers in Japan.

-- Photography in Japan
-- Photographers

-- by Kuniko Yamada McVey

Diverse set of image databases. Well worth browsing in order to consult later for future research.

-- Imagination
-- Postcards
-- Unique

-- by Ayako Yoshimura

Visual learners will be especially grateful for this guide. Points users to book series that cover a variety of topics like history, kabuki, etc. Likewise, the periodicals section is where you will find visual guides to topics as niche as Japanese candy. Also covers, film, manga, kabuki, and the arts.

--Unique

-- by [Anonymous]

Compact list of links to image databases. Special section on posters.

-- Posters

-- by Haruko Nakamura

Emphasizes images according to era. supported by a selection of important databases and related topics like copyright.

-- by Kristina Troost

An excellent guide for locating images. It covers print and digital materials, provides links to important museums and databases, includes photographs and illustrations. The Historical Images section is exceptions, with a thorough introduction on using images for research, along with a guide especially for those who cannot read Japanese.

-- Historical images

-- by Henry Smith

While somewhat dated, there are detailed annotations on important printed resources. Since most images are not actually digitized, these compendia can still be quite useful. There's also a section with a good introduction to older photography methods (before the use of digital camera's).