Comprehensive Digitization and Discoverability Program: Great Kantō Earthquake (関東大震災) Project

In Fall 2022, NCC's CDDP Task Force conducted a survey on resources digitized (and print) held by North American libraries related to the Great Kantō Earthquake, which hit the Kantō Plain on September 1, 1923.

Upon examining the responses from the survey, the Task Force considered several different options to bring the resources to light, including the possibility of collaboratively creating an online exhibit. However, it was equally important to remind ourselves that many resources and collections across North America remain in print form. As a result, the Great Kantō Earthquake Project Libguide was created to showcase resources in all formats. It is also the hope of the  CDDP that this could inspire future digitization projects on materials related to the Great Kantō Earthquake.

If there are any additional resources you would like to add to the Great Kantō Earthquake Project Libguide, please fill out the survey form. 

2022年秋に、NCCのCDDPタスクフォースは、1923年9月1日に関東平野を襲った関東大震災に関して北米の図書館等で所蔵されるデジタル化資料（及び紙媒体資料）についてサーベイを実施した。

サーベイの回答を精査した後、タスクフォースはこれらのリソースに光をあてようとオンライン展示を協働で作る可能性を含む様々なオプションを検討した。しかし、北米に収集されているリソースやコレクションの多くはいまだ紙媒体であることを改めて認識させられたことも同様に重要であった。その結果、あらゆるフォーマットのリソースを紹介するため、Great Kantō Earthquake Project Libguideが作成された。これを契機に関東大震災に関する資料の電子化プロジェクトへと将来的につながっていってくれればCDDPの望むところでもある。

Great Kantō Earthquake Project Libguideに追加したい資料がございましたら、こちらのサーベイフォームにご記入ください。

By clicking on the layer icon on the top left-hand side of the interactive map, you can see the different color-coded resources listed under the “Legend” tab (i.e., 絵葉書、木版画、写真、随筆). If you click on any of the colored dots on the map, you will see a pop-up window that contains the descriptive information of the image or the film clip, including a link to the image source.

At the bottom of the left-hand side of the map, you will see an “Attribute Tables” icon. By clicking on it, you can open an Attribute Table that lists all the resources that have been geotagged on the map. When you click on any item listed on the table, its respective color dot on the map changes to light blue.

The base maps used in “NCC:CDDP Great Kantō Earthquake Map” are the following (you can select or unselect these base maps in the navigation column on the left):

地図の左上にあるレイヤーアイコンをクリックすると、”Legend”タブの下に異なるリソースタイプが色分けされているのが見える( 絵葉書、木版画、写真、随筆等)。地図中に示されたマークをどれでもクリックすると、ポップアップウィンドウが開き、その画像および映像についての情報や提供元サイトへのリンクもそこで提供されている。

地図の左下には、”attribute table”アイコンがある。それをクリックすると、”attribute table”が開くがそこには地図に表示されたリソースがリスト化されている。”attribute table”中どれでもクリックすると、地図にマークされた各々の色分けされた点の色が水色に変わる。

NCC:CDDP Great Kantō Earthquake Map で使われたベース地図は以下の通りである（左側のナビゲーションコラムで、表示したいベース地図を選択できる）：

1. Japan’s oldest topographic maps: georeferencing the Rapid Survey Maps for GIS analysis (1:20,000). 歴史的農業環境閲覧システム - 農研機構「第一軍管区地方2万分1迅速測図原図」（1886年）

2. Tokyo postal map in 1907 (1:5,000). 5千分の1「東京郵便局 東京市十五區番地界入地圖（明治40年調査）」（1907年）Source: Ishikawa, K. and Nakayama, D. (2017)

3. Fire dynamics map in 1924 (1:10,000). 1万分の1 東京市火災動態地図<震災予防調査会報告>（1924年9月）大きさ、容量等: 44×50cm、早稲田、上野、向島、四谷、日本橋、深川、三田、新橋、洲崎  注記: 1:10000 4色刷. Source: 東京都立中央図書館

If you want to add links to any images from your library collection to the NCC:CDDP Great Kantō Earthquake Map,  please fill out the form. 

>NCC:CDDP Great Kantō Earthquake Map にあなたの図書館コレクションの画像へのリンクを加えたい方は、どうぞこちらのフォームにご記入ください。

For the Great Kantō Earthquake images mapping project, we acknowledge support from the following individuals:

関東大震災イメージ・マッピング・プロジェクトについては、以下の方々からのご支援に感謝を申し上げる:

Prof. Keiji Yano (Ritsumeikan University)
Prof. Muneyuki Natsume (Kyushu University)
Prof. Akihiro Tsukamoto (Tokushima University)
Michiaki Yuyama (Student, Ritsumeikan University)
Sirui Liu (Student, Ritsumeikan University)

• The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923: Materials from Dana and Vera Raynolds Collection (Brown University)
• Abiko Family Papers (University of California, Los Angeles): Includes materials relating to the Tsuda College Emergency Committee established in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake in order to raise funds to rebuild Tsuda College (finding aide available).
• Kanto Earthquake Materials, 1923 and undated (Duke University) (partially digitized)
• Personal Papers of Kate Hansen (University of Kansas): Kate I. Hansen (1879-1969) served as the Dean of the Miyagi College Music Department, Sendai, Japan. Her collection on the Earthquake includes English language newspaper clippings and photographs.
• Kanto daishinsai collection (Princeton University): Posters, leaflets, and maps published by Kanto Kaigen Shireibu, Tokyo-shi, and Keishicho, etc. They were created for earthquake victims to spread information on lost children, safe place for pregnant women and public education for sanitary methods, etc. The total number of the posters and leaflets is 40.
• Robert L. Capp papers: Kanto Earthquake aftermath photographs (Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University): Digital images are viewable only on-site due to copyright restrictions.

• Great Kanto Earthquake photo album (Amherst College)
• [Ruth L. Annis photograph albums of life and travels in China, Japan and elsewhere] (University of California, Berkeley): Includes 12 photographs of Yokohama, with many views taken during the aftermath of the city's destruction by the great Kanto earthquake of 1923 (collection overview available). 
• The earthquake by picture (Columbia University)

• Japanese Photograph and Postcard Collection, 1911-1990 (Columbia University)Folder 25, Tōkyō Before and After Earthquake 1923: 16 items; black-and-white photographs (finding aide available).

• Kumaichi Hiraoka Postcard Collection (University of Hawaii, Manoa):  Within the Digital site, search "Kanto Earthquake."

• Postcards and Photograph Reproductions Depicting the Great Kanto Earthquake, Other Natural Disasters and Locations in Japan, and Japanese Occupation of Korea (Ohio State University): A vast collection of postcards showing scenes from the Great Kantō Earthquake (関東大地震 Kantō daijishin) as well as other events, such as the Shin-Yoshiwara Great Fire (Shin-Yoshiwara Taika) of April 9, 1911, which destroyed many brothels in the red light district of Tokyo. With over 600 in the set, the photographic images on the face of the cards provide an in-depth look at the progress and ensuing destruction, including the tragic deaths of an estimated 100,000 to 140,000 people, of this historic event.   

The first professor hired at The Ohio State University, Thomas Corwin Mendenhall (1841-1924) was a autodidact and meteorologist. In 1878, five years after he was hired at OSU, and on the recommendation of Edward S. Morse, he was recruited as one of the o-yatoi gaikokujin (hired foreigners), serving as visiting professor of physics at Tokyo Imperial University. In connection with this appointment, he founded a meteorological observatory to make systematic observations during his residence in Japan. Mendhenhall became interested in earthquakes while in Japan, and was one of the founders of the Seismological Society of Japan (SSJ).

• Taishō Daishinsai shashinchō : tsuketari Tōkyō-shi shinsai kuiki chizu / henshūsha Kokumin Kyōiku Fukyūkai (Ohio State University): 15 unnumbered leaves of plates, 1 unnumbered folded leaf of plates : chiefly illustrations, map ; 15 x 22 cm

• Kantō daishinsai : kojin ni yoru shashin chō (University of Wisconsin): Name of photographer/collector not identified , Taishō 12 (1923). 1 cloth covered photo album containing 184 b/w photographs on 47 unnumbered pages. Collection of privately taken black/white photographs with captions and some commercially printed pictures.

• Kantō daishinsai shashin, ehagaki shiryō arubamu (University of Wisconsin): Collected by Asanuma, Toshio (Former Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Chiba University academic researcher). 3 volumes of photo album : black and white photographs (some color postcards) Collection is a mix of 251 photographs and postcards of the destruction of the city of Tōkyō and its surrounding area in Kanagawa. Several earthquake related Chiba Nippō newspaper article clippings from Shōwa 46 (1971) September are included.

• 大正震火災木版畫集 (Harvard Yenching Library)

• Kantō Daishinsai gachō : Tōkyō jū gahaku jissha / henshū ken hakkōsha Kaneo Tanejirō (Ohio State University): 34 unnumbered leaves of plates with illustrations and map edited by Kanao, Tanejirō, (1879-1947). Part of the Manga Collection at The Ohio State University. Artists whose work is featured in this book include 丹羽礼介、幡恒春、赤城秦舒、中沢弘光、水島爾保布、加藤義助、赤塚忠一、清水吉臣、清水吉康、薄田清

• Daishinsai gashū / Nihon Mangakai cho (Ohio State University): 1 volume (unpaged) with illustrations and text. Created by the Japanese Manga Association (Nihon Manga Kai).

• Nihonbashi yori uogashi oyobi Mitsukoshi gofukuten fukin enshō. 日本橋より魚河岸及三越呉服店附近延焼 (Stanford University): Visual images of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/11415598 

• Asakusa Hirokōji oyobi Nakamise fukin enshō no sanjō. 浅草廣小路及仲見世付近延焼之惨状 (Stanford University): 1 print : lithograph, color ; 33.5 x 47.5 cm. Visual images of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/10499324

• Nihonbashi ōdōri Mitsukoshi gofukuten fukin enshō no shinkei 日本橋大通リ三越呉服店附近延焼之眞景 (Stanford University): 1 print : lithograph, color ; 40 x 54 cm.  Visual images of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/11415611

• Asakusa Kōen Jūnikai oyobi Hanayashiki fukin enshō no jōkyō [graphic]. 浅草公園十二階及花屋敷附近延焼之状況 [graphic] (Stanford University): 1 print : lithograph, color ; 33.5 x 47.5 cm. https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/10499321

• Gertrude Bass Warner Collection of Japanese Votive Slips (University of Oregon):  

In the University of Oregon's collection of votive slips (納札) there are two series of wood block printed images depicting the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake. The first series was produced in 1924 and the second was produced in 1926. The slips were collected by University of Chicago anthropology professor, Frederick Starr, and purchased by the University of Oregon in the early 1940s. The two Kanto Earthquake series consist of 46 individual images. Many of the nosatsu collectors were residents of the shitamachi areas of Tokyo that were hardest hit by the earthquake and fire and so the slips show personal and poignant experiences of the disaster. Frederick Starr was in Tokyo at the time of the earthquake and one of the slips depicts him and his interpreting fleeing from his residence. I am currently working on creating a digital exhibit of the UO's Kanto Earthquake slips.

• Jiji Manga (Ohio State University) (partially digitized): 

The OSU Libraries has the most complete run of original and facsimile copies of the newspaper serial known as Jiji Manga 時事漫画 (Comic Strips), a weekly supplement developed by Japan's first professional cartoon artist, Kitazawa Rakuten. Published by Jiji Shinpōsha 時事新報社 from February 11, 1921 to June 28, 1931, this series contains numerous primary source cartoons documenting and satirizing the Great Kanto Earthquake,  and other natural and human disasters. Images in the Ohio State’s copy of Jiji Manga have been used in scholarly publications and monographs, such as in the book, Imaging Disaster:Tokyo and the Visual Culture of Japan’s Great Earthquake of 1923 (UC Press, 2012) by Gennifer Weisenfeld.

• Kantō   Daishinsai ni kansuru shiryō shozai mokuroku : Shōwa 58-nen 11-gatsu genzai 関東大震災に関する資料所在目録 : 昭和58年11月現在 / 東京都公立図書館郷土資料研究会昭和58年度東京都公立図書館職員研究大会第1部会. Tōkyō : Tōkyō-to Kōritsu Toshokan Kyōdo Shiryō Kenkyūkai, 1984 (University of California, Berkeley): https://berkeley.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01UCS_BER/iqob43/alma991038732389706532

• Risai bijutsuhin mokuroku 罹災美術品目録 / 国華倶楽部編輯. Tōkyō : Yoshikawa Tadashi, 1933 (University of California, Berkeley): https://berkeley.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01UCS_BER/iqob43/alma991026680099706532

• Shingai no nōson ni oyoboshitaru eikyō 震害の農村に及ぼしたる影響 (Stanford University): https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4200182

• Risaisha "barakku" seikatsu jitsujō chōsa. 罹災者 「バラック」 生活實情調查．Kyōchōkai, Taishō 12 [1923] (Stanford University): https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4164148

• Shingai no nōson ni oyoboshitaru eikyō 震害の農村に及ぼしたる影響 (Stanford University): https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/4200182

• Japanese Historical Maps Collection (University of California, Berkeley): The collection contains a few maps related to the Great Kanto Earthquake, such as 帝都大震火災系統地図 and 東京及橫濱復興地圖. The following atlas contains detailed maps of Tokyo before the earthquake: 東京市及接續郡部地籍地圖 (digitized by ARC/町名索引 made available by NDL). Permission policies

• Kantō shinsai zenchiiki chōkan zue 關東震災全地域鳥瞰圖繪 (Stanford University): https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/11585715

• Dohi Keizō 土肥慶蔵, “Nihonjin no shibunshū 日本人の詩文集,” Bungei shunju 文藝春秋 (Jan. 1928): 14-15. Dohi’s Chinese poetry and prose collection by the Japanese survived to be held by the National Diet Library (research guide available) and the University of California, Berkeley (title list available)

• Disaster prints and maps in the UBC Japanese Maps of the Tokugawa Era Collection (University of British Columbia): The University of British Columbia Library does not hold archival or primary materials relating specifically to the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake, but the Library does own a collection of 33 woodblock prints depicting disasters, including the 1855 Edo Earthquake, created in the late 19th century. These prints were part of the George H. Beans collection of Tokugawa-era maps, and the digitized versions are now openly accessible in the Library's digital collection. 

https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0222873  
https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0216571
https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0216579
https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0216584 
https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0216568
https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0216575

• Aftershocks: Japanese Earthquake Prints 

“In 1855, the Ansei Great Earthquake struck and heavily damaged the city of Edo (modern day Tokyo). When it happened, the people of Edo turned to cheaply produced and widely distributed prints — namazu-e (catfish) prints — to help make sense of the disaster. These firsthand accounts acted as the social media of the day, communicating the extent and immediate aftermath of the earthquake. In circulation for only a very short time, they played — and continue to play — an important role as superb examples of satire in the face of crisis.Over 45 colourful woodblock prints are presented in an online exhibition that highlights ROM's exceptional collection of namazu-e earthquake prints.

https://www.rom.on.ca/en/exhibitions-galleries/exhibitions/aftershocks-japanese-earthquake-prints