Helpful Information
Library Resources
Language Resources
Contact
Steve Witt
Head
International & Area Studies Library
Associate Professor
University Library
Director
Center for Global Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Office
311 Main Library
Email
swwitt@illinois.edu
General History
Bibliography of Japanese History to 1912
This is a completely revised edition of a bibliography of Japanese history up to the end of the Meiji period which Peter Kornicki compiled in 1996 and which was made available to interested parties in soft cover for a nominal fee. There is no copyright attached to it, and you may print it out or use it in any way you wish.MIT Visualizing Cultures
Visualizing Cultures was launched at MIT in 2002 to explore the potential of the Web for developing innovative image-driven scholarship and learning. The VC mission is to use new technology and hitherto inaccessible visual materials to reconstruct the past as people of the time visualized the world (or imagined it to be). Topical units to date focus on Japan in the modern world and early-modern China. The thrust of these explorations extends beyond Asia per se, however, to address “culture” in much broader ways—cultures of modernization, war and peace, consumerism, images of “Self” and “Others,” and so on.Henry Smith’s Home Page
Henry Smith at Columbia has created an information-rich page with books, articles, syllabi, course materials, and bibliography resources for Japanese history and Japanese studies.
Popular Sources on Japanese History
REKIJIN 歴人マガジン
Portal site for the magazine Rekijin, about all periods of history. Visual and oriented for a popular audience, Japanese content only.Rekishijin 歴史人
Digital home of the popular print magazine Rekishijin, published by KK Bestsellers. It is a blog-style site with posts about various historical topics from all periods of Japanese history.
Classical Japan 538 – 1185
Dictionary of Sources on Classical Japan
This page provides lists and dictionary of resources on classical Japan provided by the Historiography Institute at the University of Tokyo.
Modern Japan
A Basic Guide to Resources on Japanese Colonialism
This page offers bibliographical resources useful to those who are doing research on Japanese colonialism. This guide is mostly limited to the English and Japanese language materials, and targets those studying at American institutions. As an on-going project, it will hopefully expand to include resources in Korean, Chinese and other languages in the future.オンライン版 我妻栄関係文書
On this website, searching the database is freely available, but access to the contents require a purchase. Since the organization provides a free trial, please contact them if necessary. Available only in Japanese.Institute of Developing Economies Japan External Trading Organization 日本貿易振興機構アジア経済研究所
The IDE Library boasts a wide selection of materials and resources to assist research dealing with the economics, politics and social issues of developing countries and regions in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Oceania, and East Europe.Yamazaki DOC Digital Archive 山崎元幹文書デジタルアーカイブ
The Institute of Developing Economies (IDE) Library released a catalog of 538 Manchurian Railway business documents and electronic images of the originals kept by Motomitsu Yamazaki, the last president of the South Manchurian Railway Company (Manchurian Railway).
Photo Archive of Japanese Religions
Nanzan University’s photo archive of different aspects of Japanese religions, including architecture, ceremonies, and pilgrimages. The Nanzan Institute has prepared an open-source collection of visual images related to Japanese religions, based on a donation of over 800 slides from Ian Reader, professor at Lancaster University. All images may be downloaded free of charge in two formats: one suitable for multimedia presentations and the other at high-resolution suitable for printing.Gertrude Bass Warner Collection of Nōsatsu
The University of Oregon Libraries holds the only known collection of Japanese shrine and temple votive slips (nōsatsu) in North America. The nōsatsu images in the University of Oregon’s collection cover a wide range of themes and topics including landscapes; depictions of figures from Edo-period popular fiction and theatre; shrines and temples; seasonal celebrations; mythical creatures; firefighters; Japanese toys and collectibles; and prints showing the activities of the nōsatsu-kai members themselves.
A website provided by the Cabinet Public Relations office with news, speeches and statements, videos, and policy documents, as well as links. It also contains links to sites on hot topics such as the Senkaku Islands provided by various government and non-profit organizations. Available in several languages.