Researching Japan  Tags: japan japanese images primary_sources manga anime data film  

General/Interdisciplinary
  * Bibliography of Asian Studies
  * Academic Search Premier
  * JSTOR
  * Project Muse

Subject Specific
  * ATLA (Religion)
 *  Historical Abstracts
  * MLA (Literature)
  * PAIS (Political Science)

See also East Asian Studies Databases

• Japan Knowledge
• A Companion to Japanese History
• Cambridge History of Japan
• Literature Resource Center
• Oxford Art Online
• ABC-Clio
• Gale Virtual Reference Library

Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan
Perkins Ref: DS 822.2 D33 2007
Organized by topic; well indexed, illustrated, good tables.

Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan. 9v.
Perkins Ref: DS805 .K633 1983
The articles are by eminent scholars and advanced graduate students; longer articles include a bibliography. Excellent for a summary of the scholarship and as a place to begin. Somewhat dated, but has not been superseded.

Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. 2 v.
EA/ Perkins/ Lilly Ref: DS805. J263 1993
A revised and abridged version of the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan. Available in both print version and online through JapanKnowedge 

Encyclopedia of contemporary Japanese culture
Perkins Ref: DS822.5 .E516 2002
Covers literature, film, architecture, food, health, politics, economics, religion and technology, and range from shorter definitions, histories or biographies to longer essays treating major issues and ideas in depth.  Entries are signed. A-Z format.  Includes cross references and suggestions for further reading.