Japan - Primary Sources - Asia: Recommended Databases

Librarian for Japanese Studies

Matthew Hayes
matt.hayes@duke.edu
235 Bostock, Perkins Library

Area Studies: Japan This link opens in a new window
Search sources - by writers, diplomats, tourists, businessmen, and missionaries - documenting the political, cultural and social history of Japan from 1400 to the 20th century.
Japan at War and Peace, 1930-1949: U.S. State Department Records on the Internal Affairs of Japan This link opens in a new window
Search records from the U.S. State Department on Japan from 1930-1949.
Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (Aija Rekishi Shiryō Sentā, アジア歴史資料センター) This link opens in a new window
Search historical Japanese records about modern Japan-Asia relations
Japan Times Archives This link opens in a new window
Search for articles in the Japan Times. Includes all issues March 22, 1897-through the final issue of the previous calendar year.
Meiji Japan This link opens in a new window
Search Japanese diaries, correspondence, art, religion and zoology, ranging from 1858 to 1925

京城日報 = The Keijo nippō
Full-text Newspaper articles published daily from 1906 - 1945
臺灣日日新報 Taiwan nichinichi shinpō
Official newspaper of Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period, including both Japanese (1898.5 - 1944.3) and Chinese (1905.7 - 1911.11) editions.
Manchuria Daily News Online
The English-language Manchuria Daily News (1908 – 1940), published in Dalian (Darien), presents Japan’s case for its presence in China. From 1932 the Manchuria Daily News Includes the Manchuria Magazine, Manchuria Month, Contemporary Manchuria and the Manchuria Information Bulletin.
Asahi shinbun onrain kiji detabesu
Also known as Kikuzo II bijuaru for libraries. 12+ million articles published from 1879 to present.
Japan Times
Longstanding English language newspaper published in Japan. Electronic archive dates from 1999-; microfilm, S134S, from 1897-
Maisaku: Mainichi shinbun no dētabēsu (每索: 每日新聞のデータベース )
Search the full-text of the Mainichi shinbun (1872 (Meiji 5)- present). Both the Tokyo and Osaka editions (1876-1942) are in pdf format until 1988 and as search terms are limited, browsing is recommended
Yomidasu rekishikan
Yomiuri shinbun 1874 to the present: image format from 1874 to 1989; full text 1986 to the present, along with the English edition

Nichibunken Database
The International Research Center for Japanese Studies (called Nichibunken) provides databases including Rare Books, Foreign images of Japan, Early photographs, Japanese Art in Overseas Collections, and some more; Requires registration
emuseum -- National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties of the Tokyo National Museum
Images and texts include Japanese paintings from the 11th-13th centuries and 15th-19th centuries, Chinese paintings from the Song and Yuan dynasties, Buddhist sutras and Chinese classics, swords, historical and classical Japanese documents, calligraphy, and textiles.