Japanese Studies

Materials held by libraries are arranged by certain classification schemes:

If you are planning a research trip to Japan, you might want to bring with you a letter of introduction to access to Japanese libraries. The UCLA Library can also assist you to set up special arrangements with certain Japanese academic libraries before your trip to Japan. Please contact Toshie Marra for more information.

The Paul I. & Hisako Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies offers research travel funds.

You might also find the following research guides useful for preparion of your research trip to Japan:

Modified Hepburn Romanization Table (Romanaization system used in major databases)

Notes on romanized search:

• Long vowels-->Omit them.
  e.g., 大阪(おおさか)-->Osaka; 研究(けんきゅう)-->kenkyu
• Double consonants (small っ)-->Repeat the consonant.
  e.g., 日本(にっぽん)-->nippon; ホットドック-->hottodokku
  Exception: Double consonants “cc” --> “tc” e.g., 一丁(いっちょう)-->itcho; 坊ちゃん(ぼっちゃん)-->botchan
• ん-->always ”n,” not nasal “m.”
  e.g., 新聞(しんぶん)-->shinbun; 短編(たんぺん)-->tanpen

*To maximize your search results, try different romanized forms and/or word divisions.
For example, “nihon shi” and “nihonshi” for 日本史.

*See the ALA-LC guideline on Japanese romanization (American Library Association-Library Congress, revised 2012) for more information about word division.