Contact Japanese Studies Librarian
The Japanese Studies library guide is your one-stop shop to finding research/scholarly resources related to Japan. You can find us on the second floor of YRL in the East Asian Library. Feel free to book a research consultation if you need help. If you are new to using the UCLA Library, please scroll down to "Tips for Using the Library". ありがとうございます！
| Tomoko Bialock Japanese Studies Librarian tbialock@library.ucla.edu Schedule Research Consultation |
Kimberly McNelly Project Manager kmcnelly@library.ucla.edu |
Su Chen East Asian Studies Librarian suchen11@library.ucla.edu |
Junko Tanaka Japanese Acquisition and Cataloging Specialist jtanaka@library.ucla.edu |
Japanese Studies Databases
Below are some good sources to jumpstart your search. For further in-depth information, please view the primary databases and other tabs.
- CiNii: Institutional Package This link opens in a new window
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A database that enables searching of information on academic articles published in Japanese academic society journals or university research bulletins, or articles included in the National Diet Library's Japanese Periodicals Index Database. Full-text access is available for many articles. - JapanKnowledge Lib This link opens in a new window
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Provides online access to Japanese reference sources including encyclopedias and dictionaries. Also provides full text of the series Toyo Bunko (Heibonsha), and the weekly Economist magazine. Nikkoku Online is accessible from JapanKnowledge site.
- CiNii Research CiNii Research cross-searches various databases.
- J-GLOBAL 科学技術総合リンクセンター Portal site for science and technology information maintained by Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)
- JapanKnowledge Lib: References & E-Books (NetAdvance) VPN required. A reference database with a selection of e-books. 4 Simultaneous access shared among 9 UC campuses.
- Zassaku Plus: Zasshi Kiji Sakuin Shūsei Database ざっさくプラス: 雑誌記事索引集成データベース = The Complete Database for Japanese Magazine and Periodicals from Meiji Era to the Present (Kōseisha 皓星社) An article index covering from 1868 to the present.
- UCLA Instructional Media Library A collection of the Instructional Media Lab (Powell Library Rm 270)
- Trial until 1/13/2023| 2. “Nihon Shinrei” dejitaru ākaibu 「日本心霊」デジタルアーカイブ (“Nihon Shinrei” Digital Archive, Bulletin of Spirit Society of Japan, 1915-1939) A rare bulletin that gathers various people from various fields of medicine, religion, thought, and literature with "spirit" as a node
- UC Library Search This link opens in a new window Japanese kanji search is unreliable in the UC Library Search. Please search also with 旧字体/異体字 and/or in Romanization; e.g., 戸 (戶) as in 江戶, 説 (說) as in 小說, etc. See the lists of other kanji forms and Romanization table below. WorldCat or FirstSearch search variant forms of kanji.
- 20th Century Media Information Database 20世紀メディア情報データベース (Institute of Intelligent Studies, Japan インテリジェンス研究所) This link opens in a new window
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Index database to the Prange microform collection of Japanese newspapers and magazines during the Allied occupation.
- J-GLOBAL 科学技術総合リンクセンター Portal site for science and technology information maintained by Japan Science and Techonology Agency (JST)
- J-STAGE: Japan Science and Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic (Japan Science and Technology Agency: JST) A database of full text bulletins and research papers of science and technology information in Japan managed by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
- KAKEN 科学研究費助成事業データベース (National Institute of Informatics: NII) KAKEN ("kah-ken"), a database of research reports of the Grants-in-Aids for Scientific Research.
- Kokubungaku Ronbun Mokuroku Database 国文学論文目録データベース (National Institute of Japanese Literature: NIJL 国文学研究資料館) A bibliographic database of research papers on Japanese literature published in journal, kiyo and monographs in Japan since 1888.
- NDL Search: Books & Articles (National Diet Library: NDL) A search engine of National Diet Library (NDL).
- Persée: Scientific Journals (Ministry of State for Higher Education and Research) (FR) A database of open source (free) full text journals in humanities in French. Journals are selected by an editorial board.
- Zassaku Plus: Zasshi Kiji Sakuin Shūsei Database ざっさくプラス: 雑誌記事索引集成データベース = The Complete Database for Japanese Magazine and Periodicals from Meiji Era to the Present (Kōseisha 皓星社) An article index covering from 1868 to the present.
- Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) This link opens in a new window Index of western-language monographs, articles, and book chapters on all parts of Asia and Asian Studies (East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Indian Ocean) published since 1971.
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- Ebsco 62 Databases including Academic Search Complete, America: History & Life (1910-current), Anthropology Plus (the early 19th cent.-current), ATLA Religion Database (1949-current), eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), ERIC (1966-current), Historical Abstracts (1955-current), etc.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new window Searches articles, theses, books, abstracts, patents, and court opinions from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other web sites.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window Full text of core scholarly journals from their beginning to approximately five years ago. Disciplines include botany, business, ecology, general science, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, statistics. Browsable by discipline and full-text searchable across all disciplines. UCLA has access to selected JSTOR e-books. jstore, jsotr, jrstor, jsot, Jsror, jsstor, Jstar, j-stor, jstory, jstot, Jstr, jstsor, justor, jsot, jsage, jsot, Jsror, Jsror, jsstor, J star, j-star
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- ProQuest This link opens in a new window Search platform for over 120 databases, from the AFI Catalog to Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Includes scholarly articles, primarily in the humanities and social sciences, as well as newspapers and dissertations.
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- Digital Dictionary of Buddhism 電子佛教辭典 A dictionary of Buddhist terminology.
- Hentaigana App A mobile dictionary and self-learning app of a Japanese syllabary with variant kana (hentaigana). Available both on Android and iOS.
- JapanKnowledge Lib: References & E-Books (NetAdvance) VPN required. A reference database with a selection of e-books. 4 Simultaneous access shared among 9 UC campuses.
Below are a collection of digital newspaper archives.
- Asahi Shimbun Cross-Search 朝日新聞クロスサーチ = Asahi News Database (formerly: Kikuzo II Visual 聞蔵 A full text database of Asahi shinbun 朝日新聞 (1879-present).
- Japan Times Archives No. 1 (Mar. 22, Meiji 30 [1897]) - (Dec 31, Heisei [2016]).
- Rafu Shimpo, Los Angeles Japanese Daily News 羅府新報 This link opens in a new window Rafu Shimpo is the longest running Japanese American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1903 supporting the small but growing Japanese community in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles, California.
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- Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpo This link opens in a new window
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Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpo archive 1896 - 1944; Japanese, Historical Chinese, and some English
- Toyo Keizai Digital Content Library 東洋経済デジタルコンテンツライブラリー DCL Contents: Shūkan Tōyō Keizai 週刊東洋経済 (1997- ) Japan Company Handbook (2006- ) Hitotsubashi Bijinesu Rebyū 一橋ビジネスレビュー (2006- ) 東洋経済別冊・臨時増刊・MOOKs (2011- )
- Yomidas Rekishikan ヨミダス歴史館 (Yomiuri Shinbun) A full text database of Yomiuri shinbun 読売新聞 (1874-present).
Other Newspapers
- Shin Nichibei 新日米 (New Japanese American News) (1947-1966) California Digital Newspaper Collection: A Freely Accessible Repository of Digitized California Newspapers from 1846 to the Present
- Yuta Nippo (Salt Lake City) Japanese American Newspaper
DATABASES
- Aozora Bunko 青空文庫 A digital library of full-text Japanese literature that are out-of-copyright.
- Buddha Nexus Digital research platform to better understand connections between Buddhist textual cultures.
- Cultural Japan "Discover digital resources on Japanese Culture from all over the world. More than a million items are collected for this platform to inspire novel applications."
- Council for Databases in the Humanities, Japan 人文系データベース協議会 Index to humanities databases with some open-access.
- CRL CRL Alliance with East View Yields First Global Press Archive Collection
- Edo Tokyo WebGIS (Nihon University, College of Humanities and Sciences) 江戸・東京WebGIS 日本大学文理学部 Click on the [解説] button on the bottom right for description about this database.
- Getty Research Portal Contains: ・『みづゑ』1～90号（春鳥会、1901-1912年） ・『第一回特別展覧会目録、第二回特別展覧会目録〔合本〕』（東京帝室博物館：1901年）
- J-GLOBAL 科学技術総合リンクセンター Portal site for science and technology information maintained by Japan Science and Techonology Agency (JST)
- Jaa2100 ジャパンアーカイブズ1850-2100：日本の近現代を可視化し、時代を目撃する by NPO法人日本アーカイブ協会 Japan Archives Association
- Japan Center for Asian Historical Records, National Archives of Japan (JACAR) = 国立公文書館アジア歴史資料センター Digital archive of modern records held by the National Archives of Japan, Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Library of the National Institute for Defense Studies at the National Defense Agency
- Japanese Text Initiative = 日本語テキストイニシアチブ A digital library of full-text Japanese classical and modern literature, created by University of Virginia Library and University of Pittsburgh East Asian Library.
- Kyōiku Toshokan, Kokuritsu Kyōiku Seisaku Kenkyūjo 国立教育政策研究所教育図書館 = Library of Education, National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER)Includes databases of 近代教育デジタルアーカイブ (Japanese Modern Textbook Digital Archive)・貴重資料デジタルコレクション・戦後教育資料デジタルアーカイブ・往来物デジタルアーカイブ
- Media Geijutsu Database メディア芸術データベース (Agency for Cultural Affairs 文化庁) Manga, anime, game, and media art.
- National Diet Library Digital Collections 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション (National Diet Library: NDL) A database of digitized and born-digital resources held and collected by National Diet Library.
- nihuINTegrated Retrieval System 統合検索システム (National Institute for the Humanities: NIHU 人間文化研究機構) A search engine for over 100 databases of NIHU.
- Tōkyō Daigaku Meiji Shinbun Zasshi Bunko OPAC 1868-1945 明治新聞雑誌文庫 A bibliographic database of newspapers from the Meiji through Showa periods held by Meiji Shinbun Zasshi Bunko, University of Tokyo 近代日本法政史料センター 明治新聞雑誌文庫.
- Tōkyō Daigaku Shiryō Hensanjo 東京大学史料編纂所 Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo Includes full-text Dai Nihon kokiroku 大日本古記録, Dai Nihon komonjo iewake monojo 大日本古文書家わけ文書 and Heian ibun 平安遺文, indexes to Dai Nihon shiryō 大日本史料, and Online Glossary of Japanese Historical Terms.
- WARP Web Archiving Project インターネット資料収集保存事業 (National Diet Library: NDL) A database of websites archived by National Diet Library.
- Waseda University Library Kotenseki Sōgō Dētabēse 早稲田大学図書館古典籍総合データベース Includes a large collection of Edo literature 江戸文学コレクション.
- WebcatPlus (JPN) (National Institute of Informatics: NII) A bibliographic database of several sources including a union library catalog of Japan, commercial databases, a secondhand book market database, etc. Japanese interface only.
- Zenkoku Kanseki Dētabēsu 全国漢籍データベース (Kyoto Univ. Center for Informatics in East Asian Studies 京都大学東アジア人文情報学研究センター) A union catalog of Chinese classics held by Japanese libraries.
GUIDES
- Collaborative Reference Database レファレンス協同データベース (JPN) (National Diet Library: NDL) An online archive of reference questions and answers compiled by librarians in Japan, maintained by National Diet Library.
- Research Navi リサーチ・ナビ (JPN) (National Diet Library: NDL) An online research guide covering a wide range of subjects and special materials.
- Tosho Zasshi Tansaku Page 図書・雑誌探索ページ (JPN) (Ito Tamio) A library guide to Internet resources by Ito Tamio 伊藤民雄 and Jissen Women's University Library 実践女子大学図書館.
OTHER RESOURCES
- CEAL Lists of Selected Full-text Databases by Subscription in East Asian Studies Journal of East Asian Libraries, vol. 20 no. 170 (February 29, 2020)
- Collaborative Cataloging Japan Include some Japanese experimental moving image made in 1950s—1980s. See under "ARTISTS & WORKS." Board of Director, International Program, The Museum of Modern Art
- Finding Moving images (NCC) North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC)
- Hiroshima Archive ヒロシマアーカイブ制作委員会 渡邉 英徳 （東京大学大学院教授，首都大学東京客員教授） 島田 克央，竹井 幸智子，高見 知伸，里田 幸子，重松 純，那須 泰，矢野 一郎 （広島女学院高等学校教諭） 石堂 めぐむ （広島コンピュータ専門学校教諭） 東京大学✕首都大学東京 学生有志
- Library of Congress. Fine Prints: Japanese, pre-1915 "...more than 2,500 woodblock prints and drawings by Japanese artists of the seventeenth through early twentieth centuries..."
- Queer Japan Web Archive Collected by: Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation
- We Shall Never Forget = 忘れない : 3.11.15:20 (2011) 首都大学東京 渡邉英徳研究室（2018年度より東京大学大学院 渡邉英徳研究室）と 岩手日報社
- Yōkai Senjufuda 妖怪千社札 Digital exhibition of a collection held by the University of Oregon Library
Tips for using the library
If you are new to accessing library materials, there is a world of information awaiting you. Here are some resources to get you started.
- Classification (Library of Congress)Everything in most U.S. based academic libraries are sorted by the Library of Congress organization system. This link is a brief overview of each of the subjects.
- Interlibrary Loan (ILL)Instructions for making an interlibrary loan request for materials not located at UCLA.
- SRLFInstructions for requesting materials stored at SRLF (off-site storage center).
- Purchase RequestsSubmit a purchase request to have the library buy unavailable materials for you.
- Romanization TableIf you cannot find materials in English regarding your subject, try using this Romanization table to search for materials in Japanese.
- Using the Library - Student ResourcesGeneral reference page for many library resources such as copy/scan, purchase requests, document delivery, etc.
- Research WorkshopsNo clue where to start? Research workshops cover everything from getting started with research, writing literature reviews, organizing data with spreadsheets or databases, finding sources at the UCLA Library, and more!
- Studying & Learning SpacesNeed somewhere to study? Try booking a room in any of our library spaces.
- Print, Copy & ScanOur campus libraries offer self-service print, copy, and scan services.
- Off-Campus (VPN or Proxy Server) Access to Library eResourcesHow to access licensed online content from off-campus.
- Graduate-Level Research: Services, Resources, and TipsTips on selecting faculty committee members, choosing a thesis topic, discovering and accessing research materials, searching for financial support, completing your thesis, and hunting for jobs.
- Zotero Research GuideZotero is a free citation management system that can help you save your research materials and create bibliographies.
- Endnote How-toAccess EndNote
- Accessing Special CollectionsSpecial Collections Request Management system (Aeon) to request items through either UCLA OPAC or Online Archive of California (OAC).