Japanese Studies: Books

(*licensed resource requiring authentication) For books and e-books offered by the UC Berkeley Library, consult the Library's Find+borrow page first. For Japanese e-books, UC system libraries offer: 466 ebooks from *EBSCOhost (select "Japanese" for language and search) and *Maruzen eBook Library (via Demand-Driven Acquisition), as well as limited titles from KinoDen. Some English e-books on Japan are published open access, such as those published by the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies. In the U.S.-based catalogs, Japanese language materials can be searched either using original Japanese scripts (ひらがな, カタカナ, 漢字) or the modified Hepburn Romanization (transliteration) system. LC (Library of Congress) and ALA (American Library Association) Romanization Table for Japanese offers detailed explanation of the guidelines that most U.S. libraries follow when romanizing Japanese materials.

UC Berkeley faculty, registered graduate students, and staffs can also borrow materials from Stanford University Library through Research Library Cooperative Program (RLCP). 

For books held by libraries in Japan, use the following databases to locate materials:

• Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan Sāchi 国立国会図書館サーチ: Covers holdings of the National Diet Library (NDL) and other libraries, museums, and archives in Japan, including digital archives. For searching NDL's digitized holdings only, use Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan Dejitaru Korekushon 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション (便利ツール offers one-click listings of sub-collections). Japan Search and NDL Lab are also made available by NDL for searching digital archives from various Japanese research institutions.

• NDL's Digitized Contents Transmission Service for Libraries (Toshokan Sōshin Sābisu 図書館送信サービス) and Historical Recordings Collection (Rekishiteki Ongen 歴史的音源 or Rekion 歴音): UC Berkeley East Asian Library is registered to provide these services to UC Berkeley's registered students, faculty, and staff, as well as those non-UCB patrons who have valid library cards. Those who want to use these services (including those marked as "図書館送信資料" in 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション) at the East Asian Library's designated terminal are requested to make an appointment with Toshie Marra.  

• CiNii Research (Books): Covers holdings of university libraries in Japan; provided by the National Institute of Informatics. Different interfaces and searching modes are offered in WebcatPlus. 
• IRDB (Institutional Repositories Database): A database provided by the National Institute of Informatics for the full text contents included in Japanese institutional repositories.

For books published in Japan, use the following databases:

• *BookPlus (alternative link): Indexes to monographs published in Japan since 1926. Summaries and tables of contents are available for the books published since 1986. Author information is provided for the books published since 2001. Classified lists of latest publications for the past two weeks are also available.   

For dissertations held by libraries in Japan, use the following databases to locate materials:

• CiNii Dissertations: Covers print dissertations held by the National Diet Library (NDL) since Sept. 1923 and dissertations digitized by NDL (those produced between 1991 and 2000) and those provided in institutional repositories of Japanese universities.
• 『大日本博士録』 （発展社 1921-1930; available in 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション）: Provides biographical information on Japanese scholars who received doctoral degrees between 1888 and 1929. An alphabetical index available at the image nos. 86-110.　

Here is a short list of sources for finding materials available on the market for Japanese studies:

• Books.or.jp: Books currently available on the market, from the Japan Book Publishers Association
• Chihōshi Kenkyū Zasshi Dētabēsu 地方史研究雑誌データベース: Lists journals on Japanese local history research and their contact information, provided by Iwata Shoten
• e-Dokusho.jp e読書.jp: Covers both print and digital books
• Jimbou Book Town: Information about Kanda Book Town, the largest center of secondhand books in Japan
• Mangapedia マンガペディア: An encyclopedia for Manga; some contents are provided by Hyakka Sōgō Risāchi Sentā, Linked-data co. Ltd., and Voyage Group, Inc.
• Nihon no Furuhonya 日本の古本屋: Largest database of secondhand books in Japan; many participants from Zenkoku Koshosekisho Kumiai Rengokai
• Seifu Kankōbutsu, Kanpō Kōdoku, Kanpō Kōkoku 政府刊行物・官報購読・官報公告: Covers government publications; provided by 全国官報販売共同組合

Here is a short list of sources of reviews and criticims from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers. Search Tips: For searching book reviews in Japanese, you might want to include the word 書評 in the query; critical reviews are often found in core journals of specific fields (see "Articles" tab for selected lists of journals).

• Introductory Bibliography for Japanese Studies (by Japan Foundation): Each vol. issued in 2 parts: pt. 1, Social sciences; pt. 2, Humanities
• Literature Criticism Online: A small percentage of full-text from this Gale publication is accessible within ''Literature Resource Center''
• Literature Resource Center: Includes ''Gale Literary Index'', ''Dictionary of Literary Biography'', and other reference sources published by Gale
• Shūkan dokushojin 週刊読書人: Web version is also available
• Tosho shinbun 図書新聞: Available at the library's newspaper section; selected articles also available online
• Book Bang: Offers easy access to online book reviews by major newspapers and publishers