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Japanese Studies: News

This subject guide points to library's print and electronic sources for research on Japanese studies, especially in humanities and social sciences

Newspaper Article Databases

Here is a short list of newspaper article databases for Japanese newspapers (*licensed resource requiring authentication): 

  • *Asashi Shinbun Kurosusāchi 朝日新聞クロスサーチ (alternative link): Full text access to Asahi shinbun 『朝日新聞』 (1879-present), Historical Photo Archive, containing ca. 10,000 pieces of historical photographs taken in Asia and Europe from the 1930s to 1945, and Asahi gurafu 『アサヒ・グラフ』 (1923-1945).
  • *Factiva: Provides access, mostly to full text, to nearly nine thousand business and general news sources, including U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and wire services; includes major Japanese newspapers such as Yomiuri shinbun 『読売新聞』, Mainichi shinbun 『毎日新聞』, and Sankei shinbun 『産経新聞』 (warning: covers only recent years).
  • Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection, Japanese Diaspora Initiative: An online archive of Japanese newspapers published by overseas Japanese and their descendants, provided by Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
  • *Japan Chronicle Online: Provides full text access to the issues between April 1919 and October 1941. 
  • *Japan Times Digital Archive (alternative link): Provides full text access to the Japan Times published between March 1897 and 2022. The platform also includes the Japan Advertiser (1890-1940) and "The Japan Times of the 1860s" (a weekly newspaper published in Yokohama between Sept. 1865 and June 1866). The Herald of Asia (1916-1923, 1937-1938) ia available at a separate platform (alternative link). 
  • *Nikkei Telecom 21: Full text access to Nihon keizai shinbun 『日本経済新聞』 (1876/12/2-1961/12/31, and 1981/10-present), Nikkei sangyō shinbun 『日経産業新聞』 (1981/10-present), Nikkei ryūtsū shinbun 『日経流通新聞』 (1985/10-present), and Nikkei kin'yū shinbun 『日経金融新聞』 (1987/10-2008/1) is provided; it also offers English sources such as Nikkei English News, Nikkei Weekly and translations of major articles from the above-mentioned Japanese newspapers, as well as Nikkei Company Profile (30,000 company profiles) and Nikkei Who's Who (20,000 corporate executive profiles).
  • *Rafu Shimpo Digital Archive (1914-2018) (alternative link): 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.
  • Shinbun Kiji Bunko 新聞記事文庫 (Newspaper Clippings Collection): Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration at Kobe University has developed "Newspaper-Clippings Library" which comprises 3,200 volumes of scrapbooks containing newspaper-clippings from various newspapers, including Ōsaka Asahi 『大阪朝日』, Ōsaka Mainichi 『大阪毎日』 Ōsaka jiji 『大阪時事』,Chūgai shōgyō shinpō 『中外商業新報』, Taiwan nichinichi 『台湾日日』, Manshū nichinichi 『満州日日』, and Keijō nippō 『京城日報』, covering the period from 1912 to 1970. In 2000 Kobe University Library began to digitize the clippings for 1912-1943 from the "Newspaper-Clippings Library."
  • *Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō 臺灣日日新報 (1898-1944) (alternative link) was the longest running and most widely circulated newspaper during the period of Japanese colonialism in Taiwan. Provided by CEPIEC.
  • *Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō Sound Culture Database 臺灣日日新報聲音文化資料庫 / 臺灣日日新報声音文化データベース (alternative link): The database contains articles related to musical sound, including performing arts, mass media, and traditional activities, from Taiwan Nichinichi Shinpō (臺灣日日新報) newspaper from 1898 to 1944. Provided by TBMC.
  • *Yomidasu Rekishikan ヨミダス歴史館 (alternative link) (former link): Full text access to Yomiuri shibun 『読売新聞』 (1874-present) and Daily Yomiuri (1989-2013)/Japan News (2013/4-present). The database also provides dictionaries (Japanese/English, English/Japanese, or new words dictionaries) to look up definitions and biographies, just by highlighting any words in the article and clicking dictionary buttons

 Selected Print Sources

Special News Sources

Here is a list of special news resources:

  • Digital Archive of Japan's 2011 Disasters (designed and maintained by the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University): An online portal to digital materials documenting the cascading series of natural and man-made disasters that began in Japan on March 11, 2011.
  • NHK Online and NHK World: NHK or Japan Broadcasting Corporation offers various news programs online. NHK also offers digital archives online.
  • Pressnet: Provided by日本新聞協会, an independent and autonomous organization funded and operated by daily newspapers, news agencies and broadcasters, Pressnet offers various data and information about Japanese newspapers.