Art Platform Japan: Maintained by the Japan Contemporary Art Committee as a part of Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan Project; offers databases of resources and programs, showcasing information about contemporary art in Japan
Asahi Collection Kuchi-e Database 朝日コレクション口絵データベース: A database provided by the Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University for the Asahi Tomoo collection of kuchi-e prints from Japanese books originally published between mid-Meiji through Taisho periods
Cultural Heritage Online = 文化遺産オンライン: Offers brief explanations and images of cultural assets registered by museums and related organizations in Japan under the auspices of the Agency for Cultural Affairs
e-Kokuhō e国宝: Offers images and annotations on national treasures and important cultural properties owned by the national museums in Japan
Fine Prints: Japanese, pre-1915 (Library of Congress): The Prints and Photographs Division houses more than 2,500 Japanese woodblock prints and drawings, dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, by such artists as Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, Sadahide, and Yoshiiku.
Getty Vocabularies: Offers the Art & Architecture Thesaurus, the Cultural Objects Name Authority, the Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names, the Union List of Artist Names, and the Categories for the Description of Works of Art
Japanese Studies:Manga: Provided by Michiko Ito (Kansas University). This page collects Japanese websites on manga: i.e. Japanese comics or graphic novels. Although there are many websites which illegally upload copyrighted manga works, this online guide collects only authentic websites, operated by manga publishers and ebookstores.
Image Use Protocol: Finding Moving Images: NCC's IUP Task Force compiled this guide to access to various moving image resources, including free and commercial sites
Japanese Film Database (JFDB): JFDB is managed by the Japan Foundation and UNIJAPAN and provides information on Japanese films released between 2002 and 2010, including film cast and staff, or film industry related companies
Kinema Club: A long-standing, international but informal group devoted to the study of Japanese moving image media for networking, sharing knowledge, and publishing research
Kiroku Eizō 記録映像.JP: Database of documentary films offered by 岩波映像, 記録映画保存センター, 桜映画社, 資料映像バンク, 日映映像, and 読売映像
Kokuritsu Eiga Ākaibu 国立映画アーカイブ = National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ): Formerly known as the National Film Center, which became independent from the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo in 2018. As the only national institution devoted for preservation and research of films in Japan, NFAJ offers various databases
Movie Walker: Database covers over 44,000 Japanese and foreign movies shown in Japan, including production date, names of directors, staff, and actors, annotations, and story
Teikine 帝キネ (帝国キネマ演芸株式会社): A variety of resources related to Teikoku Kinema Engei Kabushiki Kaisha 帝国キネマ演芸株式会社 or Teikine were put together by Prof. Keiko Sasagawa (Kansai University)
Terebi dorama dētabēsu テレビドラマデータベース = TV Drama Database: A database on Japanese TV drama since 1940. Contents provided by Furusaki Yasunari 古崎康成 and the database maintained by Q'z Creative Co., Ltd. A guide and additional links to useful resources are availabe here
Bodies and Structures 2.0: Deep-Mapping East Asian History: A collaborative project directed by David Ambaras (NCSU) and Kate McDonald (UCSB); it is a collection of Scalar modules and visualizations focused on spatial histories across China, Japan, and Korea
Japan Dataverse from Skinner Regional Systems Analysis: Historical datasets and more from William Skinner’s archive, complied by Lex Berman and Mark Henderson
*Foreign Office Files for Japan 1919-1952 (ArchivesDirect, sources from the National Archives, UK): Provided by Adam Mathew Digital. This resource offers full-text searchable access to formerly restricted top level discussions and correspondence from the British Embassy and consulate in Japan. Includes Japan-specific files from the FO 371 and FO 262 series and is supplemented by files from the Western and American Department papers in FO 371.
Japan Air Raids.org 日本空襲デジタルアーカイブ: This bilingual historical archive dedicated to the international dissemination of information about the World War II air raids against Japan was created by Cary Karacas and Bret Fisk
Japan Biographical Database: Provided by the project "Network Studies," a research unit of the Institute of Comparative Culture, Sophia University. The database aims to provide access to information on historical Japanese individuals and their personal, political, and social networks, with visualization suite.
Japanese Historical Texts Initiative: Covers texts from ancient chronicles, ancient gazetteers, ancient religio-civil codes, medieval stories, medieval and early-modern interpretive histories, etc.
Kahoku Kōtsū Ākaibu 華北交通アーカイブ (North China Railway Archive): Provides ca. 38,000 images of photographs taken in Northern China during the Japanese occupation, originally owned by Kahoku Kōtsū (1939-1945) and currently held by Institute of Research in Humanities, Kyoto University.
Mainichi Photo Bank 毎日フォトバンク: The digital photographic archive provided by Mainishi Shinbunsha offers access to ca. 330,000 images since 1850s
The Meiji at 150 Digital Teaching Resource: A collaborative effort of the University of British Columbia Library, the Museum of Anthropology, the Centre for Japanese Research, the Department of History, and the Department of Asian Studies to promote the study of Japanese history and culture using digital materials from UBC.
The Okinawa Memories Initiative: A public history project managed by UC Santa Cruz, The Humanities Institute, CSU Monterey Bay, CSU East Bay, and the University of Ryukyus that explores the postwar history of Okinawa from a global perspective, with a particular focus on the years of direct American rule (1945-1972). See also An Okinawan-American Dialogue project.
Premodern Japanese Texts and Translations: A bibliography of translations and reviews of the literary and historical works up to about 1600; includes works written in kanbun and Chinese
Tōji Hyakugō Monjo Dētābēsu 東寺百合文書データベース: An image database of the collection of Japanese documents originally preserved at Toji and presently at the Kyoto Prefectural Library and Archives, consisting of nearly 25,000 documents from the 8th to the 18th centuries (a bulk from the 14th and the 15th centuries)
Visualizing Cultures: Image-Driven Scholarship: Launched at MIT in 2002. "The VC mission is to use new technology and hitherto inaccessible visual materials to reconstruct the past as people of the time visualized the world (or imagined it to be)."
Japanese Text Initiative = 日本語テキストイニシアチブ: Texts of classical and modern literature; collaborative effort of the University of Virginia Library Electronic Text Center and the University of Pittsburgh East Asian Library
*JapanKnowledge (alternative link): In addition to basic Japanese reference sources including encyclopedias and dictionaries (e.g., 日本大百科全書, 日本国語大辞典, 國史大辭典, Encyclopedia of Japan, etc.), JapanKnowledge provides access to 東洋文庫 (平凡社) and 新編日本古典文学全集(小学館) series.
JPARC (Japanese Performing Arts Research Consortium): JPARC, a consortium of scholars supporting the research and promotion of Japanese performing arts in Japan and abroad, offers various databases and other resources on Nōgaku 能楽, Kabuki 歌舞伎, and Bunraku 文楽.
Noh as Intermedia: Developed by Profs. Jarosław Kapuściński, Takanori Fujita, and François Rose on the Japanese Noh Theater
Premodern Japanese Texts and Translations: A bibliography of translations and reviews of the literary works up to about 1600; includes works written in kanbun and Chinese
Rekishiteki ongen 歴史的音源 = Historical Recording: National Diet Library offers ca. 50,000 sound recordings of music, lectures, rakugo, nagauta, etc. on 78rpm records and metal discs used to press commercial releases from around 1900 to 1950. These sound recordings were digitized by the Historical Records Archive Promotion Conference (HiRAC)
Philosophy/Religion
ATLA Religion Database: An index to the research literature of religion, including Biblical studies, world religions, church history, and religious perspectives on social issues (including Japanese journals) [1949 - present]
Dētabēsu “Sekai to Nihon”データベース「世界と日本」: Databases, full-text of important documents, and links related to international relations; provided by the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo
Japanese Company Histories (Shashi) Wiki: This project is an initiative of the Shashi Interest Group consisting of librarians and researchers in North America to collaboratively build and promote use of the library collections of Japanese company histories or shashi.
JETRO Nihon Bōeki Shinkō Kikō 日本貿易振興機構 (ジェトロ): Being a government-related organization that promotes mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world, JETRO offers latest world business-related news in various industries
Kokkai Kanren Jōhō 国会関連情報 : Resources on the Diet of Japan, including 国会会議録検索システム: minutes of the Diet since May 20, 1947, 日本法令索引: indexes to the constitution, laws, government and ministerial ordinances, and bills, etc. provided by the National Diet Library
Nihon Ginkō Kin'yū Kenkyūjo 日本銀行金融研究所: The institute conducts studies on theoretical, institutional and historical aspects of monetary and economic issues in the Bank of Japan
Zenkoku Jicchitai Mappu Kensaku 全国自治体マップ検索: Links to official homepages of Japanese local governments from prefecture to the city level; provided by Local Authorities Systems Development Center (LASDEC)
