UofL Libraries: Asian Studies: Japan

Japan

Background

Web Japan provides information about Japan including facts, fun and new trends, traditional and pop culture, science and technology, food, travel, and life style.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Japan

Information on the land, people, economy, administration and social conditions, cultural life, and history.

The World Factbook - Japan

Basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, military, terrorism, and transnational issues.

BBC Country Profiles - Japan

An instant guide to the history, politics, and economic background of countries and territories.

Japan : A Country Study

Offers a comprehensive description and analysis of the country or region's historical setting, geography, society, economy, political system, and foreign policy.

UofL Government Resource Guide - Japan

Our Government Resources guide provides an extensive list of articles related to politics, culture, and society

Secondary Sources

Use these databases to find articles and/or essays in scholarly journals and books.

Statistics

UofL Databases

Open Access

Statistics Bureau of Japan

Census statistics for Population, housing & land, employment & unemployment, lifestyle, establishments & enterprises, research & development, household economy, prices, and regional data.

Primary Sources - Japan

These databases and websites provide access to digital archival materials such as manuscripts, letters, photographs, moving image and sound materials, artwork, books, diaries, and other artifacts. You can also visit our main pages for Asia and East Asia to find additional databases and resources covering broader regions.

UofL Databases

Meiji Japan
Manuscripts for the study of Meiji society, culture, ethnology and education from the papers of Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925).

Open Access

Cultural Japan

This site provides access to a large collection of digitalized items related to Japanese culture published in museums, libraries, etc. around the world.

National Diet Library Digital Collections - 国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション

Database of digitized books, periodicals, historical audio recordings, images, maps and more published in Meiji and Taisho era.

Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR)

JACAR is a digital archive of Asian historical records of Japan provided by the National Archives of Japan, the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and the National Institute for Defense Studies of the Ministry of Defense of Japan.

Shosoin 正倉院 Treasure House

Images of material objects, works of art, and manuscripts from this famous collection of Japanese treasures

Aozora bunko

Collection of open access Japanese fiction and non-fiction

The Gertrude Bass Warner Collection of Japanese Votive Slips

Digitized images of the only known collection of Japanese shrine and temple votive slips (nōsatsu) in North America

Mangapedia

Managed by リンクトデータ (Linked Data), a subgroup of Shogakkan, and VOYAGE. Contents are provided by publishers, and you can view many images. The articles are written by researchers and journalists specialized in manga.
The site calls for a login, but that is for contributors. You can view without logging in.

Ainu and Ezochi Rare Collection

This collection of rare materials brings together books, manuscripts, and maps produced during the 18th and 19th centuries that document Japanese exploration and observation of the island and prefecture now known as Hokkaido in Japan, as well as Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in Russia.

College Women's Association of Japan Print Show Collection

More than 180 artists living and working in Japan created the 212 fine art prints in the College Women's Association of Japan Print Show Collection. The prints, dating primarily from 2003 to 2005, encompass a rich diversity of styles, printmaking techniques, and subject matter. The CWAJ show, an annual event in Tokyo, Japan, since 1956, is a renowned venue for contemporary Japanese creative print art, known as hanga.

Japanese Censorship Collection

The Japanese Censorship Collection contains 1,327 marked-up copies of censored monographs and galley proofs for approximately 1,100 titles, mostly from the 1920s and 1930s. They include copies submitted by publishers for examination by censors in the Home Ministry of the Japanese imperial government as well as books lawfully confiscated by the ministry and local authorities for censor review.