Category Archives: Japanese Studies

Trial access to Japan Digital Archives Center online collections

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The Library has trial access to four online collections from the Japan Digital Archives Center:

  • Records of Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO): Minro Shigaki Papers Online
  • Prefectural Statistics Online
  • Documents Related to Tokyo Trials and War Trials
  • Collection of Magazines on Japanese Mass Entertainment and Sexual Customs Online (1950s – 70s)

For more information about these collections, and to access the trials, visit the E-resources trials page. Trials access for all four resources lasts until 15 August 2024. Please note that off-campus access is via VPN only.

Please remember to give us feedback to help us make a decision about subscribing using the E-resources Trial Feedback Form.

On trial: Foreign Office Files for Japan

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The Library currently has trial access to Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952 from AM Digital. This resource allows you to discover Japan’s rise to modernity and its relations with global superpowers through British Government documents from the National Archives, UK.

For more information, see the On trial: Foreign Office Files for Japan blog post by the Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology.

Database trial for Chinese and Japanese ancient books

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Some of us may have already used Diaolong Complete Si Ku Series (in Databases A-Z) that we have subscribed to for the last few years. This resource is part of a larger database which also contains many more pre-1911 Chinese books as well as several thousand volumes of Japanese books. The database is called Diaolong Full-text Database of Chinese & Japanese Ancient Books — 雕龍中日古籍全文資料庫.

The University Library has now set up a trial of this whole database. The trial will be added to the E-resources Trials website: http://edin.ac/e-resources-trials very soon. Meanwhile, you can access the trial directly at the following website on the University network or via VPN while off campus:

The trial will end on 31 August 2022, with a possible subscription depending on feedback and library budget.

Diaolong Full-text Database of Chinese & Japanese Ancient Books contains about 30,000 ancient books which cover a wide range of subjects including history, religion, philosophy, literature, politics, economics, medicine and local gazetteers. The page display can be in scanned images, in transcribed texts, or in both side by side. The huge number of books are sourced from 21  large series titles which can be searched or browsed. These 21 series are:

  1. Daozang (道藏, 1513 book titles / 5878 vols)
  2. Daozang jiyao (道藏辑要, 299 / 2553)
  3. Sibu congkan (四部叢刊, 472 / 13685)
  4. Xu Sibu congkan (續四部叢刊, 364 / 15328)
  5. Yongle dadian (永樂大典, 813 / 813)
  6. Gujin Tushu Jicheng (古今圖書集成, 33 / 10012)
  7. Dunhuang shiliao(敦煌史料,2952 / 2955)
  8. Qingdai shiliao (清代史料, 113 / 10832)
  9. Zhongguo difangzhi (中國地方誌, 2137 / 52022)
  10. Zhongguo difangzhi xuji (中國地方誌續集,1939 / 37477)
  11. Zhongguo difangzhi sanji (中國地方誌三集,2090 / 18309)
  12. Riben gudian shujiku (日本古典書籍庫, 618 / 7400)
  13. Siku quanshu (四庫全書, 3541 / 92074)
  14. Xuxiu Siku quanshu (續修四庫全書, 5550 / 104703)
  15. Siku cunmu (四庫存目,4350 / 65551)
  16. Siku wei shou shu (四庫未收書,167 / 2479)
  17. Siku jin hui shu (四庫禁毀書,620 / 13342)
  18. Liufu wencang (六府文藏, 7717 / 149576)
  19. Zhongguo minjian wenxue (中國民間文學,203 / 538）
  20. Qingdai keju zhujuan (清代科舉硃卷, 1071 / 7792）
  21. Yi jia ku (醫家庫,1033 / 9362)

Feedback would be much appreciated.

Database trial – Global Newsstream

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The Library has just arranged a free trial of Global Newsstream from ProQuest. The trial has been advertised in the Library’s E-resources Trials website http://edin.ac/e-resources-trials and can be accessed on and off campus via University login.

Global Newsstream enables users to search the most recent global news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring content from newspapers, newswires, and news sites in active full-text format. This product provides one of the largest collections of news from the US, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Australia. All titles are cross-searchable on the ProQuest platform allowing researchers easy access to multiple perspectives, resources, and languages on the topic they are researching.

Coverage: 1980 – current. Trial ends: 7th Aug 2020.

It includes the following sub-databases:

Canadian Newsstream

Full text of over 190 Canadian newspapers from Canada’s leading publishers. This full text database includes the complete available electronic backfile for most newspapers, providing full access to the articles, columns, editorials and features published in each. Some backfiles date as far back as the late 1970s. View title list.

Global Breaking Newswires

Provides timely access to the best newswire content available globally as well as growing archive of news that may not be captured in any of the traditional print sources. View title list.

International Newsstream

Provides the most recent news content outside of the US and Canada, with archives which stretch back decades featuring newspapers, newswires, and news sites in active full-text format. View title list. It consists of the following Nesstreams:

  • Asian Newsstream — more than 60 of the most respected national and regional sources of news and current affairs information in Asia and the Far East. View title list.
  • Australia & New Zealand Nesstream — offers access to leading Australian and New Zealand newspapers. View title list.
  • European Newsstream — contains 552 national and regional newspapers and other news sources from across Europe. View title list.
  • Latin American Newsstream — includes titles from Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. Latin American Newsstream provides newspapers in Spanish and Portuguese. Key newspaper titles include: El Universal (Mexico City);O Globo (Brazil);La Nación (Argentina);and El Mercurio (Chile). View title list.
  • Middle East & African Newsstream — newspapers, news wires, websites, and blogs from leading publishers throughout the region. Sources include The Jerusalem Post, the Gulf Daily News, Kuwait Times, Cape Times, and Yemen Times, among many others. It includes backfiles as far back as 1988. View title list.

U.S. Newsstream

Provides the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format. For academic and public libraries, U.S. Newsstream offers exclusive access to the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and co-exclusive access (with Factiva) to The Wall Street Journal. View title list.

We already subscribe to two full-text global newspaper databases: Factiva and Nexis UK. It’d be useful to compare these sources. Feedback welcome.

Princeton University Library Research Grants

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The following information is relevant to several subject areas in the LLC School: East Asian Studies, Children’s literature, and Portuguese-speaking cultures.

Each year, the Friends of the Princeton University Library, as well as other library and campus funding sources, offer short-term Library Research Grants to promote scholarly use of the Library’s special collections. The award is $1,000 per week (up to four weeks) plus transportation costs. Applications to use unique, not regularly available, East Asian Library materials will be considered as part of these general grants. There is a window of several months to apply each year.

As of Sept. 23, 2019, the 2020-2021 Princeton University Library Research Grants application is open and ready to receive submissions. The deadline to apply is Noon on December 13, 2019. Grants are tenable from May 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021.

Applications will be considered for scholarly use of archives, manuscripts, rare books, and other rare and unique holdings of the Department of Special Collections, including the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library; as well as rare books in Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, and in the East Asian Library (Gest Collection).  Special grants are awarded in several areas: the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies supports a limited number of library fellowships in Hellenic Studies, the Elmer Adler Fund supports research in the graphic arts, and the Cotsen Children’s Library supports research in its collection on aspects of children’s literature. The Maxwell Fund supports research on materials dealing with Portuguese-speaking cultures. The Sid Lapidus ’59 Research Fund for Studies of the Age of Revolution and the Enlightenment in the Atlantic World supports relevant special collections research.

For more information, or to apply, please go to http://rbsc.princeton.edu/friends-princeton-university-library-research-grants

Ban Dainagon Ekotob : a premium replica of the late 12th-century Japanese emakimono (picture scroll)

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The Library has just purchased a beautiful reproduction of a late 12th-century Japanese emakimono (絵巻) – a set of 3 illustrated narrative picture scrolls called Ban Dainagon Ekotob (伴大納言絵詞 The Tale of Great Minister Ban). The full-colour painting depicts the events of the Ōtemmon Conspiracy, an event of Japan’s early Heian period. The painting, attributed to Tokiwa Mitsunaga, is over 20 m (66 ft) long and about 31.5 cm (12.4 in) tall. The original art work is considered to be Kokuhō (國寶, or a Japanese national treasure) among six such rare and invaluable picture scrolls. Information about their replica can be found here.

The reproduction was published by Chikuma shobo (筑摩書房) in 1971-1974 in a limited edition of 1000 copies. Our Library copy has the set number ’84’. The 3 hand-scrolls are placed individually in 3 wooden cases, each accompanied with a booklet. The set has been catalogued for the Centre for Research Collections. See the bibliographic record in DiscoverEd here.

The material has been purchased in response to needs for a Japanese Studies course called “Supernatural Japan: doing Japanology through Yokai”. As the course takes a ‘learning by doing’ approach, allowing students to experience Yokai in art, literature to discover the historical and cultural value of Yokai in Japanese society, this set of 3 hand-scrolls will give a rare opportunity of authentic reading experience for students of Japanese Studies or anyone interested in Japanese art, history and culture.

LLC related database trials

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There are several database trials running at the moment for the next few weeks which are relevant for the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, in particular for English Literature, Asian Studies, and Film Studies. All these trials can be accessed via the Library’s E-Resources Trials website. These resources are: Continue reading →

The Regional Sections (Showa Era) of the Yomiuri Shimbun

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We have been offered a free trial of the Regional Sections (Showa Era, 昭和の地域版) of the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun which we subscribe to:

The trial is valid until 8th February 2018.

Yomiuri Shimbun is indexed in the Databases A-Z list as Yomidas Rekishikan which provides access to this newspaper.

The section contains digital images of 2.76 million pages from 46 prefectures nationwide dating from 1933 to 2001. Click here to see the content coverage by regions and periods. The English user guide for Yomidas Rekishikan can be downloaded from here.

Article examples from the Regional Sections:

 

 

Nikkei Asian Review through Factiva and Nexis UK

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Some colleagues and students have asked about online access to Nikkei Asian Review, a weekly magazine in English published by Japan’s leading business and information company which provides timely corporate, economic news from Japan and the Asian region.

The good news is that the full text of Nikkei Asian Review is fully covered in two news source databases that the Library is subscribing to. Factiva provides full text content of this publication from 21 Nov. 2013 onwards, and in Nexis UK from 3 June 1980 onwards. Update schedule is same day as publication. Both databases are indexed in the Library’s Databases A-Z list (www.ed.ac.uk/is/databases-a-z).