Japanese Studies librarian
Keiko Yokota-Carter
Contact:
kyokotac@umich.edu
412 N. Hatcher 913 S. University Ann Arbor MI48109-1190 USA
412 N. Hatcher 913 S. University Ann Arbor MI48109-1190 USA
734-764-7774
Support for research on Japan
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Asia Library Travel Grant by the University of Michigan Center for Japanese StudiesGrant for faculty and graduate students to use Japan-related resources at the U-M Library. Please click "Asia Library Travel Grants" in the CJS homepage.
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Hoover Institution Library & Archives Fellowship at Stanford Universityoffers competitive fellowships and support of up to $2,500 to support research based on our collections. All recipients will be expected to spend a minimum of ten days in the Library & Archives.
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CULCONThe U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange
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Statistics of libraries in Japanese Studies, Chinese studies, Korean Studies in North AmericaCouncil on East Asian Libraries (CEAL)
Visit Japan / Employment in Japanese Studies
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Magical tour (deep) JapanOnly for information purpose. Contact IACE travel, USA.
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Experience Japan"offer agency service related to Japan such as ticket booking, shopping, Fan club registration."
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Japan TodayResources about news, visitng / living Japan
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Friendly Door - find housing in JapanIt is hard for Non-Japanese citizens to find housing in Japan． This site may help you find it．(commercial site - only information sharing)
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Klookone example place to reserve tickets
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産業観光 いるみる (industry tourist)Find factory tours.
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Navigate Tokyo - 3D maphow to get from A to B in Tokyo
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Rebirth of Japanese Studies2020 Statistics of employment in Japanese Studies. Prepared by Dr. Paula R. Curtis.
Academic Ethic
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PlagiarismBrief introduction to honor academic works.
Introduction
English language resources in Japanese studies, also search subjects and "your topic" (i.e. game) in Research Guides for databases on specialized subjects and consult with subject librarians.
- English resources
- Japan Knowledge - Start research by looking up words - online dictionaries and other texts.
- Electronic books in Japanese
- Digital Collections in Japanese Studies at the U-M Library
- Online Exhibits at the U-M Library
- Deep Blue U-M Library - preserve and share your documents and data
- ILL - Inter Library Loan from another institutions.
- Purchase request (Japanese language can be used) E-book in Japanese language request
- Visitors - Library material request form
- Staff at U-M Library Directory
- Book donation policy
- Copy right questions
- Open Access Publishing in academic journals
- Translation tool (text) -- DeepL
- Translation tool (voice) - UD Talk
- Translation service - to find professional by category: American Translators Association
- Translation service - Japanese Association of Translators
- COVID-19 information in Japan / Ann Arbor Washtenew county
- Researchers in Japan 日本の研究
- Popular culture trend in Japan
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HowToLibraryOnline tutorials of basic library search
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Bentley Historical Library Finding Aid (Univiersity of Michigan)Need to register to visit for research.
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Law Library - University of Michigan Law SchoolLaw library has a separate cataloging system.
In this page
Quick start searching publications about Japan in Japanese language
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1. Find Japanese resource by topics"Research Navi" by the National Diet Library. Useful starting point to locate major resources.
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National Diet LibraryMost major publications in Japan (equivalent for the role of the Library of Congress) Try keyword seach to find what kind of books available. Then, see if U-M Library may have it.
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3. Hathitrust.orgcheck if there may be digitized version?
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4. WorldcatLocate Japanese resource in the US and ILL.
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Webcat PlusTry keyword seach in 連想検索 to find what kind of books available. Then, see if U-M Library may have it.
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Cinii ResearchSearch academic Articles, Books, Dissertations, and Data among Japanese universities.
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Union catalog of early Japanese Books 国書データベースCatalog of the pre-modern materials.
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Japan Searcha national platform for aggregating metadata of digital resources of various fields and operated by the National Diet Library, Japan, in cooperation with a variety of organizations in Japan under policies established by the Working Group Steering Committee of the Digital Archives Japan Promotion Committee.
Request E-books to Japanese Studies librarian
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Maruzen e-BOOK LibraryContact librarian if you would like to see trial the version of specific books from the Maruzen E-books.
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Kinokuniya Digital Library - KINODENYou can view the limited content to decide for purchase request.
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Request for future addition in Kinoden E-booksRequest form for Kinokuniya Bookstore to be added in the Kinoden ebook platform. This is not a library purchase form.
FIND / GET at U-M & Beyond
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Business resourcesKresge Business Administration Library has separate catalog.
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Legal resourcesJapanese legal materials. Law Library has a separate catalog.
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Center for Japanese Studies PublicationsUniversity of Michigan CJS publications
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Bentley Historical Library finding aidHistorical manuscripts related to the communities at the University of Michigan and in the State of Michigan residents.
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US university librariesILL from this site held at other libraries.
Japanese names & biographical information
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Name Authorities 国会図書館典拠データpersonal names, topical names.
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Japan Knowledge 人名・文化・宗教 (U-M only)日本人名大辞典、日本人物文献目録、日本架空伝承人名事典、能・狂言事典、歌舞伎事典
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ネットの電話帳（住所でポン！）Find names listed in telephone books
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人事興信録データベース第1版（1903年）、第4版（1915年）、第8版（1928年）、第10版（1934年）、第14版（1943年）、第15版（1946年） 内尾直二が創業した人事興信所が１９０３〔明治３６〕年から刊行した人物情報誌。東京など大都市を中心に全国各地の最富裕層、エリート採録。２～３年毎に改訂版。（名古屋大学大学院法学研究科「日本研究のための歴史情報プロジェクト」）
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人事興信録at the National Diet Library
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Search newspapers for obituariesJapanese newspapers have short obituaries section. Some newspapers databases have who's who.
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Webcat PlusIncludes "furigana" for names and book titles,
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Waseda University Library OPACIncludes "furigana" for names and book titles.
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WordcatSearch records to find how to read names.
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日本人名情報索引〔人文分野）データベースNational Diet Library
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漢字の名乗り訓（名前に使われた漢字の訓読み）National Diet Library
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日本史人名よみかた辞典
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近現代日本政治関係人物文献目録明治期以降、政治の分野で活躍した日本人に関する文献について、人物名から関連文献を検索
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和学者総覧前近代 著者名典拠
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漢文学者総覧前近代 著者名典拠
Calendar : Japanese - Gregorian calender
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旧暦カレンダーfind from current day
Dictionaries & Kanji guide
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How to find Kanji by handwritingJim Breen's site
http://nihongo.monash.edu/cgi-bin/wwwjdic?1C -
Kuzushiji database漢字くずし字データベース 古典籍
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RomajiDesuInternet dictionaries - Japanese, Kanji, Japanese translator, & Romaji convertor.
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Japan Knowledge (U-M only)Includes a variety of Japanese language dictionaries.
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Daijirin for iPhoneIt has handwritten input which the dictionary recognizes and gives you the search result. (commercial product)
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史的文字データベース連携検索システムMulti-database Search System for Historical Chinese Characters. Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties. 奈良文化財研究所
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Japanese Garden Dictionary : A Glossary for Japanese Gardens and Their History(C) 2010 by Ono Kenkichi and Walter Edwards.
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Japanese pre-modern dictionaries 日本近代辞書・字書集キリシタン文献辞書類が取り上げた語彙と、近代日本辞書・字書の語彙との対照を主目的として作成
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デジタル『和英語林集成』Meiji Gakuin University
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聖書和訳デジタルアーカイブスMeiji Gakuin University
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節用集データベース Database of Early Modern Japanese Dictionariesby the University of Colongne
Setsuyo shu 節用集国語辞書 室町中期
Citation
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Research and Citation ResourcesOnline Writing Lab at the Purdue University
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Japanese, Chinese, Korean citationcreated by Yale University library
Japanese Romanization
Basic search skill -- Japanese language resource
1. U-M Library homepage Advance catalog search
2. Library catalog ローマ字でさがす Romanization library rule
大阪 おおさか osaka, 天皇 てんのう Tenno, ビール (beer) biru, ビル (building) biru
キッチン (kichen）kitchin 日中 (Japan China) にっちゅう nitchu
Spacing: デトロイト空港 detoroito kuko 君の名は kimi no na wa となりのトトロ tonari no totoro 日本史 Nihon shi or Nihonshi
PRACTICE 成田空港 世界の中心で愛を叫ぶ トットちゃん 日朝関係
4. Japanese names Google.com or Google.co.jp -- find how to read names
PRACTICE 真藤順丈 上田岳弘
5. 日本の新聞 Japanese language newspapers
7. 青空文庫 Aozora bunko corpus Literature and essays
8. 日本語のアカデミックな論文 Japanese academic articles CiNii (not much in full-texts)
National Diet Library Search (search books and articles bibliographic information)
9. IIL - Inter Library Loan
Search WorldCat listed under "Frequently Used Databases" in the U-M Library Homepage.
ラーメンちゃん、 ラーメン大好き（だいすき）、インスタントラーメン発明王（はつめいおう） ラーメンこうばん、
ラーメンガイドブック、
External Resources:
In the NOTE section, input Accession No: OCLC: 21401868 to specify the book that you want to borrow.
10. Fun tool For example, collect speeches by Prime Minister Abe and examine which words he most uses.
Search in google by 安倍首相スピーチ to find the site for speeches. You can find the speeches by Emperor 天皇 at the Imperial Household Agency 宮内庁 homepage.
Online courses
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Japanese Information LiteracyVideos associated with Japanese Research and Bibliographic Method, an undergraduate course taught by Professor Suzanne Fessler at the University at Albany,
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Japanese Books: From Manuscript to Printat Harverd University eaX
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中国文字文化論History of Kanji - Chinese characters Kyoto University
Japan and the World
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Foreign Office files in Achives Direct (U-M only)Foreign Office files for East Asia, South Asia, Africa, Middle-East, Latin America. British National Archives.
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Empire OnlinehttpsThis database is being published in five sections between 2003 and 2007 offering approximately 60,000 images of original documents linked to essays by leading scholars in the field of Empire Studies. Search by "Japan".
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FBIS: Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports"The United States' principal record of political and historical open source intelligence"
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Cambridge archive editions online.includes "documents represents many thousands of original documents of the National Archives (UK) represented in facsimile, including numerous maps, on the national heritage and political development of many countries." Material on Japan includes political & economic reports 1906 - 1970.
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Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952 (Imperialism and the War in the Pacific, 1931-1945) (U-M only)provides 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. Section I: Japanese Imperialism and the War in the Pacific, 1931-1945. Section II: Occupation of Japan, 1946-1952. Section III: Japan and Great Power Status, 1919-1930
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Contemporary Japan online : a review of Far Eastern affairsWW I and WW II studies, Cultural Historians Propaganda Studies
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Eighteenth century collections onlineSearch by keyword "Japan" to find the accounts on Japan in Western
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Nineteeth Century Collections onlineThis resource includes images from Britain, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
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Japan : described and illustrated by the JapaneseDocuments in Meiji Japan. Includes ten colour collotype frontispieces, 30 mounted hand-coloured albumen photographs, and approximately 260 halftone reproductions. The contents are also included in the Nineteeth Century Collections online.
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Japan Chronicle Online (1902-1940) U-M onlyEnglish "newspaper of record for Japan's engagement with modernity and its emergence, through war, political and social upheaval and seismic social change in East Asia, onto the world stage in the first half of the 20th century".
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Japan Times archives 03/22 1897 - December 31st of the previous calendar year (U-M only)Including The Japan Times, The Japan Advertiser, The Japan Times & Mail, The Japan Times and Advertiser (Morning ed.) , Japan Times and Advertiser (Evening ed.) and the Nippon Times.
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Civil Affairs Handbook, JapanElectronic texts compiled by University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries except 5.
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Civil Affairs Handbook, Japan 5: Money and banking 貨幣及び金融Scroll down. List compiled by the National Diet Library, Japan.
Copy right
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Copy right basicService offered at the U-M Library
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Image Use Protocol - JapanInformation and templates to ask permission to use image published in Japan. NCC
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Music in JapanJASRAC Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers.
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Asking for PermissionGuide by Columbia University Libraries
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Copy right Q & AAgency of Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan
COVID-19 information in Japan / Ann Arbor, Washtenew County
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COVID-19 pandemic in Japan WikipediaList of sources (please verify with the sources about the facts)
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NHK World News on Covid-19 in Japannews related to Covid-19. Follow #Coronavirus.
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COVID-19 Japan web-archivingNational Diet Library Web Archiving Project (WARP)
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The Independent Investigation Commission on the Japanese Government’s Response to COVID-19新型コロナ対応・民間臨時調査会調査・検証報告書
Research institutions / method
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Japanese Studies Research and Bibliographic methodby Dr. Susanna Fessler & Anthony DeBlasi State University of New York at Albany.
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日本の研究 research-er.jpFind researchers by topics and other information of researchers and researches in Japan. Youtube instructions on Left column.
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Handbook for Asian studiesa guide to research materials and collection building tools
Bacic course research resouces
1. Library research step by step.
Example: "I am interested in economic reforms after the WWII in Japan."
"reconstruction, economic reform, occupation, Japan, ...etc."
Find keywords from book titles, Subject heading, words in abstract: Antitrust, Zaibatsu kaitai --> Search by Antirrust, Zaibatsu
One book --> click Subject headings --> expand more resources, Check other works by authors
Read closely and check the notes: check cited materials. Check the list of bibliography
2. Articles, and more Try to use major databases. Ask subject librarian for specific subject databases.
Use Google in your area, such as google.co.jp for Japanese language information. Google translate
Google Scholar Wikipedia --> use the list of bibliography
3. Overviews & Critical surveys
5. Global News sources
Access World News - NewsBank : includes 6 English news sources from Japan, 60 English news sources from China.
Global News sources Research Guide
6, Statistics Contact Subject Specialist (Jungwon Yang, and others)
7. Media sources
Kanopy streaming site U-M only
Asian Film Online (Alexander Street) U-M only
Academic Video Online (Alexander Street) U-M only
9. Deep Blue - Documents and Data
10. Librarians who can help you.
Chinese Studies Librarian & Research guide
Korean Studies Librarian & Research guide
Japanese Studies Librarian & Research guide
Japanese digital resources -- start up list
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HathiTrust Digital Library - full text listLanguage list in the LEFT column
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National Diet Library Digital CollectionsSome texts are limited outside Japan.
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Next Digital LibraryFull-texts National Diet Library. Data download.
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Aozora bunkoJapanese modern literature full-text
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Aozora bunko CorpusText level search among Aozora Bunko texts.
by the University of Chicago -
Japan Searcha national platform for aggregating metadata of digital resources of various fields and operated by the National Diet Library, Japan.
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Cultural JapanDigital images related to Japan from global institutions.
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Japan Foundation USA Digital Library SystemFree for public in North America. Need to free registration to use it.
Greeting for prospective students
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Greeting from Japanese Studies LibrarianWelcome and email me should you have any questions. kyokotac@umich.edu
Last Updated: Nov 25, 2025 1:59 PM
Subjects: International Studies