2017

A Web-Scale discovery service (WSD) is so useful for students and faculty to search academic articles, journals and books. Therefore, it is becoming a de facto standard tool among academic libraries in many countries. One of the features of the WSD is to be provided as a cloud service. This means all users of the libraries which implement the WSD have to search the same index, so-called “Central Index”, and the search results of the WSD by the same key words, theoretically, also become the same among the different libraries. Thus, the WSD is a google-like service to search and discovery library contents globally.
On the other hand, the WSD is often pointed out its Japanese resource contents look much poorer than Chinese resource contents in terms of quantity.

The collection of pre-modern Japanese materials held in the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (IOM) RAS (St. Petersburg, Russia) comprises about 4000 manuscripts, printed books and maps created in Edo and early Meiji period. The catalogue of the most part of this collection was published in printed form in 1963-1971 (6 volumes). In 2006-2014 the inventory of the collection was prepared by correcting mistakes and adding the missing information in the printed catalogue. In 2014-2017 Japanese studies specialists of the IOM fulfilled the project of studying the history of the collection by tracing back the origin of each item and affiliating them to some private or institutional collections. This year we would like to present the beta version of the online public access catalogue of our Japanese collection.

During the visit of the group of scholars from the Hokkaido University in 2015 a scroll was found in the library depository. When opened it became clear that it is a beautifully illustrated emakimono preserved in good condition – it narrated the story of  the monster Shuten doji. The scroll had neither library nor manuscript department  code – instead it contained  inventory number which allowed to determine that the scroll was bought in Leningrad in 1928. Despite the name of the seller we could not find out his personality, thus we have no way to find out the way this wonderful scroll reached Russia.

The Austrian-Hungarian expedition to East Asia dispatched from Trieste in 1868, and concluded treaties with Siam (Thailand), China and Japan in 1869 respectively. As its official photographer, Wilhelm Burger (1844-1920) took part in this expedition in company with Michael Moser (1853-1912) as his assistant. Moser was still 16 years old, when he arrived in Japan. Nevertheless, he decided to stay further in Japan, even after the others including Burger went back to Austria, and stayed in Japan for 7 years all in all.

The Makino Mamoru Collection on History of East Asian Film 1863-2005  (here after the Makino Collection) was purchased by Columbia University in 2006. When the Makino Collection first arrived from Japan in 2007, there were 906 boxes (approximately 906 cubic feet in total).which contained approximately 14,576 books, 10,028 magazines, almost 2,000 file folders and other items - videos, posters, newspapers, and company records. The total estimate is more than 70,000 items.
The collection focuses on print materials mostly related to Japanese film that were collected over the course of fifty years by former documentary filmmaker and film researcher, Makino Mamoru.

One hundred years ago in 1917, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty visited Japan. An American mining magnate, Beatty was already known for his extensive collections of Western and Islamic manuscripts. During his trip Beatty was entranced by the glittering scenes captured in the painted scrolls and albums set out for his perusal, and he began to add Japanese narrative and religious works to his growing library. Gathered together as a personal collection, Beatty’s library was recast as a standalone institution in a Dublin suburb in the early 1950s.

The National Library of Finland was established during Swedish rule as Royal Academy of Turku in 1640. During Russian rule the university was moved to Helsinki in1828 and it started operating under the name of the "Imperial Alexander University". After Finland's indepence in 1917, the University's library was renamed Helsinki University library. In 2006 the name of the library was changed to the National Library of Finland with an amendment of the Universities act.
The Library has several Japanese and Japan related collections.

This presentation introduces “The Japanese Popular Culture Research Project" promoted by International Research Center for Japanese Studies as one practical example of digital strategies for the research of Japanese popular culture. This project started with the plan of 6 years from 2016 and aims to provide various resources for the research of Japanese popular culture which is highly interested in Japan as well as in overseas countries in recent years. Resources include four aspects: proposal of a new way of thinking about the Japanese popular culture research, establishment of global research network, construction of databases of popular culture materials, development of educational packages.

During the Allied Forces Occupation of Japan after WWII, published materials such as books, magazines, and newspapers were censored from 1945 through 1949 by the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD) under the Supreme Commander for Allied Powers (SCAP). In addition to publications, Japan’s traditional performing arts such as Noh, Joruri, and Kabuki plays were also censored, with an estimated 100,000 Kabuki scripts censored during the period.

Harvard-Yenching Library holds a few hundred volumes of Japanese design catalogs from the late Edo period to the early 20th century. These were originally called Hinagata, then Ishō, or Zuan in the modern era. Typical contents of traditional Hinagata include kimono patterns, architectural decorations, and details, weaving patterns. Many are hand-drawn in color. They were used for practical purposes, such as kimono merchants taking orders from clients. After the Meiji restoration in 1868 when Japan opened to the outside world, the new government promoted the export of Japanese craft goods such as pottery, lacquer ware, textiles to earn the currency necessary for building the modern nation. These goods were well received in Europe where "Japonisme" was already popular. Many designers for these craft goods were trained in Kyoto and publishers there produced color woodblock print design catalogs introducing these designers’ works