HIST 443: Age of Samurai: Japan's Tokugawa Era: Home

Monumenta Nipponica (MN) is one of the oldest English-language academic journals in the field of Asian studies. As a peer-reviewed international forum for researchers across the globe, it carries original scholarly contributions on premodern and modern history, literature, art history, religion, and thought; translations of important Japanese literary and historical sources; and authoritative reviews of recent books on Japan.

The Journal of Japanese Studies was established in 1974 as a multidisciplinary forum for communicating new information, new interpretations, and recent research results concerning Japan to the English-reading world.

A semi-annual journal dedicated to the academic study of Japanese religions.

Disseminates original, outstanding research and book reviews on the humanities in Asia, focusing at present on the areas of China, Japan, Korea, and Inner Asia.

JAS publishes the very best empirical and multidisciplinary work on Asia, spanning the arts, history, literature, the social sciences, and cultural studies.

UBC Library's Rare Books and Special Collections holds one of the world's largest collections of maps and guidebooks of the Japanese Tokugawa period, ca. 1600-1868. The collection varies in both format and size: items range from small single-sheet maps to more than thirty square feet, and also include a ceramic plate, a woodblock, and maps in scroll format.

This site provides high-definition images of the National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties owned by the Tokyo National Museum and other Japanese museums.

The Freer|Sackler Library's collection of illustrated Japanese rare books includes over 1,000 volumes previously owned by Charles Lang Freer. Often filled with color illustrations, many are by famous artists such as Andō Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai. These beautiful woodblock printed works of art were published during the Edo and Meiji periods (1600-1912).

The collection of 126 color woodblock prints was donated to the University of Pittsburgh in 2008 by Mr. and Mrs. Barry Rosensteel. While the earliest print dates to 1760, most of the prints were produced in the 1800s, while others were created in the 1900s. The work of over forty artists is represented in the collection. The images portray Japanese culture through detailed depictions of portraits, landscapes, wildlife, and theatrical performances, taking into account some of Japan’s rich history. The images selected for digitization constitute a significant portion of the total collection.

The Scripps College Collection of Japanese Prints, which numbers over 1500 works with more than 500 works by the artists Chikanobu (1838-1912) and Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), is primarily a teaching collection, with woodblock prints and illustrated books from the late 17th century to late 20th century. Most Japanese print designers working in the 18-19th centuries are represented, including more than 150 works by Hiroshige (1797-1858).

The Ukiyo-e.org database of Japanese woodblock print images and metadata aggregated from a variety of museums, universities, libraries, auction houses, and dealers around the world.

The American Presbyterian Church was committed at its inception to the belief that it is a missionary church and that every member is a missionary. The establishment in 1837 of the Presbyterian Church's Board of Foreign Missions signaled the beginning of a worldwide missionary operation destined to embrace some fifteen countries in four different continents The records offered here provide invaluable information on social conditions in Japan and on efforts to spread the gospel during the nineteenth century. Documenting the church's educational, evangelical, and medical work, these are records mainly of incoming correspondence from the mission field and outgoing correspondence from the Board headquarters.

An online catalog and finding aid for the holdings of the National Archives of Japan, including some digitized images of documents. There is also a gallery of digitized images of important national cultural properties.

Prof. Bryan Lowe's guide provides a detailed introduction to the Shōsōin archive in Japan and how to do research using the documents contained there, including references to other books and articles.

The foremost American collection of material devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering, and one of the world's largest collections devoted to the study of military and naval uniforms. It also contains over 50 rare Japanese books and manuscripts from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Japanese Historical Text Initiative is a digitized, searchable database of important Japanese historical documents and their English translations.
Some items are account/password protected. Create an account by emailing jhti@berkeley.edu to request login information.

An excellent guide to digital resources available for the study of Japan's history, from librarian Rebecca Mendelson (U Penn).

Resource from Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) with explanations of how to write APA-style citations.

Virtual workshops on APA citation stye offered by McGill librarians. Click the link to find the date and time and register!

Resource from Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) with explanations of how to write Chicago-style citations. Select the source type (books, periodicals, web sources) on the left-hand side.

Virtual workshop on Chicago citation style offered by McGill librarians. Click the link to find the date and time and register!

Resource from Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) with explanations of how to create MLA in-text citations.

Virtual workshop on MLA style offered by McGill librarians. Click the link to find the date and time and register!