About the Japanese Collection

The Japanese studies collection boasts one of the largest and most comprehensive repositories in the nation. Collection development is supported by several endowments, as well as by contributions from the University of Chicago’s Center for East Asian Studies and its Committee on Japanese Studies. The collection was a long-term beneficiary of the Multi-Volume Set grant program organized by the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources, with financial support from the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission. The collection has also been enhanced by generous donations from organizations (e.g., KCEE), alumni (e.g., the Moritas), faculty (e.g., Professor Wright, Professor Ketelaar), and area residents and researchers (e.g., the Haranos, Mrs. Fujii, the Miyakawas).

The collection contains various types of resources (books, journals, ephemera, audio and visual media, e-resources, digitally-formatted materials, etc.) that support research in Japanese studies. The breadth of subjects encompasses anything dealing with Japan (including Japanese in diaspora), with a particular emphasis on fields in the social sciences and humanities such as literature, history, art history, cinema/media studies/performing arts, religious studies and philosophy, anthropology, and sociology—but not excluding such subjects as science, the history of science, Japan in international relations (political science and business), and law. Materials are collected in all languages, with priority given to Japanese and English.

In recent years the collection has striven proactively to acquire rare original issues of twentieth-century popular magazines. Notable additions include runs of Garo, Shōnen kurabu, Goro, Fūfu seikatsu, Kitan kurabu, the latter three of which are available in no other institution outside of Japan. It has also added data-sets in support of burgeoning interest in text-mining projects.

Rare materials, including numerous Edo- and Meiji-period items, are housed in the Treasure Room of the East Asian Collection (List) or in the Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center (List; many of these Edo- and Meiji-period items in SCRC were examined and identified by Professor Peter F. Kornicki during his visit in connection with the 2024 Paleography and the Book Visiting Scholar Program).

As the fundamental goal of the collection is to facilitate research, the acquisitions agenda draws inspiration from faculty and graduate-student research topics. Hence researchers are highly encouraged to contact the Japanese studies librarian with inquiries and purchase requests.