Japanese Studies Research Guide: Find Books
Reference and research resources in Japanese
Getting Japanese Books
- Go to CLIO (Columbia Library Information Online) to see if what you need is available in Columbia libraries. CLIO includes holdings in shared offsite storage with the New York Public Library, Princeton University and Harvard University. Offsite items can be put on course reserve.
- If a book is not at Columbia or the Columbia copy is checked out, try Borrow Direct. Among 13 Borrow Direct Libraries, 9 libraries have a Japanese Studies Librarian. Loan period is sixteen (16) weeks and not renewable. For more information, visit the BorrowDirect website.
BorrowDirect can be accessed via Columbia University Libraries pull-down menu while in CLIO.
You will also find Pick-up (BorrowDirect) link if our own copy is unavailable while out on loan or missing.
3. If the Borrow Direct libraries do not have an available copy, try ILL to request a copy. If you use e-link while searching WorldCat, your ILL will be autofilled with necessary bibliographic information.
Check how your search query and after-search limits appear on your result screen. "Is" can be changed to "Is not" to exclude certain materials in CLIO.
Updated: 2/14/2025
Recommend a Title for Purchase
You can recommend a title for purchase. Reuqest form is available in the Feedback/Help menu on CLIO.
Requests for Japanese language resources are likely to be forwarded to the Japanese Studies Librarian and English and Western language resources will be taken care by East Asian Studies Librarian and maybe by other subject specialists.
Update: 10/4/2023
Finding Special Collections and Libraries in Tokyo and Japan
- ディープライブラリープロジェクトThe site offers cross searches of Japanese special libraries' holdings.
- 全国特殊コレクションリスト in レファレンス協同データベースAs of 3/14/2017, 7,382 collections are listed.
- 東京の公立図書館情報Find a PDF file under 東京都公立図書館特別コレクション section.
- 横断検索ナビ by JCross"全国の図書館横断検索サイトをまとめて紹介します。"
<Examples of Directories and guides in print>
- 専門図書館探訪 : あなたの「知りたい」に応えるガイドブック (2019) Includes 61 libraries
- 課題解決のための専門図書館ガイドブック (2020) Includes 171 libraries
- 専門情報機関総覧 = Directory of special libraries, Japan 2018 edition is the latest issue.
- Museum guidebooks in our collection might be of your interest as well.
Updated: 8/28/2024
Citation Management Software and NDL
Japanese e-resources usually do not work very well with citation management software like Zotero.
Remembering NDL's multiple ISBN search via WEB JAPANESE NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPGY (全国書誌データ検索) or WEBNDL CATALOG (蔵書目録データ検索) can be useful.
* ISBN一括検索の方法（全国書誌データ検索、蔵書目録データ検索）
1. Use ISBN/ISSN search box on Advanced Search (絞り込み検索) screen.
2. Insert a space between ISBNs. Space normally works as the Boolean command "AND" in keyword search box and such, but here it works as the Boolean command "OR."
Update: 9/20/2024
Books
- CLIO : library web : Columbia University Libraries online catalog. This link opens in a new windowContains catalog records for books, serials, newspapers, music scores, sound recordings, microforms, maps, computer files, archives and manuscripts, videorecordings, and other visual materials added to the Columbia University Libraries since 1981, including some material acquired before that date. Also contains records for the U.S. Government Documents collection in Lehman Library.
Most of Japanese language materials are cataloged both in Japanese as well as in romanization (modified Hepburn System by Library of Congress). Romanization tables are available in appendix section of Japanese Romanization Table (2022) document.
In CLIO, it is more effective when you search by romanization rather than Japanese script (eg: Try search CLIO using 江戸 in Japanese and Edo in romanization and compare your results). Pay attention to word divisions as well.
Ebooks may be listed not only under Catalog section, but also under Articles + section. To include Articles + in your search, switch to Quick Search mode.
Updated: 9/20/2024
- WorldCat. This link opens in a new windowContains all the records cataloged by OCLC member libraries around the worlds including some Japanese libraries like the National Diet Library, Waseda University, and Keio. Offers over 179 million records.
WorldCat can handle Japanese script searches better than CLIO.
WorldCat.org version is also available. This version does not require UNI login.
Updated: 6/29/2021
- CiNii BooksA service for searching for information on books and journals held in libraries of universities and research institutions in Japan. Searchable for about 10 million titles held in 1200 university libraries (totaled over 100 million books), and about 1.5 million authors of these books that has been accumulated through the online cataloging system (NACSIS-CAT) which NII provides.
CiNii Books is a part of CiNii Research. - NDL Search (国立国会図書館サーチ)About NDL Search
NDL Search allows you to search for materials and digital materials held by the National Diet Library as well as collections of libraries nationwide.
Updated: 1/17/2024 - NDL Digital Collection (国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション）The NDL Digital Collections enables a user to search and view a variety of resources, collected and stored by the National Diet Library of Japan. Default search setting is limited to resources widely available online. Do not forget to include digital resources with limited onsite use. The database provides the rich TOC information and full-text search may be available.
- WINE (Waseda University Library interface)WINE is the Waseda University Library's main search interface for Library collections and academic resources. The new version of WINE was launched in September, 2019. It no longer provides readings of Japanese names in detailed display. CiNii Books and OCLC WorldCat do not cover the entire holdings of Waseda University Library. So search WINE separately.
Updated: 11/21/2019 - Pub DB (出版書誌データベース)Pub DB contains the information about Japanese books both in print and electronic format currently available from commercial publishers and is maintained by the Japan Publishing Organization For Information Infrastructure Development.
Updated: 11/21/2019 - e-honE-hon is an online bookstore managed by Tohan, a book jobber. Your Japanese Studies Librarian is using the site for her quick and dirty check if a particula title is still in the market.
- Honya ClubHonya Club is an online bookstore managed by a book jobber, Nippan. Your Japanese Studies Librarian is using the site for her quick and dirty check if a particula title is still in the market.
- Webcat Plus (Prototype by NPO法人連想出版)This prototype version is launched by NPO法人連想出版 in March 2023.
The National Insitute of Informatics discontinued providing their version of Webcat Plus in March 2024.
To find what have been published in a year, also consult print titles such as the following:
- Shoshi nenkan (書誌年鑑）
- Shuppan Nenkan ( 出版年鑑）Publication ceased after 2018 edition.
- Book page = Hon no nenkan (本の年鑑）
Updated: 9/27/2023
E-Books
- Maruzen eBook Library (MeL) This link opens in a new window
Collection of Japanese academic or scholarly Ebooks selected from MEL (Maruzen e-Books Library). As of June 2022, Columbia has access to over 6,600 items. Full-text search is available for most titles.
Updated: 6/28/2022
- KinoDenOnline digital library of academic Japanese e-books in a wide variety of disciplines from multiple Japanese publishing houses. Columbia just recently started purchasing ebooks on this platform.
KinoDen offers sample pages from not yet purchased titles. You can also check some sample results of your full-text/本文 searches. Viewer app is also available.
As of September 2023, 4,175 volumes in KinoDen including "Tokyo Pakku/東京パック," "Manga zasshi hakubutsukan/漫画雑誌博物館," "Okinawa gurafu/オキナワグラフ," "Bijust sekai/美術世界," "Kabuki on suteji/歌舞伎オン・ステージ," and Japanese reading materials such as "Nihongo yomu yomu bunko/にほんごよむよむ文庫."
Updated: 9/29/2023 - Japan Knowledge Lib（ジャパンナレッジLib)The JapanKnowledge basic package includes, for example, the following e-books:
・Tōyō bunko (東洋文庫）
・Shinpen Nihon koten bungaku zeshū (新編日本古典文学全集)
・Bunko Kuseju[Que sais-je] besuto serekushon (文庫クセジュベストセレクション）
・Nihon no saijiki (日本の歳時記 小学館)
・Nihon kindai bungaku daijiten (日本近代文学大事典 増補改訂デジタル版)
・Meiji bungaku zenshu (明治文学全集 筑摩書房)
・Shinshaku kanbun taikei (新釈漢文大系 明治書院)
To see what's available in a set or series, try Book Shelf (書棚) tab. The JK resources list is also available here.
Not all the individual JK e-book titles can be searched and found in CLIO. Please access via Japan Knowledge Lib. All the JK contents are accessible via a single platform.
Columbia University Libraries offer Alumni Access to JapanKnowledge Lib Basic Package (do not include add-on contents and JKBooks titles). Please access it from E-Resources for Alumni list.
Updated: 9/29/2023
- Hathi Trust : a shared digital repository. This link opens in a new windowAs a digital repository for the nation's great research libraries, HathiTrust brings together the immense collections of partner institutions. It was initially conceived as a collaboration of the thirteen universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the University of California system, and the University of Virginia to establish a repository for those universities to archive and share their digitized collections, and quickly expanded to include additional partners with fast growing treasure of digitized collections.Shared digital repository.
- National Diet Library Digital Collection (国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション）The NDL Digital Collections enables a user to search and view a variety of resources including books, collected and stored by the National Diet Library of Japan.
- Next Digital Library (次世代デジタルライブラリー) by NDL""Next Digital Library" is an experimental digital library system based on several research results of the R&D Office at the NDL.
You can search about 350,000 materials (as of November 2022) in public domain available in the National Diet Library Digital Collections." - Aozora Bunko (青空文庫）A collection of non-copyright-protected Japanese literary works, available for download in several file formats. In addition to text and XHTML formats, other viewer options are available.
Updated: 12/4/2019 - Japanese Text Initiative (Universities of Virginia/Pittsburgh)This website contains full-text versions of several works of classical Japanese literature, including the Manyoshu, Genji Monogatari, etc.
Its access is now available via Archive-It and Wayback Machine. - The University of Tokyo - General Library at Internet ArchiveAdded: 02/25/2021
Institutional Repositories
- IRBD (Institutional Repositories DataBase 学術機関リポジトリデータベース）IRDB was launched in April 2019 and replaced its predecessor JAIRO. Although the site is designed to support the institutional repository staff tasks, IRDB can be useful for researchers to cross-search Japanese institutional repositories.
Updated: 11/22/2019
Indexes to Works in Collections and Series
This list is a selected list. Please search CLIO and other library databases to find more print indexes and bibliographies.
- Zenshū, sōsho sōmokuroku (全集・叢書 総目録)
Meiji/Taishō/Shōwa senzenki, 45/90, 91/98, 1999-2004, 2005-2010, 2011-2016 - Zenshū kōza naiyō sōran (全集講座内容綜覧)
Jinbun hen (人文編), Shakai hen (社会編), 1995-1999, 2000-2004 - Kojin chosakushū naiyō sōran (個人 著作集 内容 綜覧) * Publisher's Flyer
- Kojin zenshū naiyō sōran (個人全集内容綜覧)・Zenshū kojin zenshū naiyō sōran (全集 個人 全集・內容 綜覧)
[Dai I-ki (第 I期)], Dai II-ki (第 II期), Dai III-ki (第 III期), Dai IV-ki (第 IV期), Dai V-ki (第 V期), Dai VI-ki (第 VI期), Dai VII-ki (第 VII期) - Kojin zenshū sakuhinmei sōran (個人 全集・作品名 綜覧)・Zenshū kojin zenshū sakuhinmei sōran (全集, 個人 全集・作品名 綜覧)
[Dai I-ki (第 I期)], Dai II-ki (第 II期), Dai III-ki (第 III期), Dai IV-ki (第 IV期), Dai V-ki (第 V期), Dai VI-ki (第 VI期), Dai VII-ki (第 VII期)
Subject such as Indexes and Table of Contents can be combined with other keywords to find theme specific resources, etc.
Updated: 9/19/2024
Early Japanese Books (古典籍)
- Kokusho Sōmokuroku. Hoteiban. (国書総目録 補訂版 1989～1991）
Union catalog of books worked by Japanese and published by Keio 3 [1867] - Kokusho kaidai. Zōtei kaihan. (国書解題. 増訂改版）
- Zenshū sōsho saimoku sōran. Koten hen. (全集叢書細目総覧. 古典：)
- Kotenseki sōgō mokuroku. (古典籍総合目錄)
Updated: 12/4/2019
Kotenseki Databases
- Shin Nihon Kotenseki Sōgō Dētabēsu = Database of Pre-Moern Japanese Works (新日本古典籍総合データベース）With "Pre-modern Books in Japanese" as the keyword, the "Project to Build an International Collaborative Research Network for Pre-modern Japanese Texts (NIJL_NW project)" was inaugurated at the National Institute of Japanese Literature in 2014. In carrying out this project, we will construct a "Pre-Modern Japanese Book DAta Base " as a foundation for research.
- Union Catalogue of Early Japanese Books = Nihon Kotenseki Sōgō Mokuroku Dētabēsu (日本古典籍総合目録データベース)A database of pre-Meiji materials maintained by the National Institute of Japanese Literature (Kokubungaku Kenkyu Shiryōkan). This database, “New KOKUSHO SO MOKUROKU” is a union catalogue of early Japanese books. (It also includes Chinese classics and books of the Meiji period). It provides authoritative information about Japanese classical literary works and their authors. It also provide bibliographic information on early Japanese books, and their holding libraries.
- National Diet Library Digital Collection (国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション））The National Diet Library Digital Collections also includes rare books and old materials collected and stored by the NDL of Japan.
- Kyōto Daigaku Kichō Shiryō Dejitaru Ākaibu = Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive (京都大学貴重資料デジタルアーカイブ）Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive has been newly released. This archive is also compatible with the International Image Interoperability Framework, IIIF.
- Tohoku University Libary Image Database of the KANO Collection (東北大学図書館狩野文庫）The Kano Collection is now accessible via the Tohoku University Digital Collections site.
Updated: 12/5/2019
Finding Translations
- Premodern Japanese Texts and TranslationsEdited and individually maintained by Michael Watson, Faculty of International Studies, Meiji Gakuin University, this website contains an exhaustive list of classical Japanese texts, along with related translations (mostly English, some French and German) and studies on the texts.
- Japanese Literature in Translation Search (日本文学翻訳書誌検 索)The database is compiled by the Japan Foundation in collaboration with the Japan P.E.N. Club for Japanese literature, mainly works after the World War II, which are translated into other languages. Search can be made in Japanese or its Romanization.
- Bibliography of Asian StudiesThe Bibliography of Asian Studies indexes western-language articles and book chapters on Asian countries published since 1971. Try 「SH "Japan -- Literature -- Fiction -- Translations"」.
Updated: 12/5/2019 - Words Without Borders - The Online Magazine for International LiteratureFilter Authors by Country: Japan on Words Without Borders
Updated: 12/5/2019 - MONUMENTA NIPPONICASearch screen includes "Translations" option.
Updated: 12/5/2019