abstract

The presentation will discuss "Zoku Honchō ōjōden" ("Continuation of the biographies of Japanese reborn into the Pure Land“), composed in 1101-1111 by Ōe-no Masafusa as a sequel to “Nihon ōjō gokurakki” (“Japanese Accounts of Rebirth into the Pure Land”) by Yoshishige-no Yasutane. This text contains 42 biographies of people who were believed to attain rebirth in the Pure Land. Problems to be analysed include a view of the Pure Land practices presented in this texts; similarities and differences between "Zoku Honchō ōjōden" and "Nihon ōjō gokurakki"

The presentation introduces the history of the formation of the Japanese collection in the Russian National Library. It is represented in various departments: there are Japanese materials in Print Department, Manuscripts Department, Rare Books Department, Maps Department and even in the main book collection in Russian language. However, the most of Japanese literature hold in Japanese fund of Department of Asian and African Countries Literature and we focused on it. Briefly presenting the history of the collection and the department, research the history of the acquisition and formation of the Japanese fund.

In this study, we do a qualitative analysis of the diplomatic aspect of the missionary and pastoral activities which the Bishop of Guam, Miguel Angel Olano y Urteaga, Basque Capuchin from Navarra, Spain, developed from 1942 to 1943 in Japan. Olano was brought from Guam, his vicariate, practically as a prisoner, to Japan. At that time, period of the Second World War, Guam was an American military base taken by the Japanese troops. The source that we analyze is a Chronicle written by this Bishop Olano during his exile in Japan in the above-mentioned period.

Mizuno Tadakuni and the Letter of Willem II

The Historiographical Institute (HI) of the University of Tokyo has been collecting historical materials and creating a database of systematically organised material information and research results. It also aims to establish an infrastructure for data sharing on Japanese history to enhance the long-term preservation and utilisation of data archives. Currently, HI is also fostering information environments to promote the sharing and utilisation of humanities research data through the ‘Program for Constructing Data Infrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences’. In this study, we illustrate these approaches.

Place-names are necessary tools to specify a geographic position. As geographic information systems (GIS) have become popular in recent years, geocoding that links a place-name with its latitude and longitude is essential. In Japan, some research organizations and companies have provided geocoding services (e.g., Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo). Overseas, GeoNames is a remarkable service that provides information about place-names around the world. However, these services provide only contemporary place-names and are not applicable to place-names in historical documents. To solve this issue, we have constructed a historical gazetteer data of Japan.

As of March 2021, 186,000 pre-modern Japanese texts, that is, 22 million images in total, have been digitized and made available online on the "Database of Pre-Modern Japanese Works" launched by the NIJL-NW project at the National Institute of Japanese Literature (NIJL). The massive release of images will likely revolutionize the way we study pre-modern Japanese texts. Will research using digital images replace research that is conducted by visiting libraries and accessing physical collections? In fact, while there is much that digital images enable us to do, there are also things that we can research only by browsing in the library.

In this presentation, CDDP task force co-Chairs will present a behind-the-scenes view of the making of this series, how to use it for research and instruction, and what the CDDP’s next steps will be. These resources align with NCC’s mission to prepare a new generation of Japanese studies librarians, scholars, and information specialists to meet the growing challenges and rapidly changing technologies of the field. 

In the year 2021 we celebrate 160 years of German-Japanese relations. On behalf of Prussia an expedition lead by the Count Friedrich zu Eulenburg arrived in Japan in September 1860. It took five months of negotiations until the so called “Treaty of Amity and Commerce” between Prussia and Japan was finally signed on 24th January 1861. Between the official meetings the members of the expedition had a considerable amount of free time that they spent with exploring Edo and its surroundings. In the official report about the expedition extended passages concerning shopping, book stores and Japanese reading habits are to be found.

In the paper we investigate the set of maps by Daikokuya Kōdayū. The maps are studied in their historical context, but it will not be a new study of the history of Daikokuya Kōdayū and the Russian-Japanese relation in the end of the 18th century, illustrated by maps. Instead, we propose a systematic quantitative analysis of the set of maps.