Research Guides: Asian Studies Resources in the Special Collections Research Center: Japan

Japan

Manuscripts

Travel

Frances Evarts Clark Travel Diary, 1926-1927 (SC 00866)
of Washington, DC, travelled aboard USS Chaumont to Guam, China, Philippines, Japan, then on the USS Arabic to England and France
Beatrice Livingstone Travel Diary, 1926- 1929 (SC 01312)
Travel diary along with itinerary, charted courses, pictures, and mementos kept by Beatrice Livingstone, wife of Lieutenant John Livingstone. Ships include the USS Chaumont, SS President Madison, SS President Jackson, and SS Malolo. Ephemera includes newspapers, tickets, maps, telegrams, cablegrams, and pamphlets from the Panama Canal Zone, the Pacific coast of the United States, Manila, Shanghai, Peking, Kyoto, and Tokyo.
John Boyd Bentley Papers, 1895-1987 (Mss. 82 B44)
Travel diaries (Box 2, Folder 6; Box 2, Folder 11) and photos (Box 3, Folders 12-13) of John Boyd Bentley, Bishop of Alaska and Director of Overseas Missions for the Protestant Episcopal Church, and wife Elvira C. Bentley, on trips to Southeast and East Asia, including Japan and the Philippines, 1948-1959
Amos Koontz Papers II, 1865-1970 (Mss. 91 K83 and 1996.25)
Includes travel diaries from 1948 (Guam, Philippines, Japan, Korea, Okinawa, and China, typed), 1955 (England, Austria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan, typed), and 1961 (Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, India, Israel, Greece, Hungary, and Austria, typed)
Margetta Hirsch Doyle Papers, 1941-1984 (UA 5.005)
Includes a diary, photographs, and financial information related to a trip through China, Japan, and Hong Kong in the fall of 1984

Military

U.S. Personnel in Japan

Scott Family Papers, 1793-1913 (Mss. 65 Sco9)
Letters, written aboard a ship in Japanese waters, from R. J. Hackley to his mother and brother, 1873-1874 (Box 1, Folder 24)
Anthony Morris Leafdale Diary (copy), 1899-1911 (Mss. MsV D36)
Photocopy of diary, 1899-1911, of Anthony Morris Leafdale, which concerns his service in the U. S. Army Signal Corps (including travel from Fort Walla Walla, Washington via San Francisco to Hawaii, the Philippines and Japan and return to United States), difficulties in finding employment, work in Denver, Colorado, and marriage and life on a farm in Nebraska. Includes poetry.
Grigsby-Galt Papers, 1736-1982 (Mss. Acc. 2009.308 and 2011.269)
Includes letters of U.S. Navy officer William W. Galt from Yokohama, Nagasaki and Kobe, Japan, 1903 (Box 7, Folder 3)
Browne Family Papers, 1890-1945 (SC 00146)
October 3, 1945 letter from Woodrow L. Browne from Tokyo Bay, Japan to his sister, describing his experiences in Japan about 30 days after Japan's formal surrender (Small Collections Box 11, Folder 3)
Diary (Japan), 1954 (SC 01121)
Diary kept by the wife of a U.S. military officer stationed in Tokyo and later in a smaller city. The preprinted diary was designed for use by English speakers in Japan and explains holidays and associated traditions at the beginning of each month.
Robert M. Gates Papers, 1946-2015 (MS 00069)
The Robert M. Gates papers primarily cover his professional life, from his work with the Central Intelligence Agency, to his presidency at Texas A&M University, to his retirement as Secretary of Defense. Selected folders include information about official trips to Japan while working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Council (NSC), and Department of Defense.

Japanese Personnel

Ephemera Collection (Mss. 1.02)
Photographs of Japanese Soldiers at the Jamestown Exposition, 1907 (Acc. 2011.523)
Mataichi Oonishi Diaries, 1931-1942 (SC 00961)
Three diaries, written in Japanese, of a private in the 930th Manchurian Infantry Corps. They include description of his participation in the battles Japan fought in China, his life back home in Japan, and his service in the Japanese army in 1941 and 1942 during World War II
Japanese War Trials Papers, 1945-1948 (Mss. 65 J24)
Papers, 1945-1948, concerning the International Military Tribunal for the Far East's trials of alleged Japanese war criminals. The collection consists of printed material and copies of papers sent to Otto Lowe, Washington, D. C. by Joseph B. Keenan, chief prosecutor. Includes opening statement of prosecution; indictment; lists of suspects; charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East; transcripts of teletype conferences; and affidavits of Cordell Hull, Joseph C. Grew and Henry L. Stimson.

Missionaries and Teachers

Robert Nelson Papers, 1845-1897 (Mss. 39.1 N34)
Itinerary and diary notes of trip in Japan by an American missionary to China, 1872 (Box 3, Folder 5)
Myers-Burrage-Graham Papers (I) Group A, 1776-1925 (Mss. 98 M99 Group A)
Includes letters from Louisa "Loutie" Barton Myers Lloyd to her parents in Norfolk, Virginia, 1915-1916. The letters concern her life in Kyoto, Japan as the wife of an Episcopal missionary. Also includes letters between her husband James Hubard Lloyd and W. E. Rollings concerning Japanese students studying in America and a letter written by a Japanese student studying English in Japan, 1921 (Box 8, Folder 14)
H.M. Lewis Papers, 1932-1934 (SC 00848)
Includes two long letters written by Lewis, a missionary in Sendai, Japan, about his mission work

Visual Material

Art

Ephemera Collection (Mss. 1.02)
Saigoku Pilgrimage Scroll, circa 1880s. (Acc. 2012.267) Scroll depicting the image of each Kannon Bodhisattva or Bosatsu located at the 33 temples a pilgrim must visit to complete the Saigoku pilgrimage in the Kansai region of Western Japan. (Box 12)
Manuscripts - Geographic Names, Business Names and Subjects, 1725-1949 (Mss. 39.2 Man3b)
Kamakura Daibutsu Broadside and Receipt, 1888 or 1889. Illustrated broadside advertising subscriptions for rebuilding the Kotoku-In Buddhist temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, best known for its 13th-century Daibutsu (Great Buddha statue). Also includes a receipt from the Director of Kotoku-In for a donation for rebuilding the temple. (Box 4)
An introduction to the wall-paintings in the main hall of the Hōryūji Monastery, 1951 (Rare Book - Double Folio ND2853 .I4 W3)
Hōryūji (Ikaruga-chō, Nara-ken, Japan)
Buddhist art -- Japan -- Ikaruga-chō (Nara-ken)
Japanese Woodblock Prints, circa 1900 (MS 00293)
Framed prints, portfolio collection, and loose woodblock prints featuring various Japanese artists from the 19th Century. Notably, Hiroshige I. (1797-1858), Kunimaru (1794-1829), and Yoshitishi (1839-1892).

Photographs

Keystone View Company Collection Tour of the World, circa 1892-1933, 1936 (MS 00008)
The set includes stereoview images from six continents, excluding Antarctica. The scenes capture diverse people, monuments, and landscapes. Each stereoview has a description of the scene located on the back, which are often ethnocentric towards non-western cultures.
Images of Japan, such as a street scene in Yokohama or silk production techniques, are located in Box 5.
Ephemera Collection (Mss. 1.02)
Photographs of Buddhist Statues on Mount Koya, 1930. (Acc. 2012.266) Includes two photographs of Buddhist statutes, including a henro (Japanese pilgrim) on Mount Koya, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. (Box 11)
Photograph Album of Trip to Japan, circa 1900 (SC 00136)
Photograph album of a trip to Japan consisting of 37 photographs. Many of them are labeled with such places as Namba, Sumiyuski Shrine, and Ohama Park. There are also photographs of rail cars, landscapes, monks, Japanese competing in athletic events, and beach scenes.
Blanche Potter Photograph Album, 1914 (SC 01604)
181 black and white photographs from a trip to Japan in 1914. Potter traveled to Japan with a group of American friends. They visited Kyoto, Tokyo, Yokohama, Miyajima, Miyanoshita. Each photograph contains a caption and the album portrays varied landscape and architectural scenes such as lakes, valleys, and trees as well as temples, pagodas, fountains, and bridges. The album also features photographs of Potter and her travel companions as well as Japanese locals.
Paul F. Reilly Photographs and Scrapbook, 1945-1946 (MS 00031)
Scrapbook and loose photographs compiled by Lieutenant Commander Paul F. Reilly concerning the occupation of Okinawa by the U.S. Navy immediately following World War II. It contains over 250 black and white photographs of naval officers, the naval base, locals (some Japanese, some likely indigenous), ceremonies, locals working, and countryside, as well as ceremony brochures, a roster of American military in the region, currency, illustrations, and memos concerning the military's role in the region.
Stella Graves photograph album, 1923, 1938 (SC 01638)
46 black and white photographs and 7 postcards compiled by Stella Graves, a recent graduate of Oberlin College who moved to Japan to teach at the Kobe College. Photographs include images of the college, surrounding area, American teachers, and pictures of students and area residents.

Rare Books

General

Dai Nihon eitai setsuyō mujinzō by Kawabe, Sōyō, active 1750. Hori, Gennyūsai, active 1831? Hori, Genpo, active 1831-1861. Ikeda, Tōri. Shimizu, Kisai.
Call Number: Rare Books AE35.2 .D338 1864
Publication Date: Bunkyū 4 [1864]
Encyclopedia—maps, history, clothing, many illustrations
頭書増補訓蒙圖彙. [Kashiragaki zōho Kinmō zui] by 中村惕齋, 1629-1702. 下河邊拾水, d. 1797 [Nakamura, Tekisai, 1629-1702. Shimokōbe, Shūsui, -approximately 1797.]
Call Number: Rare Books PL676 .N27 1829
Publication Date: Bunsei 12 [1829]
Encyclopedia—these volumes deal with astronomy, geography, dwellings, tools, and furniture
Vol. 1: PT.1-3
Vol. 2: PT. 10-11

History

Nippon Tōdo nisennen sodekagami by Hamamatsu, Utakuni, 1776-1827. Matsukawa, Hanzan, 1818-1882.
Call Number: Rare Books DS833 .N56 1852
Publication Date: Kaei 5 [1852]
Relations between China and Japan
3 volumes
Nihon gaishi sango jirui by Sakurai, Shigemori.
Call Number: Rare Book DS856 .S35 1883
Publication Date: Meiji 16 [1883]
Clans, dictionaries
Available online through the HathiTrust
日本外史訓蒙大全: 頭書挿画 [Nihon gaishi kunmō taizen: tōsho sōga] by 林茂満. [Hayashi, Shigemitsu.]
Call Number: Rare Book DS857 .H38 1885
Publication Date: Meiji 18 [1885]
Clans, dictionaries
Special Collections has Vols. 2-5

Travel Guides

東海木曾・兩道中懷寶圖鑑. [Tōkai Kiso ryōdōchū kaihō zukan]
Call Number: Rare Book DS894.59 .T632 T55 1796
Publication Date: Tenmei 6 [1786]
Within Japan
Tōkaidō (Japan) -- Description and travel
Nakasendō (Japan) -- Description and travel
Yochi shiryaku. Kan 2, Ajia-shū chū by Uchida, Masao, 1838-1876.
Call Number: Rare Book G115 .Y63 1870
Publication Date: 1870?
Geography -- Textbooks
Asia -- Geography
Asia -- Description and travel
Special Collections has Vol. 2
Yochi shiryaku. Kan 3, Ajia-shū ge by Uchida, Masao, 1838-1876.
Call Number: Rare Books G115 .Y63 1874
Publication Date: 1874
Geography -- Textbooks
Middle East -- Geography
Middle East -- Description and travel
Southeast Asia -- Geography
Southeast Asia -- Description and travel
Yochi shiryaku. Kan 4 by Uchida, Masao, 1838-1876.
Call Number: Rare Books G115 .Y63 1871
Publication Date: 1871?
Europe -- Geography
Europe -- Description and travel
Great Britain -- Description and travel

Architecture

Buke hitsuran tonoibukuro. Kōhen. by Ōno, Hiroki, 1788?-1841.
Call Number: Rare Books HT650 .O557
Publication Date: Tenpō 10 [1839]
Edojō [Edo Castle] (Tokyo, Japan)
Samurai -- Handbooks, manuals, etc
増補・大匠雛形. [Zōho Taishō hinagata.] by 山田泰平, fl. 1845-1858 [Yamada, Yasuhira, active 1845-1858.]
Call Number: Rare Books NA3584 .A1 T36 1851
Publication Date: Date Kaei 4 [1851]
Decoration and ornament, Architectural -- Japan
Architecture -- Japan -- History -- Edo period, 1600-1868
Architectural models -- Japan
Vol. 4: Sukiya no bu -- maki

Language and Literature

百人一首一夕話. [Hyakunin isshu hitoyogatari.] by 尾嵜雅嘉, 1755-1827. [Ozaki, Masayoshi, 1755-1827.] 大石真虎, 1792-1833 [Ōishi, Matora, 1792-1833.]
Call Number: Rare Books PL728.81 .O93 1833
Publication Date: Tenpō 4 [1833]
Waka -- History and criticism
Japanese poetry -- To 1868 -- History and criticism
英語箋. [Eigo sen.] by 石橋政方. [Ishibashi, Masakata.] 中山武和, fl. 1861 [Nakayama, Takekazu, active 1861.]
Call Number: Rare Books PL679 .I84 1861
Publication Date: Manʼen shinʼyū [1861]
Japanese language -- Dictionaries -- English
English language -- Dictionaries -- Japanese
English language -- Conversation and phrase books -- Japanese
Night blooming plums: haiku by Yosa, Buson, 1716-1784 author. Richard, Kenneth L., translator.
Call Number: Rare Book - Vinyard PL794.7 .A63 1988
Publication Date: 1988
Haiku
Japanese poetry -- Translations into English
English poetry -- Translations from Japanese -- 20th century -- Mogami, -- Axuki washi -- Menhart Roman
いぬとおんがくとえ [Dog, music and illustration.] by Kawahara, Nanae, author, artist.
Call Number: Rare Book - Chapin-Horowitz PN6790.J33 K39346 2013
Publication Date: 2013
Humorous self-interviews with the artist about her dogs and her favorite music.
Dogs
Music
Zines -- Japan -- 21st century

Miscellaneous

Nihon onna kagami. Kan no 1 by Fūtō, Sakurō.
Call Number: Rare Books HQ1762 .N55 1892
Publication Date: Meiji 25 [1892]
Women -- Japan -- Conduct of life
少年突撃隊. [Shōnen tsugekitai.]
Call Number: Rare Books PN1979.K3 S566 folio
Publication Date: 194-]?
Story of an athletic boy who enjoyed sports and baseball but must subjugate his own desires when his father falls ill. Family and country come first as the story shifts to patriotism and World War II. Told using kamishibai (紙芝居), a form of Japanese street theater and storytelling popular during the 1930s-40s in which a storyteller used sets of illustrated boards placed in a miniature stage-like device to help narrate a story.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japan -- Juvenile fiction
Nationalism -- Japan -- Sources
Kamishibai
單騎要畧被甲辨 [Tanki yōryaku hikōben] by 村井昌弘, fl. 1729-1754. [Murai, Masahiro, active 1729-1754.]
Call Number: Rare Books U821 .J3 M87 1837
Publication Date: Tenpō 8 [1837]
Armor -- Japan
Vol. 1

Maps

Ephemera Collection (Mss. 1.02)
Woodblock Map (Japan), 1826. (Acc. 2012.151) (Box 11)
Map of Japan, circa 1860s. (Acc. 2010.739) Includes roads, sea routes, and a fare chart for transportation by horse. (Box 11)
Map of Kyoto, Japan, 1811. (Acc. 2011.633) Includes drawings of the public square and pagodas around the city, waterways that surround the city, and a chart on the back of the map. (Box 11)
Map of Tokyo, 1886. (Acc. 2011.637) Includes drawings of buildings around Tokyo, roads, and outlines of residential neighborhoods. (Box 11)
Map Collection, 1629-1991 (Mss. 1.06)
[Map of] Japan (omitting Yezo) Corrected to 1 March 1892, 1923. From Japan As We Saw It, by Robert S. Gardiner. Includes insets of Tokyo, Yokohama, Hiogo [Hyogo] and Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto (Undersize Maps, Box 1)
Map of Japan, Manchoukuo and Adjoining Territories, 1936. From Japan-Manchoukuo Year Book Co. (Mapcases, Folder 3)
Japan and Adjacent Regions of Asia and the Pacific Ocean, 1944. From National Geographic Society. Includes inset of industrial centers of Japan (Mapcases, Folder 3)
[Map of] The Coast of China and of the Japan Islands including the Mariana Islands and a part of the Philippines, 1855. From National Geographic Society; Compiled by order of Commodore M. C. Perry; Cartographers, W. L. Maury and S. Bent. (Mapcases, Folder 3)

Asian Studies Resources in the Special Collections Research Center

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Japan

Manuscripts

Travel

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Missionaries and Teachers

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Architecture

Language and Literature

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