About the Japanese Collection

The Japanese studies collection boasts one of the largest and most comprehensive repositories in the nation, with a particular focus on literature, history, cinema/media studies, philosophy, religious studies, and contemporary studies of society, culture, politics, and economics.

Collection development is supported by several endowments, as well as by contributions from the 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.

In recent years the collection has striven proactively to acquire rare original issues of twentieth-century popular magazines. Notable additions include runs of Garo, Shonen kurabu, Goro, Fufu 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.

The acquisitions agenda draws inspiration from faculty and graduate-student research topics, as the collection continues to be enhanced by generous donations from the public.