How to search records including Photographs, a Map and Drawings

Recently we've been receiving many inquiries from users about whether we hold particular photographs or maps. As such, we'll use this opportunity to discuss how to conveniently search for images with our retrieval system.

If you'd like to try searching for historical photographs, we suggest taking a look at Shashin Shuho (Weekly Photographical Journal). If you, incidentally, wonder as many do about how to use these photographs in publications or exhibitions, please refer to this link.

The number of materials that you can search for do not yet include all of JACAR's images, but we are currently working to increase what you will find with our advanced search features.

A special web exhibition co-produced by the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records and the British Library "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 : as seen in prints and archives"

On 27th May, the new special web exhibition "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 : as seen in prints and archives" was released. This web exhibition has been produced as a collaboration between JACAR and the British Library. Its aim is to bring together the collection of prints of the Sino-Japanese War held by the British Library and documents made public by JACAR to show how the events of the Sino-Japanese War were depicted and recorded by the people of the time.

"The Beginning of Modern Japan and Private Law Schools: Student Quarters in Kanda and the Hoten Ronso" (An Introduction)

From January 24th to February 28th of 2014, the Center for the History of Meiji University held an exhibit titled "The Beginning of Modern Japan and Private Law Schools: Student Quarters in Kanda and the Hoten Ronso". The exhibit was sponsored by the Division for the History of Senshu University, the Compilation Division for History of Chuo University, Compilation Division for History of Nihon University, and the Center for the History of Meiji. Cooperative assistance was also received from Dokkyo Historical Center, Center for the History of Hosei University. Support was additionally provided by Chiyoda-ku, the Kanda Antiquarian Bookshop Union, the East Section of Japanese Association of College and University Archives, Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and Yomiuri Shimbun

We held the exhibition in a special room of the Meiji University Museum and featured historical materials owned by Senshu University, Chuo University, Nihon University and Meiji University. JACAR's record images were central to the exhibit that focused on Kanda, which was, in the Edo period, a residential quarter of Samurai and Merchants. After the Meiji Restoration a government school was established, and from 1878 private law schools and other places of study were rapidly built. To accommodate a rising demand for legal education, the law schools increased student intakes while expanding. The exhibition focused on the daily lives of students as well as how the "Hoten Ronso" divided into private law schools.

[Reports]

-The　2014 AAS Annual Conference in Philadelphia (March 27-30)

Since its founding in 1941, the Association of Asian Studies (AAS) has promoted the exchange of research on Asia. Leading academics throughout the world gather for the annual AAS conference held in a different US city each March. The conferences are known for their excellent academic research reports and lively discussions that extend over 350 panel sessions. This past year 3,419 people attended an AAS conference held in the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown from March 27-30. It was the largest such event held in recent years and was an outstanding chance for intellectual exchange.

The survey shows that while 70% of people didn't know of JACAR, many believe it would be desirable to improve metadata (particularly an expansion beyond the first 300 characters of a document in searches). To the question of what kind of other search functions would be useful, the most frequently given response is a glossary search (the term lists of government organizations, titles, etc.). The next two most popular suggestions for new search functions are a tag search (subject matter, field, region, era) and attachment search (reports, magazines, books).

The most frequent response on what would be desirable to improve in JACAR's system is the image file format, as many people seem to prefer PDF files over DjVu format. It appears that DjVu cannot be used on Macintosh computers in some circumstances. To better understand the opinions of users, we will continue to do surveys.

Please tell us your opinion by taking the survey linked below:

[Publicity Work]

-Overseas

-Domestic

[Visitors]

The Condition of Japan Related Materials in the United States of America

　Two JACAR staff member this past March visited three organizations that house Japan related materials. The pair from JACAR conducted interviews about archival digitization and investigated the conditions of materials related to Japan in the United States. The conditions of the three visited organizations are outlined below.

- National Archives at Boston (→Website)

The National Archives at Boston started in the 1970s as a repository for records created in the New England Region. Regional archives operate under the National Archives, an independent federal agency that works to maintain valuable records of the United States Government. It was established in 1934 and now has over 40 facilities nationwide including regional archives, federal records centers, presidential libraries, and other federal institutions.

These materials as well as others on matters such as naval technologies have been declassified and made available to the public.

- Harvard College Library Imaging Services (→Website)

HCL Imaging Services was established as a specialized section of techinical service in 1997 for digitization of collections hold by Havard Libarary. That's work rooms were the first basement of Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, that is HCL central Library and The section has around 40 staff: photographers, catalogers and an schedule controller who are full-time employments and part-time workers.

- Harvard-Yenching Library (→Website)

Established in 1928, Harvard-Yenching Library is the largest East Asia focused academic library in the Western hemisphere with over 1.4 million volumes of books. The book holdings include about 810,000 volumes in Chinese, 340,000 volumes in Japanese and 170,000 volumes in Korean. In recent years the library has seen a growth in number of Chinese titles. Although A large percentage of the titles are available in the library’s open stacks, the number of volumes stored in the remote depository is increasing, including a quarter of the Japanese collection. Harvard library's online catalog "Hollis Classic" allows users to type in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters for searching library materials.

Japanese Army Records
Harvard-Yenching Library holds original documents created by the Japanese army, although they are not currently catalogued or open to the public yet. These documents consist of about seven file groups that are preserved in three white acid free paper boxes. These documents provide insight into a wide range military administration in Guam, Okinawa, Western New Guinea, and military campaign in China. It seems that Allied Forces had collected them markings of military organization such as "Cincpac-Cincpoa" (Commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet and the Pacific Ocean Areas) and "ATIS" (Allied Translator and Interpreter Section) are found on the covers of these seized documents.