JACAR Newsletter Number 36

December 28, 2021

Information on Newly Released Documents

Kobe University Library > Documents on the Opening of the Port of Kobe > J. Supplement
Documents released on September 8, 2021

Kobe University Library > Documents on the Opening of the Port of Kobe > J. Supplement

　The "Documents on the Opening of the Port of Kobe" collection comprises materials that include the correspondence of ITO Hirobumi (the first Prime Minister and the first governor of Hyōgo Prefecture) along with administrative documents issued at the Kobe Customs House as well as those in the possession of headmen from villages near the port.
Over the course of a records review conducted from FY2018 to FY2019, the Library discovered some 160 items that had already been organized from acid-free paper document boxes and wooden boxes which were stored near other boxes containing "Documents on the Opening of the Port of Kobe." All of the records in this particular collection are related to the opening of Kobe Port. However, the documents have never been included into the existing "Documents on the Opening of the Port of Kobe" collection, and hence were released for public viewing as "Supplement to the Documents on the Opening of the Port of Kobe." Furthermore, 16 of the letters in various European languages that were uncovered in FY2018 were transcribed and translated by Kobe University Graduate School of Humanities Professor Emeritus OTSURU Atsushi and made available in digital form.
Documents released on November 2, 2021
Materials from the period between 1882 and 1885 (Sections 6 to 9), which are compilations that follow "Dajo Ruiten" (Sections 1 to 5), include records and clean copies of formal regulations. Those from the period after 1886 (Sections 10 to 79), which are compilations of the original records, consist mainly of records of laws and regulations.

Official documents for the Constitution, Imperial rescripts, laws, ordinances, treaties, notices and directives, Cabinet decisions, and other preserved documents related to the Cabinet (excluding personnel affairs). Documents are classified by the Preserved Documents Classification Chart and are compiled by retention period.

This group of documents includes statistical findings that served as reference materials for the Imperial Diet from 1897 to 1945. The materials were organized for respective assemblies and departments in the format of expected questions and answers in response to bills.
All rights reserved/Copyright© Japan Center for Asian Historical Records