Databases
The following databases are accessible from the Nichibunken webpage. Some of the databases require you to register and obtain a password.
- Rare Books
This is a database of images of all rare books in Nichibunken's collection. It primarily consists of books treating Japan in Western languages published before the opening of the country to foreign commerce in the 1850s. In addition to graphic images of all pages of these rare books, the database contains searchable text with bibliographic information, tables of contents of the books, and captions of the illustrations in the books.
- Catalogue of the pre-1900 printed books on Japan in European languages housed in the library of Nichibunken
This online catalogue is a database of the bibliographical details of pre-1900 European books housed in Nichibunken's library which contain references to Japan. A total of 1,057 items are listed here
- Foreign Images of Japan
Nichibunken's collection of 51,805 photographs, illustrations, and other visual images of Japan or Japan-related subjects from around the world. Users must register with Nichibunken in order to view the photos in this database.
- Early Photographs
5,431 hand-colored photographs of Japan and accompanying text dating from the end of the Edo Period through the beginning of the Meiji Period. This database also requires users to register with Nichibunken.
- Japanese Art in Overseas Collections
Images and textual information on Japanese art in foreign collections. The collection includes paintings, prints, ceramics, and lacquerware. Registration required.
- Heian jinbutsushi Information
The Heian jinbutsushi is a Who's Who of Kyoto in the Edo period. It brings together information on literati and connoisseurs of various arts from all parts of the city and its environs. The first edition appeared in 1768 and the ninth and last edition in 1867. Between those dates, revised and expanded editions of the directory were published approximately once a decade, in 1775, 1783, 1813, 1822, 1830, 1838, and 1852. This database is constructed on the basis of original works that are all in Nichibunken's collection.
- Heian jinbutsushi tanzaku Information
The Heian jinbutsushi tanzakuchō is a collection of rectangular cards (tanzaku) on which poems were written by persons whose names appear in the Heian jinbutsushi. The originals are holograph brush-written poems. This database is constructed on the basis of tanzaku that are all in Nichibunken's collection. For some poems in the database (those originally written in Chinese, or kanshi), annotated English translations are included.
- SODA Collection: Pictorial and Miscellaneous Materials,Rare Books
The SODA Collection, originally the collection of the medical historian Soda Hajime, contains books and prints related to the history of medicine. The major portion of digitized resources here is pictorial.
- Miyako nenjū gyōji gajō
The Miyako nenjū gyōji gajō is a two-volume album of hand painted pictures on silk by Nakajima Sōyō. It depicts the annual festivals and customs of Kyoto at the beginning of the Showa period. These paintings are accompanied by explanatory texts written by the folklorist and Kyoto scholar Ema Tsutomu.
- Space in Historical Perspective
This is a collection of historical map images. It is not possible to zoom into these maps unless you are connected to the Nichibunken Intranet.
- Zuroku Bei-Ō kairan jikki
The Zuroku Bei-Ō kairan jikki (translated as “The illustrated true account of the observations of the ambassadors plenipotentiary of America and Europe”) is a collection of illustrations and descriptive passages related to the Iwakura Mission. It was published in 1878.
- Kinsei kijinden
This contains the digitized full text and prints of the Kinsei kijinden, a collection of biographies of eccentrics from the Edo period.
- Illustrations of Historic Places in Kyoto
This contains digitized images of Edo-era and Meiji-era guidebooks to historic sites in Kyoto.
- Folk tale Data of Strange Phenomena and Yōkai
This database contains bibliographic information related to folklore research in Japan.
- Old Maps of Nagasaki
A database of 221 color photographic images of historical maps from the Nagasaki Municipal Museum's collection. Registration is required.
- Mysterious Stories of Kannon Bodhisattva in Ukiyoe
A database of illustrations from the Kannon reigenki, a collection of legends pertaining to the Kannon Bodhisattva.
Read more about this topic: International Research Center For Japanese Studies