Finding Information on Japanese History

Japan is one of the world's leading trading and industrial nations whose modern history reflects many of the struggles other nations have experienced in the past century.

Encyclopedias

Books

Books dealing with Japanese history (DS801-897) can be found by searching the online catalog under the following subject headings.

• Japan -- History
• Chinese -- Japanese War, 1894-1895
• Trade Unions -- Japan
• Japan -- Foreign Relations
• Hirohito, Emporer of Japan, 1901-
• Hiroshima

For other relevant subject headings consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Journals

Journal articles on Japanese history can be found in the following journals: Asian Survey, Far Eastern Economic Review, Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Japan Echo, Japan Quarterly. Browsing, however, is not the best approach to locating books on a particular topic. Some of the indexes to use are:

• Historical Abstracts Galileo database.
• Humanities Abstracts Galileo database.
• Social Sciences Abstracts Galileo database.
• Academic Search Premier Galileo database.
• International Political Science Abstracts.

Government Documents

Government publications are particularly useful for materials dealing with U.S. foreign relations with Japan, trade agreements and co-operative arrangements. Sources for useful documents are as diverse as the Department of Agriculture, the State Department, and various committees of Congress. Many documents are listed in GIL (the Ingram Library online catalog). A Galileo database, Monthly Catalog, will give the most complete listing of government documents, but the Ingram Library will not have all of those listed.

Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Bibliographies

• Papinot. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan. 2 vols. 1964/1910. Ref DS833 .P3 1964
• Goedertier. A Dictionary of Japanese History. 1968. Ref DS833 .G63
• Yamaguchi and Kojima. A Cultural Dictionary of Japan. 1979. Ref DS821 .C8x
• Hunter. Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. 1984. Ref DS881.9 H86 1984
• Bibliography of Asian Studies.1964-1990. Ref Z3001 .B52x
• Burns.Guide to American Foreign Relations Since 1700. 1983. Ref Z6465 .U5 G84 1983.