East Asian Studies

The video above provides an excellent foundational understanding of how to search for Japanese language resources effectively. 

Searching with Japanese characters is a good starting point if you are unfamiliar with Library of Congress (LC) romanization rules (Modified Hepburn or Kunrei-shiki romanization) or you are searching for a known title. However, generally, searching the UAL Catalogue with romanization remains the most effective way to find Japanese language material.

For a more comprehensive search, consider using a combination of:

• Modified Hepburn (without macrons and apostrophes)
• Kunrei-shiki romanization (without macrons and apostrophes)
• Kanji characters (old and new)
• Japanese romanization rules for academic writing

Search tools (catalogues & databases) may search for original language and/or transliteration and/or translations. The results depend on what information (metadata) exists for each item. The UAL Catalogue can generally map old Kanji to new Kanji characters, and vice-versa.

• E.g., searching for "江戸" or "江戶" will retrieve the same results

While there are specific rules regarding spacing in Japanese romanization, consider trying variations in how you join characters as records may contain different information.

• E.g., "Nihongo" OR "Nihon go" OR "日本語"

Additional resources:

• Complete Library of Congress (LC) Japanese Romanization guide (PDF)
• Yale University Library's abbreviated LC Japanese Romanization guide (Web)
• National Diet Library's Kunrei-shiki guidelines (Web)

Collections of documents and primary materials

NOTE: See "EASIA general resource" tab for other interdisciplinary sources with Japan/Japanese content.

Japan-specific or in Japanese

Minato - JF Japanese e-Learning
Minato is a Japanese language learning platform provided by the Japan Foundation.

JF Language Learning Resources
A research guide compiled by the Japan Foundation Toronto office for learning Japanese.

Nihongo
A portal for learning Japanese. It includes many resources, dictionary, grammar, writing, audio and vocab for Kanji and Kana.

Hirogaru
Hiropgaru is a site for learning different things about Japan and the Japanese language through your own interests.

Jisho
Jisho is an English-Japanese dictionary.  It lets you find words, kanji, example sentences and more quickly and easily.
Enter any Japanese text or English word in the search box and Jisho will search a myriad of data for you.

Tadoku Books
Tadoku is very simple: reading a lot of books of your own choice at your own pace so you can take in Japanese without translating. Start with very easy books with many pictures, and you can actually enjoy reading in Japanese without using a dictionary.

This reading list contains select print and online dictionaries and encyclopdias covering topics such as art, history, vernacular characters, and biographies.

Consulting dictionaries and encyclopedias can help you get started in your research, grounding you in concepts, definitions, and keywords that are relevant to your topic.