Yale University Library Research Guides: Japanese Studies Primary Sources in Western Languages: Gov. documents

From Yale's Government Information Collection

United States. Congress (86th, 2nd). Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States of America and Japan. 86th Cong., 2d sess. Senate. Executive E. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1960.

Japanese Government Documents in English

Most Japanese government documents are, unsurprisingly, in Japanese. In recent years, however, an increasing number of documents have been published in English, for both the national and local governments.

The National Diet Library has a small section in English which provides links to various government agencies; most of the material is in Japanese only, but the links to the various ministries, agencies, and bureaus may lead to further English-language material.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides good archival documents and policies of major countries.
The 3-volume print series Diplomacy of Japan 1894-1922 contains English translations of documents, telegrams, memos, and other diplomatic materials.
The Library of Congress created a checklist of its microfilm collections of Japanese government documents. Most documents are in Japanese, but some are bilingual or in English. This checklist can be a useful source to identify documents available here at Yale or elsewhere. See Japanese Government Documents and Censored Publications: A Checklist of the Microfilm Collection.

Legal Resources and Treaties

The Yale Law Library's Country by Country Guide to Foreign Law Research highlights resources related to law in Japan. If your research involves international law (legal relations between nations/states), consult YLL's resources for Foreign, International, and Transnational Law.

The University of Washington's East Asian Law Department also provides a number of useful links and suggestions for legal research on modern Japan.

To find the text of treaties, begin with the UN Treaty Collection.

Inter-governmental Organizations (IGOs)

IGO Search Engine
Use the Intergovernmental Organization Search Engine (a Google custom search) to search across hundreds of IGO websites.
United Nations Information at Yale
World Bank eLibrary
OECD iLibrary
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

United States and Japan

The Foreign Relations of the United States series is an essential source for U.S. foreign affairs and diplomatic history. Produced by the State Department's Office of the Historian, FRUS is compiled from declassified documents including memos, cables, reports, and more. You can access FRUS:

in print at the Marx Science and Social Science Library
from the State Department's website (Some of the most recent volumes are being published as "electronic only" versions.)
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's digital collections search
using Hein Online (Yale subscription)

Japan at War and Peace, 1930-1949
U.S. State Department records from the National Archives related to the internal affairs of Japan, including political parties and elections, education, culture, human rights, and more. (This collection comprises the microfilm sets entitled Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Internal Affairs, Japan, 1930-1939, 1940-1944, and 1945-1949.)
Confidential U.S. Diplomatic Post Records: Japan, 1914-1941
This collection consists of correspondence and reports from American diplomats.
Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange
This collection includes U.S. State Department consular and diplomatic records (primarily 1850-1906), as well as Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Japan (1855-1906), Minutes of Treaty Conferences between U.S. and Japanese Representatives (1872), Notes from the Japanese Legation in the United States to the Department of State (1858-1906), and Records Relating to the U.S. Surveying Expedition to the North Pacific Ocean (1852-1863).
Japan and the United States: Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations, 1960-1976
Declassified documents from the Digital National Security Archive.
Japan and the United States: Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations, 1977-1992
Declassified documents from the Digital National Security Archive.
Japan and the United States: Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations, 1961-2000
Supplement to the earlier Digital National Security Archive collections, with additional declassified documents.
Political Relations and Conflict between Republican China and Imperial Japan, 1930-1939: Records of the U.S. State Department
The records in this collection relate to political relations between China and Japan for the period 1930 -1939. The records are mostly instructions to and despatches from diplomatic and consular officials; the despatches are often accompanied by enclosures. Also included in these records are notes between the Department of State and foreign diplomatic representatives in the United States, memorandums prepared by officials of the Department. There are records on: the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, beginning with the Mukden incident, in 1931; military action at Shanghai in 1932; further Japanese political and economic penetration into China, 1935-1936; and the course of the undeclared war between Japan and China, 1937-1939.

Some of the microfilm collections below are also available through Yale's subscription databases; these titles are in bold.

U.S. Military Intelligence Reports: Japan, 1918-1941
Consists of U.S. National Archives records of the Military Intelligence Division relating to military, political, and economic affairs in Japan. The intelligence reports are based upon interviews with military and government officials, surveillance of activities of political parties, and extensive eyewitness coverage of military action. The index to the collection is available in the SML Microform Reading Room or online.
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to United States Commercial Relations with Japan, 1910-1949
The records consist of instructions to and despatches from diplomatic and consular officials, notes between the Department of State and foreign diplomats in the United States, memoranda prepared by State Department officials, and correspondence with officials of other government departments and with private businesses. The records deal with trade from the United States to Japan and from Japan to the United States.
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations between the United States and Japan, 1910-1929
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to United States Political Relations with Japan, 1930-1939
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to United States Political Relations with Japan, 1940-1944
Records of the U.S. Department State Relating to United States Political Relations with Japan, 1945-1949
Records of the U.S. Department State Relating to United States Political Relations with Japan, 1950-1954
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to United States Political Relations with Japan, 1955-1959
Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files: Japan, 1967-1969
Records of the Department of State Relating to Political Relations between China and Japan, 1930-1944
Note: This collection is available online.
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to Political Relations of Japan, 1955-1959
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Japan, 1930-1939
The records consist of instructions to and despatches from U.S. diplomatic and consular staff regarding political, economic, military, social and other internal conditions and events in Japan. Other types of documents represented are reports and memoranda prepared by State Department staff, communications between the State Department and foreign governments, and correspondence with other departments of the U.S. government, private firms, and individuals. Note that this collection, along with the series for 1940-1944 and 1945-1949, is also available online.
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Japan, 1940-1944
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Japan, 1945-1949
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Japan, 1950-1954
Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of Japan, 1955-1959
Records of the United States Consulate in Japan, 1855-1912
Confidential U.S. Diplomatic Post Records: Japan, 1914-1941
Sourced from the U.S. National Archives, this microfilm set consists of correspondence and reports from American diplomats. Note that this collection is also available online through one of Yale's subscription databases, ProQuest History Vault.
Despatches from United States Consuls in Hakodate, Japan, 1856-1878
Note: This collection, along with the other "Despatches" collections, are included in the database Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange.
Despatches from United States Consuls in Kanagawa, Japan, 1861-1897
Despatches from United States Consuls in Nagasaki, Japan, 1860-1906
Despatches from United States Consuls in Osaka and Hiogo, Japan, 1868-1906
Despatches from United States Consuls in Yokohama, Japan, 1897-1906

Britain and Japan

Documents on British Policy Overseas
This collection of primary source documents from Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office explores British foreign policy and diplomacy in the 20th century.
British Foreign Office: Japan Correspondence, 1856-1905
This collection contains dispatches, policy papers, correspondences, memoranda, and other communications between the British Foreign Office and diplomats stationed in East Asia.
British Foreign Office: Japan Correspondence, 1906-1913: Dominance of the Genro
In this collection, there is significant reporting on the genro--a hugely influential group of elder Japanese statesmen.
British Foreign Office: Japan Correspondence, 1914-1923: Emergence of Japan as a Pacific Power
Japan's industrial power and imperial ambitions increased over this period, causing diplomatic tensions reflected in some of these documents.

Some of the microfilm collections below are also available through Yale's subscription databases; these titles are in bold.

British Documents on Foreign Affairs--Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print
Part I, From the mid-nineteenth century to the First World War; Series E: Asia, 1860-1914
British Documents on Foreign Affairs--Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print
Part III, From 1940 through 1945; Series E: Asia
British Documents on Foreign Affairs--Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print
Part IV, From 1946 through 1950; Series E: Asia
British Documents on Foreign Affairs--Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print
Part V, From 1951 through 1956; Series E: Asia

Allied Occupation of Japan

GHQ Minseikyoku shiryō: senryō kaikaku
This 12-volume collection compiles government documents from the occupation of Japan by the Allied Powers. The material is chiefly in English with Japanese language titles; some summaries in Japanese are provided for each document. Categories include: 1.Constitution, legal institutions -- 2. Election law, political funds control law -- 3. Parliament, political parties -- 4-5. Disfranchisement-- 6. Restructuring the central bureaucracy -- 7. National Public Service Law -- 8-9. Local administration -- 10. Economy, culture, society -- 11. Processes toward pacification --[12] Extra: bekkan - sakuin.
Allied Occupation of Japan, 1945-1952: An Annotated Bibliography of Western-Language Materials
Very detailed annotations of U.S. and Japanese government documents, books, and newspaper and journal articles on the Allied occupation of Japan. Most of the sources introduced in this bibliography are in English.
Prange Collection
The Gordon W. Prange collection contains almost 14,000 censored Japanese periodicals published during the immediate postwar period (1945-1949) under the review of the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD), an operating unit of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers. This rare and extensive collection is likely to interest scholars from history, literature and art-history. Yale owns microfiche version of this magazine collection which include some English language sources. Index to the collection is available via 20世紀メディア情報データベース.

Japanese Studies Primary Sources in Western Languages: Gov. documents

Using Government Documents