Yale University Library Research Guides: Japan Studies: Finding images

Databases for digital images

Lafayette College East Asia Image Collection "The East Asia Image Collection (EAIC) is an open-access archive of digitized photographs, negatives, postcards, rare books, and slides under the general editorship of Paul D. Barclay, Associate Professor of History, Lafayette College and the direction of Eric Luhrs, Director of Digital Scholarship Services, Lafayette College Library. The EAIC documents the history of imperial Japan (1868-1945), its Asian empire (1895-1945) and occupied Japan (1947-52). Images of Taiwan 台湾, Japan 日本, China 中国, Korea 朝鮮, Manchuria 満洲国, and Indonesia are included."
MIT Visualizing Cultures This site is provides a wide range of images representing various perspectives on Japan from different times and places (since the mid-19th century relating to Westernization, imperialism, militarism, commercialization, etc.) Descriptions, interview video clips and explanations by John Dower complement images.
NDLイメージバンク The NDL Image Bank offers images from a variety of media, including ukiyo-e, books, and magazines.
Japanese Digital Image Gateway (NCC) Complies detailed information on digitized images provided by the various institutions. Can be searched by categories and keywords
East Asian Studies Image Resources Created by Christina Corrigan from Visual Resource Collections, this guide is the most comprehensive guide for web images for East Asia Studies.
Visual Resources Collection (Yale University Library) 265,000 digital images of architecture, paintings, etc. Search by geographical area, time period, or media.

Nichibunken

Lists various databases for visual resources such as early photographs, illustrations of modern folklore and Japanese picture scrolls. Below are some examples of the databases with brief descriptions provided by Nichibunken. - Some databases require registration.

Database of Foreign Images of Japan

"Nichibunken's collection of photographs, illustrations, and other visual images of Japan or Japan-related subjects from around the world."

Database of Early Photographs

"Hand-colored photographs of Japan and accompanying text dating from the end of the Edo Period through the beginning of the Meiji Period."

Database of Japanese Art in Overseas Collections

"Images and textual information on Japanese art such as paintings, prints, ceramics, lacquerware, etc. , in foreign collections."

Space in Historical Perspective

"Contains information found in maps, primarily maps of early modern (mid-16th-mid-19th centuries) cities. Visual image data supplements information from maps in the collection of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies"

'Zuroku Bei-O kairan jikki'

"Zuroku Bei-O kairan jikki‘ (“Illustrated true account of the observations of the ambassadors plenipotentiary of America and Europe”) is a collection of illustrations and descriptive passages related to those illustrations from Tokumei zenken taishi Bei-O kairan jikki ( A true account of the observations of the ambassadors plenipotentiary of America and Europe) written by Kume Kunitake and , published in 1878."

Miyako nenju gyoji gajo (Picture Album of Annual Festivals in the Miyako)

"The Miyako nenju gyoji gajo (Showa 3, 1928) in the Nichibunken library collection is made available for electronic viewing. It is a two-volume album of hand painted pictures on silk by NAKAJIMA Soyo, depicting 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."

Emakimono (Picture Scrolls)

"Database of images of Emakimono (picture scrolls) held at the Nichibunken Library. Bibliographical information is also available."

Database of illustrations of Modern Folklore

"Database of images of esoshi(illustrated books that were popular during the Edo period) in the Nichibunken Library."

Finding/identifying images

There are thousands of printed publications that provide various types of images including paintings, scriptures, architecture, photography, advertisements, and manga/cartoons. Categories for those images can be specified by period, geographic location, and subject.

Orbis
Use the keywords "pictorial works" combined with specific research topics. Or "Limit" the search by selecting the “More Limits” and highlighting “Visual Materials" or “Projected Medium” from “Item Type.”
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For example, a keyword search for "Atomic bomb" and "pictorial works" in Orbis will yield 8 different results.

Pre-1160: Nara - Heian Period

Cultural Heritage Online 文化遺産オンライン
Photos of Japanese cultural properties. Can be searched by location, periods, subjects and types of cultural property.
Emakimono (Picture Scrolls)
Database of images of Emakimono (picture scrolls) held at the Nichibunken Library. Bibliographical information is also available.

circa 1160-1600: Kamakura, Muromachi, Sengoku, Azuchi Momoyama Period

Gahō chūseishi 画報中世史
ISBN: 4820597515
Vol. 10-18 of Gahō sennenshi.

Nara Ehon (Nara Picture Books) Database Nara Ehon (also called Nara Ehon Emaki) are illustraked manuscripts of fairy tales produced during late-Muromachi to earil-Edo periods. This database contains images of Nara Ehon held in NIJL.
Hachiman Digital Scrolls "Seven Japanese illuminated handscrolls, created between 1389 and the nineteenth century, narrate the religiously, aesthetically and politically highly influential text and paintings.They cover the Karmic Origins of the Great Bodhisattva Hachiman Deity. The narrative is divided into two parts. The first part covers the legendary invasion and subjugation of the Korean peninsula in the third century AD, while the second part eulogizes Hachiman, who is the manifestation of the prince (and later Emperor Ōjin) born to Empress Jingū after her successful subjugation." -- from Visual Resources for Japan at Duke
The Emperor’s Clothes: The Story of the Awazu (Heishi) documents (komonjo) A part of Komonjo website created by by Professor Thomas Conlan at Princeton University. Detailed study of a scroll about Awaze family held at Beinecke Library. "The Awazu were a family of low ranking courtiers. These documents recount how, during the cataclysmic Ōnin War (1467-77) which devastated the capital, they rescued the Emperor’s wardrobe, which was housed in Yamashina, to the southeast of the palace. Once marauding armies threatened this region with arson, the Awazu rescued these clothes, and earned the praise of emperors, and courtiers. For four generations, the Awazu, and their lords, the Takakura, basked in the glory of these deeds, and received promotions and words of praise from three successive emperors. One even managed to attain the fifth court rank, a marker of the high nobility, in 1546." -- from the website.

circa 1600-1867: Edo Period

Japanese Historical Maps - University of California, Berkeley Has more than 200 images from about 100 early maps of Japan. Maps in the online collection - include especially rare woodblock print maps of the city of Edo (now Tokyo) - from the library's Japanese Historical Map Collection.
Fine Prints: Japanese, pre-1915 (The Library of Congress) “more than 2,500 Japanese woodblock prints and drawings, dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, by such artists as Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, Sadahide, and Yoshiiku. Subjects include actors, women, landscapes, scenes from Japanese literature and daily life, and Western foreigners.”

Gahō kinseishi 画報近世史
ISBN: 9784820586692

The Cary Collection of Playing Cards Beinecke Rare books and Archive LibraryAcquired by Melbert B. Cary, Jr, this distinguished collection contains playing cards, card sheets, wood blocks, metal plates, ephemera, and prints from all over the world. In the collection, there are some different types of Japanese playing cards such as Hyakunin isshu awase, as well as hanafuda.
Database of illustrations of Modern Folklore Database of images of esoshi(illustrated books,popular among peple in the Edo period) held of the Nichibunken Library.
Space in Historical Perspective (Nichibunken) Contains information found in maps, primarily maps of early modern (mid-16th-mid-19th centuries) cities. Visual image data supplements information from maps in the collection of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies.

circa 1868-present: Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa, Heisei, Reiwa periods

Yomiuri Shashinkan This site is very similar to the Mainichi Photo bank. The search engine also provide s a function to search for a particular dates.
Mainichi Photo bank Contains about 450,000 photographs taken after Meiji Restorations in Japan. Database provides free simple key word search and view of collection. For each photo, caption s which includes size of the photo as well as the location and date of photograph taken ． For use of publication, one must contact Mainich Shinbun for purchase.
Manga zasshi hakubutsukan Compilation of political and social cartoon caricatures published in newspapers and journals from Meiji to early Showa period. Many cartoons are labeled with English or Chinese captions.
Garakuta chinpō = The Japanese comic paper, garakuta-chimpo. A reprint of a journal for political social cartoon caricatures in 1879 - 1883. Some cartoons are labeled with English captions. However, some issues carry inaccurate parallel English chronological designations.
Tokyo pakku 1905-1912 Mimicking the successful magazine "Puck" in the United States, "Tokyo Pakku" was published by Rakuten Kitazawa (1876-1955) as a magazine of cartoon caricatures for political satire and social criticism.
Database of Foreign Images of Japan Nichibunken's collection of photographs, illustrations, and other visual images of Japan or Japan-related subjects from around the world.
Japanese Art in Overseas Collections Images and textual information on Japanese art such as paintings, prints, ceramics, lacquerware, etc. , in foreign collections.
'Zuroku Bei-O kairan jikki' (Nichibunken) 'Zuroku Bei-O kairan jikki‘ (図録米欧回覧実記) “Illustrated true account of the observations of the ambassadors plenipotentiary of America and Europe”) is a collection of illustrations and descriptive passages related to those illustrations from Tokumei zenken taishi Bei-O kairan jikki (A true account of the observations of the ambassadors plenipotentiary of America and Europe) written by Kume Kunitake and published in 1878.
900+ digitized Japanese art exhibition catalogs Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TNRICP) on the Getty Research Portal.
Kokusai Shashin Joho 国際写真情報 Kokusai Shashin Joho was a graphical magazine from 1922 to the 1950s covering arts and cultures during the pre-war period. Later the coverage became more on the war-related news in East Asia. After the war, publication resumed in May 1951, covering daily life, science, and industry, including special issues of the original color plates, the Prince of Wales's visit to Europe, art, and culture.
每日グラフ = The Mainichi graphic. Mainichi Graph" was a photo news magazine published by Mainichi Shimbun from 1948 to 2001. After changing its format and frequency of publication and its name to "Amuse," the magazine ceased publication in 2001. It introduced a wide range of genres, from politics and economics to entertainment, music, and sports, and continued to attract attention for its innovative layout and pithy writing, even in an era of graphic magazines were competing with each other

Copyright

NCC Image Use Protocol
Includes bilingual permission request templates for use of images and explanations and sample cases for "When permission is required" from copyright owners in Japan.
Copyright and Image Citation Info.
Information on Copyright and Citation for visual resources. Some links are specific to using visual images in the Yale community.

Using Japanese Sources

Useful even for those unable to read Japanese, these collections of images are organized chronologically and thematically with captions often including Western calendar dates (For information regarding Japanese calendar systems, see this Duke University Library guide.)

Asahi Kuronikuru 20-seiki
This ten-volume collection covers the entire 20th century, with a focus on Japan's interactions with the world at large.
Shashin kaiga shūsei Nihon no onnatachi
Collection of Photographs and Illustrations about Women in Japan: A six-volume collection thematically and chronologically ordered.

Special collections at Yale

Chirimen-bon Collection
Beinecke Rare Books and Archive Library
Made of chirimen (crepe) paper and illustrated with colored woodblock prints, these books were produced as souvenirs for foreigners (Meiji to early Showa periods). They were usually picture books of Japanese folk stories like “Momotaro”, “Hanasaka jiji” and “Kachi-kachi yama” translated into Western languages.
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Keyword search "crepe paper" and "hasegawa".
The Cary Collection of Playing Cards
Beinecke Rare books and Archive Library
Acquired by Melbert B. Cary Jr., this distinguished collection contains playing cards, card sheets, wood blocks, metal plates, ephemera, and prints from all over the world. There are various types of Japanese playing cards such as Hyakunin isshu awase and hanafuda.
Todd-Bingham Picture Collection
Manuscripts and Archives Collection (MS 496E)
This collection includes several folders of photographs from the expeditions of David Peck Todd who explored the Ainu region of Japan (1887) and Mount Fuji terrain (1896).

Japan Studies: Finding images