Japanese Collections

Introduction

Japanese Studies at OSU Libraries is pleased to announce that the Manchuria Daily News Database is now available to the university community through the OSU library catalog.  The newly acquired database offers full access to the complete digital text of the Manchuria Daily News newspaper, published from 1908 to 1940.  The database thus offers an English-language archives of a rare newspaper that once provided the official Japanese interpretation of its presence in China in the early twentieth century. 

 

The History of The Manchuria Daily News

The Manchuria Daily News was founded in 1908, three years after Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese war, and based in Dairen (present-day Dailian, China), where the South Manchuria Railway Company’s (Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha: 南満洲鉄道株式会社) headquarters were also located. The goal of the newspaper was to promote the Japanese regime in Manchuria.

Main Audience and Perspectives

Targeting English-speaking audiences and other foreigners, the Manchuria Daily News served as a national news outlet to announce Japanese policies and projects in its vassal state of Manchukuo and to publicize the development of Manchuria. It not only reported on policies on trade, shipping, and communications, but it also assessed international situations such as WWI and developments that led to WWII. The newspaper was also meant to present Japan’s powerful leadership in Asia and to display its technological, cultural, and political advancement. 

Value in Research

As the website mentions, this database offers scholars “the modern history of Japan in China with a multifaceted view of competing Japanese agendas in the China theatre.” These resources give an inside view of Japan’s ambition toward domination in Asia. In addition, it serves as a great primary source for International and Ethnic Studies involving Japanese politics, history, and culture within the context of its victory against Russia.  

 

 

Please note that OSU login credentials will be required for users to access this database.