Japanese Collections

The Ohio State University Libraries are fortunate to have a wide range of fascinating Japan-related special collections. Several available are related to the famous classical Japanese novel, The Tale of Genji. Whether you are an established Genji scholar or a curious student, I would like to highlight some of our materials  that can provide an extraordinary visual guide to this classic tale. I have spent time with two works in particular for this essay: they are a set of reproduction prints of the iconic Genji monogatari emaki as well as a separate set referred to as the Genji monogatari gajō. This post will serve as part one in a two-part blog series about these iconic artworks!

“Wood-block reproductions of the Genji picture scrolls,” ND1059.6 G4 W66 1994

The Tale of Genji (源氏物語, Genji monogatari), written by the female court attendant Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century, is perhaps the most well-known and precious treasure of the Japanese literary tradition. This Heian-era (794-1185) classic is lengthy, character-driven, and full of vivid detail about the look and feel of the imperial Japanese court and aristocratic society. The tale follows the romantic life of Hikaru Genji, the “Shining” Prince, and depicts his many, mostly tragic relationships with women. Genji is the son of the emperor and a lower-ranking court lady known as the Lady Kiritsubo. While he is his father’s favorite child and is considered for imperial succession, he is ultimately removed from the imperial line and made a member of the Genji clan.  This protagonist earns the description “hikaru” (光る, shining or radiant) on account of his beautiful appearance and endearing qualities. However, these same infatuating traits set up the bulk of the conflict in the tale, as the myriad women Genji becomes intimate with invariably experience neglect and jealousy or other courtly drama of the polygynous aristocratic setting. The memorable and complex characters of the Shining Prince’s world have appealed to Japanese audiences for centuries, and it’s no surprise that scores of portrayals, homages, and allusions have popped up since the tale was written over a millenium ago.

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Last fall, we posted a blog about accessing a Japanese newspaper online with PressReader. This blog will introduce more of PressReader’s features and tools as well as more of their East Asian titles.

PressReader is an online archive and database of periodicals from around the world. It has a large selection of newspapers and magazines in over two dozen categories, from cultural publications to demographic-targeted and informational materials. The site includes publications in both English and non-English languages and can be easily filtered for titles from specific countries, in target languages, and specific years spanning the last two decades.

Aside from the slew of content, PressReader also has useful tools increase the archive’s accessibility. For example, a narration feature makes the site more accessible to users with impaired eyesight. Additionally, users can switch between scanned page views or reformatted text views, which makes the screen reader more adaptable to various screen sizes and hand held devices.

For users in East Asian studies, the PressReader has an abundant selection of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese resources.  For Chinese periodicals, you even have the option to narrow the search to a particular province.

PressReader makes available major publications like the Mainichi Shimbun in Japanese and Japan News in English, for instance; the China Daily and Global Times from China; and the Korea Times and Dong-a Ilbo from Korea.

Whether you are looking for a contemporary source for a major political event, first-hand coverage of a natural disaster, or a native-language write-up in a business journal, PressReader can be a powerful resource. 

If you have further questions about PressReader, or if you would like to inquire or request others materials, please contact Dr. Ann Marie Davis, Japanese Studies Librarian, at davis.5257@osu.edu.

In the current pandemic, our electronic resources are more important than ever. With this in mind, last month I collaborated with the Institute of Japanese Studies to offer an online workshop called “Remote Research and Teaching: Japanese E-Resources at OSU Libraries.”

Now that the event is behind us (and I’ve had a chance to catch my breath!), I’d like to share the slides from the workshop here: https://go.osu.edu/2020DavisIJSWorkshop

Preview of the eResources Slides from Fall 2020 IJS Workshop.
Available online at go.osu.edu/2020DavisIJSWorkshop

What do these slides cover? The following are some of the key resources (with relevant links and blogs) that were discussed at the workshop:

• The KinoDen Digital Library for Japanese e-books (A new platform that we wrote about in a recent blog here);
• The Maruzen eBook Library (An even newer platform that we wrote about in the blog here);
• The Japan Knowledge database, a major reference collection including dozens of top-rated dictionaries, encyclopedias, an economic weekly journal, some of the most important classics in Japanese Studies, maps, and more.
• JKBooks, an electronic book platform that provides full-text access to various collections of historic publications containing specialized content.

Please be aware that most of these e-Resources are available to OSU users with login credentials through our University Libraries catalog.

For questions about any of these materials, please contact me, Ann Marie Davis, Japanese Studies Librarian, at davis.5257@osu.edu.

For our next blog, we hope to tell you more about JKBooks, one of the key e-Resources mentioned above.  Until then, please stay safe and stay tuned!

Credit: Many thanks to Nicholas Castle (Class of 2021), OSU Libraries student worker, for drafting this blog.