Japanese Studies at OSU Libraries is delighted to announce that The Japan Times Digital Archive is now available at The Ohio State University. It is an extraordinary archive of Japan’s oldest English language newspaper and only independent English-language newspaper in existence today. The digital archive allows you to search the full text of all issues of The Japan Times published since its inauguration in March 1897 (Meiji 30) until 2014.
“The Japan Times Archives” search interface
History of The Japanese Times
Founded in 1897, The Japan Times is the first English newspaper by Japanese people. In 1917 it acquired the Japan Weekly Mail, another influential English newspaper in publication since 1870. Since its inception, The Japan Times has covered a wide range of contents from national and international politics, business, the economy and the arts.
Main Audience and Perspective
The main purpose of The Japan Times, since its foundation, is to offer foreigners who live in Japan with access to domestic and international news. English learners in Japan are also a potential audience since The Japan Times is an ideal material to learn English in place of textbooks. In fact, a few articles of The Japan Times have shown up in the English portion of the Japan College Entrance Exam.
The Japan Times not only offers news from a Japanese perspective, but also from an international perspective. To be specific, its news comes from a wide range of media. The Japan Times sometimes contains news from the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and others. Thus, despite having Japanese editors, The Japan Times, is a multi-perspective newspaper.
Value in Research
Snapshot from the Japan Times Archives. Cover page of “the Japan Times” (then known as “Nippon Times”), Aug. 9, 1945
The Japan Times has extraordinary value for research in the Social Sciences and Humanities – especially in Politics, History, and Culture. Due to its wide range of coverage and multi-perspective nature, it works as an excellent primary source.
For example, a key word search on the nuclear bomb known as “little boy,” dropped by the U.S., we can find witnesses and detailed descriptions of this historic event.
The Japan Times Archives is now available at http://library.ohio-state.edu/search/y?SEARCH=japan+times+archives
Note that users will need OSU login credentials (username and password) to access this database.
