Library

The Nichibunken Library collects a wide range of materials needed forresearch on Japan and makes these materials available to researchers. It
also provides access to Japanese studies-related information of variouskinds. The 600,000 titles in the library can be searched via the OPAC,
CiNii and OCLC WorldCat. Researchers outside Nichibunken may
use the inter-library loan system to apply for document copying andloans of books and other materials. The collection prioritizes books
about Japan written in other languages and translations of Japanese
works originating in Japan and overseas. In addition to books andperiodicals, the collection includes colored photographs from the late
Edo and Meiji periods, old maps, and video, DVD, and CD audio
and visual materials.
https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/en/library/

Visiting Research Scholars and FellowsAs an international research center, Nichibunken opens its doors to
the world by inviting many scholars from foreign countries to carryout international and interdisciplinary research related to Japaneseculture. The foreign scholars are classified either as “visiting researchscholars,” who are accepted for periods from three months to one yearand receive a salary from Nichibunken, or as “visiting research fellows,”
whose income is provided by public and other foundations.
In addition to carrying out their own research, foreign scholars
at Nichibunken take part in team research projects organized by
Nichibunken professors and deliver presentations at seminars, forums,
and international meetings. They also have the opportunity to publish
the results of their research in Nichibunken publications.
We hope that the close collaboration between these foreign scholars
and the professors at Nichibunken and members of their research teams
will become the base for the further development of Japanese studies
in the world.
Applications for Visiting Research Scholars and Fellows
https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/en/research/employment/#gaikenkobo
https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/en/research/employment/acceptance/

Nichibunken House

Nichibunken House consists of family- and single-occupancy units.
Family-occupancy units are primarily for visiting research scholars whostay for a long term, with their families. Single-occupancy units comprise
two zones, one for long-term users and the other for guests such as teamresearchers here for a short stay.

Public Databases AccessNichibunken develops databases of the materials in its collection, theoutcomes of research by its faculty, and Japan-related materials heldby other organizations. It now provides public online access to 45
databases (As of July 1, 2023).
https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/en/db/

Database of Postcards from Art Exhibitions held in pre-war Japan

Qualification for use :Short-term stays up to one month• Visiting Faculty Members• Team Researchers• Participants in International Symposiums
Long-term stays• Visiting Research Scholars• JF Research Fellows• JSPS Research Fellows• Visiting Research Fellows

National Institutes for the Humanities

International Research Center
for Japanese Studies
2023 Brochure
NICHIBUNKEN PROSPECTUS

Faculty

(As of July 1, 2023)

Director-General
INOUE Shōichi	History of manners and customs
Deputy Directors-General
Frederik CRYNS	Interaction between the Western world and Japan
MATSUDA Toshihiko	History of Japanese and Korean relations
Professors
ARAKI Hiroshi	Japanese literature
ENOMOTO Wataru	Medieval history of international exchange
ISODA Michifumi	Japanese history
ISOMAE Jun’ichi	Religious studies; critical theory
ITŌ Takayuki	History of Chinese thought; cultural interaction inEast Asia; comparative culture
KURAMOTO Kazuhiro	History of ancient Japan
KUSUNOKI Ayako	Japanese political and diplomatic history; securitystudies
LIU Jianhui	History of cultural connections between Japan andChinaŌTSUKA Eiji	History of the arts of manga; Manga writingtheory; Yanagita Kunio studies
Timon SCREECH	Art history and history of the Edo period
SEKINO Tatsuki	Informatics
TAKII Kazuhiro	Constitutional history; comparative legal history
USHIMURA Kei	Comparative literature and culture; intellectualhistory
YAMADA Shōji	Informatics; history of cultural exchange
YASUI Manami	Japanese folklore; cultural anthropology
ZHAN Xiaomei	History of artistic connections between Japan andChina in the modern age
Associate Professors
Edward BOYLE	Border studies; heritage studies
KATAOKA Mai	Modern Japanese literature; comparative literature
Assistant Professors
MATSUGI Hiromi	Art history; art studies
MITSUHIRA Yūki	History of music therapy
Specially Appointed Assistant Professors
KOMAI Sachi ※1	Cultural studies; Contemporary Japanese literature
Oliver WHITE	Japanese early modern popular literature※1

Project Assistant Professor (Center for Innovative Research, The National Institutes
for the Humanities) and concurrently Specially Appointed Assistant Professor(International Research Center for Japanese Studies)Japan Review

Japan Review is published annually. It is a refereed interdisciplinary
journal that carries manuscripts, research notes, review essays, aswell as annotated translations of important texts relating to Japan.
Submission to Japan Review is open to all those engaged in thestudy of Japanese culture past and present.

Team Research Projects 2023
Title of Project

About Nichibunken

Project Leader(s)The Japanese Colonial Empire and the Global
Linkage of Knowledge

Professor

Solid “Impermanence”/Fragile “Impermanence”:
The Transmogrification of the Classics and Future Prospects

Professor

Mouths and Noses: A Cultural History of theJunctures between the Human Body and the Outside
World in Japan

Matsuda Toshihiko
Araki Hiroshi
Professor

Isoda Michifumi

From Womb to Tomb:
Exploring Life and Death in Contemporary Japan

Professor

City and Monument: Urban Planning and Memory
in Japan, from the Perspective of Visual Culture

Professor

Imagining Islands in Japan
Japanese Style Education - from the Perspective of theHistory of Civilizations
What are Aristocrats, and What are Samurai?
Reconsidering the Early-Modern in the History ofEast Asia: In Search of a New Global History
Studying Nichibunken’s Collection of Inoue
Tetsujiro’s Correspondence: The Rise and Fall of theNation-State

Yasui Manami
Timon Screech
Associate Professor

Edward Boyle
Professor

Takii Kazuhiro
Professor

Kuramoto Kazuhiro
Professor

Itō Takayuki
Professor

Isomae Jun’ichi
Team Researcher

Karita Shinji

The Formation and Development of Western
Perceptions of Japan

Professor

Beyond the Postwar and Modernity:
Japan in the 1970s

Professor

Japanese Foreign Policy in the Cold War Era:
The Formation of “Peace State” (1952–1972)

Visiting Research Scholar

Reconstructing Modern East Asian Cultural History I:
Focusing on the 19th Century

Professor

Sports as Civilization, Sports as Culture
Yanagita Kunio as a connecter
The Power of Culture in the Japanese Empireand Cold War Asia: Intersecting Ideologies andSymbolism in Ch’oe Sŭng-hŭi’s DanceThe International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken)
was founded in 1987 to pursue international, interdisciplinary, andcomprehensive research on Japanese culture and to provide researchcooperation and support for Japanese studies scholars around the world.
In addition to research on the distinctiveness of Japanese culture,
Nichibunken emphasizes the perspectives of comparative studies andcultural exchange. Its professors lead diverse interdisciplinary teamresearch projects on Japanese culture that bring together specialists froma wide range of fields from within and outside Japan. Nichibunken
engages in international research collaboration of various kinds suchas sharing research information with scholars and research institutions
around the world, and sponsoring the participation of its faculty atscholarly meetings held overseas.

PhD Program at Nichibunken

Nichibunken is the institutional home of the Japanese Studies Program,Graduate Institute for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI. The Program
promotes interdisciplinary and comprehensive Japanese studies education
and research from an international perspective. Students from abroad
as well as from Japan enroll in the doctoral program. Under the special
inter-university researchers system, the Program also accepts and trains
graduate students recommended by other universities.

Frederik Cryns
Kusunoki Ayako
Huang Tzu-chin
Liu Jianhui
Professor

Ushimura Kei
ProfessorŌtsuka Eiji
Visiting Professor

Park Sang Mi
Professor

Matsuda Toshihiko

Nichibunken Monograph SeriesThis series comprises scholarly books in English representing thehigh quality of research carried out at Nichibunken. Several volumes
have been co-published with publishing houses in the U.S. andEurope. The authors are primarily faculty members at Nichibunken.

International Research Center for Japanese Studies
3-2 Goryo Oeyama-cho, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 610-1192 Japan

https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/en/

Nichibunken Open Access

PDF files of publications of Nichibunken are available on
the Nichibunken website.
https://nichibun.repo.nii.ac.jp/lang/en
https://www.nichibun.ac.jp/en/library/search/repository/