The Historiographical Institute Marks a New Beginning

Director of the Historiographical Institute
EBARA Masaharu

For the past year and a half, due to construction in the library and study room to increase the building’s earthquake-resistance, we had to reduce the hours the collection was available. We are pleased to announce that the work has been completed and we have begun to put the materials on view nearly as usual in the refurbished library. We appreciate your support and understanding during this long project.

At the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo, we collect and research historical materials from ancient times until the Meiji Restoration, both in Japan and in foreign countries. Based on this research, we compile and publish collections of historical materials that are fundamental to the history of Japan.

Our Institute began when Hanawa Hokiichi, a scholar of “National Learning” (kokugaku), established the Institute for Japanese Studies (Wagaku Kôdansho) with financing from the Tokugawa bakufu in 1793. After the Meiji Restoration, a new bureau continued this work, at first under the direct control of the government. In October 1888, the organization became part of the Imperial University. Beginning with the publication of Dai Nihon Shiryô and Dai Nihon Komonjo in 1901, we have published over 1,000 collections of the historical materials, such as Dai Nihon Kokiroku, Dai Nihon Kinsei Shiryô, Dai Nihon Ishin Shiryô, Nihon Kankei Kaigai Shiryô, Kaô Kagami, Nihon Shôen Ezu Shûei, and Shôsôin Monjo Mokuroku.

The Institute’s collection includes a large number of valuable, original historiographical materials, including Documents of the Shimazu Family, designated a National Treasure, and Sanetaka Kôki, designated an Important Cultural Property. In addition, we have also made copies of historical materials, such as texts, diaries, books, and drawings, owned by others in Japan and abroad to make them more accessible to scholars and the general public at our library and on our web site.

Our research is conducted overseas, as well as in Japan, where we cooperate with the Japan Academy and academic institutions in China, Korea, Russia, Holland, Portugal, France, and the United States of America, among others. We have also concluded a joint agreement (Conference of the East-Asian Source-Compiling Historical Research Institutes) with the National Institute of Korean History and the Institute for Chinese Modern History of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. We plan to work together to exchange information, compile historical source materials jointly, and promote the understanding of each country.

The Historiographical Institute was authorized as “the research base of converting Japanese historical source materials into research resources” by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in June 2009. To that end, we work together with scholars in Japan and internationally on using our historical materials as resources. At the International Center for the Digitization of Premodern Japanese Sources, which is attached to the Institute, we have expanded this research further by making use of computer technologies to expand the boundaries of historical research.

At the Center for the Study of Visual Sources, which is part of the Institute, we are beginning new work on analyzing visual materials, such as portraits, picture scrolls, estate maps (shôen-ezu), color prints (nishiki-e), and old photographs, which are attracting attention as new materials of historical research. At the Conservation Laboratory, we further the work to preserve valuable cultural property by restoration or copying materials so that they can be used for research and exhibitions.

Our faculty teaches Japanese history at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, and at the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo, but also offers specialized training for young scholars from Japan and abroad.

Building on our past research activities, we continue to develop new areas of research and cooperation with scholars at home and abroad to make our institute a more integral part of the academic world and the society.