Research on the Structure and Computerization of Sources for Premodern Japanese History

Sources from the Ancient Period to the Meiji Restoration as Computerized Historical Heritage

1. Research Outline

1. Historical knowledge is essential for envisioning Japan in the 21st century and for enhancing understanding of Japan within the international community. Our purpose is to study the structure of the exceptionally abundant historical documents that have been preserved in Japan, and to make this heritage useful in the modern, information-oriented society.
2. In Japan, history has been compiled and archives preserved since the ancient times. One year after the Meiji Restoration (1868), the new government launched a project for compiling history from the ancient period to the Meiji Restoration. This became the foundation of the present Historiographical Institute at the University of Tokyo. Nationwide archival research began in 1885, and beginning in 1901, compilations of key premodern sources, such as the Dai Nihon shiryô, have been published. These efforts still continue today. In the recent years, many countries have processed their archives to make them available over the computer network. The California Heritage Collection in the U.S. is one such example. The report given at the Academic Information Sectional Meeting of the Science Council in 1997 stresses the need for "computerization, archiving, and advanced usage of academic sources on Japanese culture" and "...of classic works of the humanities such as Japanese literature and history." Our project shall serve the above purposes.
3. We wish to improve the conventional methodology of historical studies through the use of computers to make it more precise, prompt, and responsive to the needs of modern society. In other words, we will use the database to first break down each of our vast premodern historical sources into basic components such as events, personalities, and the nature of the source itself. Such data can then be brought together to reconstruct the history of events, history of personalities, and the original order of various source groups. This process will radically modify the current methodology of historical studies.
4. Our plans for creating the network database are as follows:
   1. This database will allow the users to retrieve any historical information, such as key terms and events, from documents that can now be presented in full texts and visual images.
   2. We will conduct a study on information systems that will allow the cooperation among research institutions and individual researchers, whose combined efforts are needed to support the database.
   3. We will translate historical terminology and chronology into English and other foreign languages so that the database will also be available for use overseas, and hence contribute to further understanding of Japan by foreign countries.

Press release, March 2000