Researching History: Archives in Japan
by Fumihito Yamamoto
One of the bigger obstacles for non-Japanese historians researching in Japan is language. Although I have seen many non-Japanese researchers researching Japanese archives, most of them are fluent in the Japanese language. It looks that people who have high ability at Chinese language and also minimum Japanese language ability can do historical research in Japan. Although the Japanese and Chinese languages differ almost totally, both still share many historical and technical terms, just like many European languages also share similar roots. For those who are unfamiliar with either language, I’d strongly encourage you to pick up either Japanese or Chinese before embarking on historical research in Japan.
The easiest way to access Japanese sources outside of Japan is to use digital sources made available in the web site of Japan Center for Asian Historical Records（アジアæ´å²è³‡æ–™ã‚»ãƒ³ã‚¿ãƒ¼). 
In this web site, we can access sources in the possession of three National Archives in Japan: The National Archives of Japan (国立公文書館), The Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (外交資料館) and The Library of the National Institute for Defense Studies of the Ministry of Defense (防衛çœé˜²è¡›ç ”究所図書館).
The one problem is that although this project had begun in November 2001, only a small amount of sources have been digitalised and made public so far. We hope that in the future more sources will become available via this web site. Presently, as we can read only a limited number of sources by this site, it is more practical travel to Japan instead to look at the archives first-hand.
In Japan, different archives will hold different types of information. As I have been researching Japanese military history (both the Army and the Navy), the Archive to go is The Library of the National Institute for Defense Studies of the Ministry of Defense (防衛çœé˜²è¡›ç ”究所図書館). This Archive holds documents from the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Imperial Japanese Army, as well as private papers of naval and army officers donated by their families. It also keeps a collection of secondary sources related to Japanese military history.
Contrasting against the usual image of a technology-driven Japan, this Archive is operated rather old-fashionably. Researchers use hand-written cards collected in boxes to find the sources what they want. They would then write down the index number and title of the sources and send the request to a clerk. It may be old-fashion but it is no less efficient and most of the clerks and curators do go out their way to assist your research.
Unfortunately, this Archive only has documents which were not ruined or lost during World War II. Many documents were destroyed by the Tokyo bombardment on 10 March 1945. The Army and the Navy moreover intentionally burned documents from 14 to 15 August 1945 for fear that these documents would fall into the hands of the Allied forces.
I would also recommend visiting the library of National Showa Memorial Museum (æ˜å’Œé¤¨) for those interested in twentieth century Japan. In this library, you can read books and magazines published in the early part of the twentieth century. In the open shelves, there are only a small number of book about Showa period (25 December 1926 to 7 January 1989). But in the close stacks, it holds books which can inspire and encourage the historian. In the course of my research, I have discovered that it holds a good collection of books concerning the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Travelling to Japan for research may require a visa, depending on your nationality. Singaporeans can stay up to three months without visa. For further information, you can consult the web site of the Embassy of Japan in Singapore.
This is the author’s second contribution to citizen historian. If you are in the mood for food (and history), please read his take on the origins of the Japanese curry