The , or Nichibunken (日文研), is an inter-university research institute in Kyoto. Along with the National Institute of Japanese Literature, the National Museum of Japanese History, and the National Museum of Ethnology, it is one of the National Institutes for the Humanities. The center is devoted to research related to Japanese culture.
History
The official origins of the institute are traced to an early study carried out by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture in 1982 on "methods of comprehensive research on Japanese culture". After surveying the field of Japanese studies for several years, the ministry, under the administration of Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro, established the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in 1987 in Kyoto with the prominent philosopher Umehara Takeshi as its first Director-General. Prominent Kyoto academics Umesao Nobuo and Kuwabara Takeo also played key roles in the founding of the center.
In 1990 the center moved to its current site in Oeyama-chō, Nishikyō-ku. In 1995 Kawai Hayao, a Jungian analyst of Japanese psychology and religion, was inaugurated as the second director-general of Nichibunken. In 2001, Yamaori Tetsuo, professor of Japanese religion and folklore, became the center's third director-general. The current director-general, Katakura Motoko, was inaugurated in 2005. She is Nichibunken's first female director-general and, as a cultural-anthropologist who specializes in Middle-Eastern Studies, she is also the center's first director-general who is not a Japan specialist.
Criticisms
Nichibunken was established against the backdrop of an increasing trade surplus with the United States in the 1980s. The cultural-anthropologist Ueno Chizuko sharply criticized the center as a calculated attempt at national branding. Ueno claimed that, despite the center's academic pretensions, the real purpose of Nichibunken was to improve the image of Japan in order to prevent criticism of Japanese trading practices and improve sales of Japanese goods abroad. Ian Buruma caused considerable outrage at the time for arguing in influential newspapers abroad that the establishment of the center was part of a project designed to revamp the kind of nationalist ideology present in pre-war Japan.
The Nichibunken Library
A library of Japanese Studies is attached to the center. The collection primarily consists of books and bibliographic materials pertinent to the academic study of Japan. As of 2014, the library contains approximately 400,000 volumes of books in Japanese and 97,000 volumes in other languages. It also houses approximately 4,400 Japanese periodicals and about 1,000 foreign language periodicals. The library has also a significant storage of media materials in form of records, video and other digital forms.
Publications
Nichibunken publishes two periodicals in the field of Japanese studies: Japan Review in English and Nihon Kenkyū (in Japanese). Japan Review is a peer-reviewed journal available on JSTOR and on the Nichibunken website. Japan Review, which is published annually, accepts outstanding essays on Japanese culture from scholars across the globe, as well as research notes. It carries reviews of important books on Japanese studies. Japan Review also publishes Special Issues, the first of which was published in 2013 as "Shunga: Sex and Humor in Japanese Art and Literature." The bi-annual Nihon Kenkyū is also peer reviewed and invites contributions from scholars everywhere.
Databases
The following databases are accessible from the Nichibunken webpage. Some of the databases require you to register and obtain a password.
Rare Books
This is a database of images of all rare books in Nichibunken's collection. It primarily consists of books treating Japan in Western languages published before the opening of the country to foreign commerce in the 1850s. In addition to graphic images of all pages of these rare books, the database contains searchable text with bibliographic information, tables of contents of the books, and captions of the illustrations in the books.
Catalogue of the pre-1900 printed books on Japan in European languages housed in the library of Nichibunken This online catalogue is a database of the bibliographical details of pre-1900 European books housed in Nichibunken's library which contain references to Japan. A total of 1,057 items are listed here
Foreign Images of Japan
Nichibunken's collection of 51,805 photographs, illustrations, and other visual images of Japan or Japan-related subjects from around the world. Users must register with Nichibunken in order to view the photos in this database.