East Asia Section: Japanese Studies

The Japanese Studies Library has a collection of approximately 34,000 book volumes and 400 journal titles, 107 of which are in current subscription (76 Japanese-language and 31 in European languages). In addition to general reference works and linguistic works, the library mainly includes works on modern and pre-modern literature, literary studies, history from 1868 onward, Japanese politics and society, modern intellectual history, and certain areas of economics.

The holdings include, among others, a corpus of 250 collected works of Japanese individuals 個人全集 unique in Europe in the fields of literature and intellectual history, first editions of literary works since the Meiji period, and a significant collection of 88 classic series. Other focal points include the special collection on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (literary testimonies, historical studies, biographies, photo collections and other material, some of which is gray) and the collection of German-language literature in Japanese translations - some 950 translation collections by various authors. The Kritter Collection is of particular importance: it includes 80 Japanese titles, distinguished by their rich decoration (ornate bindings, illustrations, etc.). The collection documents Japanese book graphics of the late 19th and 20th centuries. It consists mainly of valuable first editions and partly of facsimile editions produced true to the original.

Since the founding of the institute, the library has also systematically collected historical periodicals with the following focal points - rarely found in Germany: Journals of the women's movement, literary and political journals from the end of the Meiji period, literary journals of the Taishô period, journals of the resistance during World War 2.

Collection focus

• Literature
  • Women's history and women's literature
  • Japanese self-testimonies (diaries, autobiographies, collections of letters, accounts of experiences, etc.) from all walks of life
  • Modern Japanese narrative prose
  • Problems of translation
• History and Society
  • Japan and Asia since the beginning of the Meiji period
  • History of political ideas
  • Theories of Modernization
  • Modern Japan in East Asia
  • Labor and business organization
  • History of Japan since 1945, including Japanese history textbooks
  • Literature and social movements
  • Max Weber in Japan

Special collections

• German-language literature in Japanese translations (primary texts and secondary literature)
• Hiroshima/Nagasaki (literary testimonies, historical studies, biographies, photo collections and other material for comprehensive documentation of the two atomic bombings and their aftermath)
• Periodicals from 1868-1945
• Kritter Collection (examples of Japanese graphic book design)