CONTENTS

    I. English-language Guides
    II. Japanese-language Guides
 

The following four works are the most essential English-language guides to Japanese reference and bibliography. The first is now considerably out of date, but the following three are still of current use, and are referred to throughout the chapters that follow as, respectively, "Fukuda," "IHJ" (or "Pancake"), and "M/S" (or "Makino/Saito").

This book was created by Hershel Webb for the Columbia course on Japanese bibliography that he taught from the early 1960s until his death in 1982. The work follows closely the actual syllabus of Webb's course, and includes problems for solution. Although many of the reference works that Webb describes have since been replaced, this book remains a valuable tool, particularly for the chapters on historical source materials, and for the descriptions of such unchanging matters as premodern measurements.

At the time of its publication in 1979, this work was the leading guide to Japanese reference and bibliography. It was based primarily, but not exclusively, on the University of Michigan holdings (so that the LC call numbers listed do not necessarily correspond to Starr's holdings). It covers bibliographies and reference works through 1977, and is devoted almost exclusively to Japanese-language works.

This work is divided into three sections, General Works, Humanities, and Social Sciences, which are arranged according to subject. Subjects NOT include are education, law, science, and technology. The items listed always include a short description, one of the best points about the work. There is a title index.

Note that "Pancake" (see next item) does NOT replace Fukuda, which remains an indispensable guidebook. It is now out of print, so that it is best to make a xerox copy for desk use.

This was founding text of the reconstituted Columbia course on Japanese bibliography in 1990, and came to be known as "Pancake" (courtesy of Giles Richter, who had another "International House" in mind). It was specifically designed to complement and update the Fukuda work above, but by no means to replace it. Pancake is arranged according to subject, but includes an author/title index for Part I (English-language), and a title index for Part II (Japanese-language). Many (but not all) of the items include short descriptions.

Pancake has an entire section (Part I) on English-language reference sources, while Fukuda has very few English-language sources. Note that most of the English-language reference books are, according to the preface, available at the International House library. It also includes list of government publications that appear in English, has a useful list of 61 English-language journals that focus on Japan.

Part II, on Japanese-language reference sources, focuses on recent publications and items "easy to use." It also includes information on electronic databases and CD-ROMs, although this is quickly becoming outdated.

Columbia is fortunate to have had one of the co-authors of this work, Mrs. Yasuko Makino, as librarian for Japanese reference collections and development since 1992. The book is intended as an undate of Hershel Webb's Research in Japanese Sources: A Guide (1965, see above). Like Webb's book, it is designed as an overall introductory textbook, and includes problems to be solved.
 

** Nihon no sankô tosho. Nihon toshokan kyôkai, 1980.
Call nos: REF Z1035.8 .J3 N56 1980 (Kaisetsu sôran); REF Z1035.8 .J3 N563 (Shikiban)
M/S: V-4

This is the basic Japanese-language guide to reference materials, which began with the first edition in 1962 as a project of the International House Library, and has since been supplemented and revising several times. The "Kaisetsu sôran" of 1980 is the most recent overall compilation; for works since then, you must consult the quarterly supplements ("Shikiban"). See M/S p. 48 for a description of the work.