Japanese Historical Text Initiative

Japanese Historical Text Initiative (JHTI) is a searchable online database of Japanese historical documents and English translations. It is part of the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of California at Berkeley.^[1]

History

Delmer M. Brown started the process of establishing JHTI in 1998.^[2] The development of JHTI involved negotiations with the University of Tokyo Press and the National Institute of Japanese Literature.^[3]

Select list

JHTI is an expanding online collection of historical texts. The original version of every paragraph is cross-linked with an English translation. The original words in Japanese and English translation are on the same screen.^[4] There are seven categories of writings,^[2] including

Ancient chronicles

These works were compiled by officials of the Imperial Court at the command of the emperors.^[2]

• Kojiki (completed in 712 CE) with translation by Donald L. Philippi^[5]
• Nihon Shoki (completed in 720) with translation by W. G. Aston^[6]
• Shoku Nihongi (covering 697 to 791) with translation by J. B. Snellen^[7]
• Kogo Shūi (completed in 807) with translation by Genchi Katō and Hikoshirō Hoshino^[8]

Ancient gazetteers

These records, Fudoki, were compiled by provincial officials according to imperial edicts during the first half of the 8th century.^[2]

• Izumo no Kuni Fudoki (出雲国風土記) (submitted in 733) with translation by Michiko Aoki^[9]
• Harima no Kuni Fudoki (播磨国風土記) with translation by Michiko Aoki^[10]
• Bungo no Kuni Fudoki (豊後国風土記) with translation by Michiko Aoki^[11]
• Hizen no Kuni Fudoki (肥前国風土記) with translation by Michiko Aoki^[12]
• Hitachi no Kuni Fudoki (常陸国風土記) with translation by Michiko Aoki^[13]

Ancient kami-civil code

This was a compilation of religious law and civil law.^[2]

• Engishiki (927) with translation by Felicia Gressitt Bock^[14]

Medieval stories

These historical tales (monogatari) were about what was said and done by the prominent historical figures in aristocratic and military clans in feudal Japan^[2]

• Okagami (covering the years 866 to 1027) with translation by Helen Craig McCullough^[15]
• Yamato Monogatari (completed around 951) with translation by Mildred Tahara translation^[16]
• Eiga Monogatari (covering the years 794 to 1185) with translation by William H. McCullough & Helen Craig McCullough^[17]
• Taiheiki (completed around 1371) with translation by Helen Craig McCullough^[18]
• Azuma Kagami (completed around 1300) with partial translation by Minoru Shinoda^[19]

Medieval and early-modern histories

These three histories were written in ways that mirror the religious and political interests of their authors.^[2]

• Gukanshō (completed in 1219) with translation by Delmer M. Brown and Ichiro Ishida^[20]
• Jinnō Shōtōki (completed in 1339) with translation by H. Paul Varley^[21]
• Tokushi Yoron (completed in 1712) with translation by Joyce Ackroyd^[22]

State and Imperial Shinto

These works are about State Shinto and the Empire of Japan.^[2]

• Meiji Ikô Jinja Kankei Hôrei Shiryô (明治以降神社関係法令史料, Governmental Orders Concerning Shinto Shrines After the First Year of Meiji)^[23]
• Kokutai no Hongi (Cardinal Principles of Nation Polity, 1937) with translation by John Owen Gauntlett^[24]

Late-Edo period and Meji period texts

This category is for miscellaneous writings which are from Japan's pre-modern and early-modern periods.^[2]

See also

• Aozora Bunko
• JSTOR

References

External links

• Japanese Historical Text Initiative (JHTI) website
• National Institute of Japanese Literature
• Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo
• Japanese Text Initiative, University of Virginia