Japan Studies and Japanese language materials,
Wason Collection on East Asia
The first books in East Asia languages acquired by Cornell University Library came in the form of a gift of nearly 500 Japanese books from William Griffis, an early Western educator in Japan who later served as minister of the Congregational Church in Ithaca. Upon his retirement in 1914, Griffis donated his Japanese language collection to Cornell University, while giving his personal papers and Western language publications to his alma mater, Rutgers University. The Griffis Collection is comprised largely of publications of the Edo period (1600-1864) and the years immediately following its close. While the Collection ranges over a variety of subject matter, it is particularly rich in translations of the Bible and hymnals, reflecting its owner’s deeply held Christian faith.
Despite the relatively long history of Japanese language holdings in the Library, for many years China dominated East Asian Studies at Cornell, and the Griffis donation was incorporated four years later into what was then called the Charles Wason Collection on China and the Chinese (now the Wason Collection on East Asia). For many years, the only Japanese language acquisitions by the library were in Sinology. Japanese language instruction became a regular part of the Cornell curriculum in 1960, but it was only from the early 1970s that the Library seriously began to collect Japanese language resources about Japan, following the appointment of new faculty in history, literature, linguistics, religion, and political science. While this was long after most other major centers of Japanese studies were established, the Library has made remarkable progress since that time, reflecting the expansion of Japanese studies on campus, and its Japanese collection now belongs to the top tier of North American libraries.
A successful fund raising drive in 1996-1997 culminated in the acquisition of the private library of renowned literary scholar and critic Maeda Ai, which added approximately 10,000 volumes, including nearly 2,000 wahon, or traditional block printed and hand stitched books. The Maeda Collection, or Maeda Bunko, is particularly strong in late Edo and early Meiji period literature and culture, literary theory, and popular urban culture, and also includes some of the earliest translations of European works into Japanese. From about the same time that the Maeda collection was purchased, a concerted effort that included retrospective buying was made to fill major gaps in the collection, principally of primary literary and historical sources.
The Japanese collection supports the instructional and research programs of Cornell University. The principal users of the Japanese collection are faculty, scholars and students associated with Cornell’s East Asia Program, designated and funded by the federal government as National Resource Center. Currently the East Asia Program has more than twenty core faculty with a Japanese focus, numerous affiliated and visiting faculty, and Associates in Research who generally teach at other academic institutions in the immediate geographical area. Currently there are 59 graduate students majoring in Japanese studies, and 108 undergraduates. 467 students were enrolled in Japanese language courses during the most recent academic year. The interests of this clientele range over a wide spectrum of disciplines and they may be found in nearly all subject areas across the Cornell campus. The Japanese collection, therefore, is developed and amended by an ongoing analysis of evolving academic programs and faculty and student interests. In addition to those who study aspects of Japanese culture specifically, many others whose focus is not necessarily Japan per se use materials in the Japanese collection, reflecting a nationwide change in Japanese studies. The clientele has further diversified in conjunction with the widespread growth of interest in Japanese popular culture.
Cornell University Library currently holds approximately 130,000 bound volumes, as well as numerous microforms and visual materials, and is one of the fastest growing Japanese collections in North America. While Japanese library resources are spread across campus, most are held in the Kroch Library’s Wason Collection on East Asia, with some older materials in the Rare and Manuscript Collections, also in Kroch Library. The collection of material in great part mirrors the historical growth of Japanese studies at Cornell: Traditional interest in language and literature, philosophy and religion, history, and anthropology account for comparatively greater strength of holdings in those areas. An broad subject area that has received special attention recently is the world of Japanese popular culture: the Maeda Bunko is rich in materials of and about urban popular culture, and with three years of generous assistance from the Japan Foundation, Cornell has been able to both augment areas of strength and acquire resources of a more marginal nature, including a considerable amount of visual materials, many of which are accessible to undergraduate students as well as graduates and faculty. For example, Cornell maintains a modest collection of manga representing the most important genres, and owns a large number of feature films including some historically important anime. While the bulk of Japanese language acquisitions deal with Japan and Japanese culture, Cornell also collects material covering the Japanese colonial administration of Taiwan and Korea and Japan’s occupation of much of Asia during the Sino-Japanese War and WWII. In addition, the bibliographer collects material published in Japan about Japanese residing overseas, particularly in North America. Following the pattern set long ago, Cornell attempts to acquire all major writings in Japanese sinology. Finally, bibliographer collects Japanese language material on the Buddhism not only of Japan, but of India and China as well.
Generally excluded are works in translation from European languages, including literature, contemporary juvenile literature, expensive rare materials, practical “how to” materials of a non-scholarly nature, business administration, musical scores and recordings, textbooks and preparatory materials, and works on natural or applied sciences, except where they relate to historical or cultural traditions. Cornell University Law Library recently has announced its intention to gather material on Japanese law; Wason does not collect materials on contemporary law, but it does acquire titles in the areas of historical law, constitutional law, and legal philosophy
On the other hand, Wason Japan shares responsibility for Japanese art and architecture with the Fine Arts Library, particularly for those materials in the Japanese language.
The collection is not bound by chronological guidelines, and includes material on Japan from the prehistoric through the present day. While most of what is acquired is in Japanese, it is also the responsibility of the bibliographer to form a comprehense collection of materials on Japan in the major languages of Western Europe. All formats are acquired, including monographs, serials, microforms, maps, sound and video recordings, CD-ROM, and on-line digital resources. The bibliographer selects each title for purchase, without dependence upon approval programs. Wason Japan section welcomes and even solicits gifts, which are reviewed with the same care as purchases. Only items appropriate to the collection merit the investment in technical processing.
Cornell is a member of the East Coast consortium of major East Asia research libraries in the northeastern United States. While the other members have assumed responsibility for collecting Japanese local history, Cornell has been assigned collection development responsibility for performing arts and popular culture, including food culture. The recent creation of the Borrow Direct Program has opened the rich collections of Yale, Columbia and Princeton to Cornell users, significantly increasing the number of titles available for research. To avoid unnecessary duplication of infrequently used materials, choices must now be informed by knowledge of Japanese holdings throughout the Northeast.
Major categories of the collection:
Collection Strength
Collecting Intensity
Anthropology
Folklore
Popular Culture
Food Culture
3
3
3
4
4
4
3
4
Art and Architecture
Gardens
3
3
4
4
Economics and Economic Conditions
3
4
Japanese History
Pre-1600
Tokugawa
Modern
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
Japanese Literature
Pre-1600
Edo Period
Meji-Present
3
4
Historical & Constitutional Law
3
4
Mass Media
4
4
Politics and Government
4
4
Performing Arts
3
4
Japanese Film
3
4
Japanese Philosophy
3
3
4
4
Japanese Religion
Shinto
Buddhism
3
3
3
4
4
4
Sociology and Social Conditions
Minority Populations
3
3
4
4
Women
3
4
