Library Materials

This collection includes ninety U.S. propaganda posters produced in the Second World War. In 1983, the Center for Pacific and American Studies purchased the materials that had been originally housed at Stanford University. The collection was digitized through "The University of Tokyo Digital Archives Construction Project".

CPAS WWII Propaganda Poster Collection

Professor Emeritus Takagi Yasaka(1889-1984) was one of Japan's first and foremost scholars of American studies and was the first to be appointed to the Hepburn Lectureship (now renamed, "American Political and Diplomatic History") at the Tokyo Imperial University's Law Department.

Takagi Yasaka donated his collection of books and materials to CPAS to be widely used by American studies scholars.
The collection consists of more than 3,500 items, most relating to American politics and the American Constitution, but also a significant number extending to other related fields and including some invaluable materials that are difficult to find today.
They cannot be taken out on loan.

● How to search the Takagi Yasaka Collection 1. The catalog of Institute of Pacific Relations materials in the Takagi Yasaka Collection can be viewed by using one of the following two methods.
(1) Search the CPAS Takagi Yasaka bunko taiheiyo mondai chosa kai kankei shiryo mokuroku [Catalog of the Takagi Yasaka Collection of Institute of Pacific Relations Materials] (Call No. R016:T64). This catalog is located in the CPAS Library reference stack. (2) The digitalized catalog can be viewed here.
2. Some of the materials other than those related to the IPR are available on microfilm. A list of these materials can be viewed here.
3. Some of the books and journals in the Takagi Yasaka Collection are registered on OPAC. On the OPAC "Advanced" search screen go to "Search Option" > "Collection" and select "Yasaka Takagi Collection" from the pull-down menu. Note: The Takagi Yasaka Collection has its own unique Call Number system.


Part of the collection is available through "The University of Tokyo Digital Archives Construction Project". Please see here .

Professor Emeritus Saeki Shoichi (1922-2016) served as a senior professor for American culture studies and US-Japan comparative culture studies in the University of Tokyo's Department of Comparative Literature and Culture, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, from 1974 to 1983.
Roughly 900 items in his personal library were donated to CPAS as the Saeki Shoichi Collection. Although some of these items are mixed with those of other collections, they are widely available to both members and non-members of the University of Tokyo. With writings of the Taisho and early Showa prophesizing war between Japan and the United States, historical materials on North American immigrants, and books reminiscing about the boom in all things American immediately after the end of the Second World War, this collection offers a treasure trove of resources for researchers of Japan-US comparative literature and culture.
The Saeki Shoichi Collection catalog (PDF, 723 KB) can be viewed here.

On the OPAC "Advanced" search screen, go to "Search Option" and select "Saeki Collection" from the "Collection" pull-down menu.

Tatsunokuchi Naotaro (1903-1979) was a professor emeritus at Waseda University. His collection mainly comprises roughly 940 translations into Japanese of British and American literary works of the Taisho and early Showa eras. A catalog can be viewed here.

On the OPAC "Advanced" search screen, go to "Search Option" and select "Tatsunokuchi Collection" from the "Collection" pull-down menu.

Kugai Saburo (1918-2000) was an American studies scholar who worked independently and pursued his research and critiques with great energy. He also applied his academic research to practical activities, such as the international Vietnam War protest movement, demonstrating his wide-ranging engagement. From 1959 to 1961, he served as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Liberal Arts at the University of Tokyo's College of Arts and Sciences.
Following his passing, around 500 books and 41 documents from his personal collection were donated to CPAS as the Kugai Saburo Collection. While the books are mixed in with other holdings, they are widely available to both members and non-members of the University of Tokyo.
A catalog can be viewed here.

[Abstract (Books)]
The foreign books include publications on the history of the Vietnam War, as well as around 60 items of U.S. congressional materials relating to the war, mostly hearing transcripts. These cover deliberations on the Tonkin Gulf Resolution of 1964 and its repeal in 1968, as well as discussions relating to the Foreign Assistance Act from 1966 to 1973.
Additionally, these foreign books include publications related to the Vietnam War from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) from that period. They also include works by and about North Vietnamese leaders such as Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, Pham Van Dong, and Le Duan.
The Japanese books include works on the history of the Vietnam War, as well as other books on modern history. While the core of the collection comprises books about the Vietnam War published in the United States, it also contains many valuable documents that are now difficult to obtain, including U.S. Congressional materials and literature from the Vietnamese perspective. This collection is valuable not only to researchers of American diplomacy, but also to scholars specializing in American and Vietnamese studies.
On the OPAC "Advanced" search screen, go to "Search Option" and select "Kugai Collection" from the "Collection" pull-down menu.

[Abstract (Documents)]
The document collection includes analysis reports on the situation in Vietnam by U.S. intelligence agencies, as well as reports on the situation in China by Chinese news agencies. The documents are presumed to originate from the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) and the U.S. Information Service (USIS), both of which are U.S. government agencies responsible for public diplomacy. The documents primarily analyze and examine the situation in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (referred to as the Viet Cong in the documents) and South Vietnam.
The "China reporting service", published in Hong Kong, likely provided information from an American perspective on developments during China's Cultural Revolution, covering topics such as Mao Zedong's policies, foreign relations, domestic economic and healthcare conditions, and the situation regarding ethnic minorities.

This collection , which contains the newsletters of the Association for Loving Davao (also known as the Davao Association), was donated by the writer Tsukasa Toki. This association was organized by repatriates from Davao in the Philippines. Volumes 24 (1979) to 60 (1997) are available (some volumes are missing). A catalog can be viewed here. To view the materials, fill in an application form and hand it in at the counter.

This collection of materials was donated by the family of Mogami Shokichi (1905-1978), a former Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry bureaucrat during World War II. The materials consist mainly of records and related documents from the period when Mogami was stationed as Director of the Overseas Raw Silk Market Research Office in New York City. They cover the time from when he heard the news of the war's outbreak in New York, through his detention at Ellis Island, until his return to Japan aboard an exchange and repatriation ship. The collection includes notebooks containing brief daily entries chronicling his time from hearing the news of the war's outbreak in New York, through his detention at Ellis Island, until his eventual return to Japan. It also contains various memos, letters, photographs and postcards. The microform materials are available in the library. For information on how to request access, please see "Microform materials" on Library Guide.

A catalog can be viewed here.

This collection contains materials relating to the "American Studies Seminar," which was co-hosted by the University of Tokyo and Stanford University from 1950 to 1956. The documents, photographs, and albums collected and preserved for publication in Bulletin of the Center for American Studies of the University of Tokyo, Vol. 4 (1981), are now available to view as digital images. These images are not publicly accessible online. Those wishing to view them should submit a request to the CPAS Library.

A catalog can be viewed here.

The CPAS Library holds two oral history series published by CPAS and its predecessor, the Center for American Studies.

American Studies in Japan Oral History Series vol.1-32
This series contains interviews with over 30 researchers, including Professor Takagi Yasaka, a pioneer of American Studies in Japan. Volumes 1 to 31 were published between 1977 and 1985 by the Center for American Studies (the predecessor of CPAS), with support from the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission (JUSFC). Furthermore, Volume 32, "Interview with Professor Miyazato Seigen", was published in 2014 with support from the American Studies Foundation. The volumes are shelved with the general books in the library and are available to borrow, request via interlibrary loan, and photocopy. Please check the OPAC for availability. Some universities also hold copies. You can search for holding institutions via CiNii.
A list of these materials can be viewed here.

American Society during World War II: Oral History Series vol.1-10
This series was published between 1981 and 1983 by the Center for American Studies with support from the Ministry of Education's Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research. It contains interviews with people who lived through the war, both American and Japanese, documenting their experiences of 'American society during World War II', a subject that was difficult to learn about in Japan.
The volumes are shelved with the general books in the library and are available to borrow, request via interlibrary loan, and photocopy. Please check the OPAC for availability. Some universities also hold copies. You can search for holding institutions via CiNii.

A list of these materials can be viewed here.

This is the annual report from the Center for American Studies of the University of Tokyo, the predecessor of CPAS. It was published from issue 1 in 1978 to issue 17 in 1995.
The issues are shelved with the general books in the library and are available to borrow, request via interlibrary loan, and photocopy. Please check the OPAC for availability. Some universities also hold copies. You can search for holding institutions via CiNii.

A list of these materials can be viewed here.