Research Guides: JNSEH001A&002B: First-Year Japanese (HC/BMC): Home

Online Dictionaries

Goo辞書
日本語⇔日本語 (Japanese-English; English-Japanese)
Reading Tutor homepage
Kanji⇔Hiragana, Japanese⇔English (note, this guide also uses German and Dutch)

Apps for your smartphone

Learn Japanese Free
"“Learn Japanese” is a collection of commonly used Japanese phrases and vocabularies for beginners and travelers. Using this app, you can learn from our Japanese speaking parrot. The parrot works together with you to practice your speaking and listening skills, wherever and whenever you are. Learning Japanese can never be easier."
FluentU
For your phone, tablet, or computer.
imiwa?
Japanese dictionary (for apple products)

Films

We have a wide selection of Japanese language films in the Tricollege libraries. You can browse these films in the stacks: the foreign films are divided by country, so head to Japan (PN1993.5 J3). (Located on Level 0 in Lutnick Library at Haverford)

You can also browse all the Japanese-language films in the Tricolleges through Tripod. In an Advanced Search choose Collection: Videos and Language: Japanese. In the results you can browse further by Creator, Subject, Genre (e.g. Animated) and more.

Tadoku Books

Tadoku Books, or Books for Extensive Reading, are available in Lutnick Library under their call numbers. It is also recommended that you listen to the audio files for the Tadoku books while reading them. For more information, see here for Haverford students, here for Bryn Mawr students and here for Swarthmore students.
There are Japanese Language children's books in that area as well.

Dictionaries

Haverford has dictionaries in our reference section (Level 2) as well as in the stacks (Level 0). The same goes for Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore.
See this link for a list of dictionaries and be sure to note the location of the books.

Browse for a dictionary that feels right to you. Or ask your professors or the librarian, Anna (afodderegu at haverford.edu), for a recommendation.

Manga

Browse our Manga collection by viewing English language and Japanese language books in the PN 6700- PN 6790 call number range. The Manga collection at Haverford's Lutnick library are located on Level 0 but you can request books from the other schools and pick them up on Level 1 when they arrive.

Japanese culture books

Here is a list of books related to Japanese culture found in the library and their corresponding call numbers.

Buddhism: BQ 1-9800
- History of Buddhism BQ 251-799
- Pure Land Buddhism BQ 8500-8769
- Zen Buddhism BQ 9250-9519
Japanese history: DS 801-897
Japanese literature: PL 501-889
The Cambridge Companion to Modern Japanese Culture is an excellent place to start.

Reference books

Sources of Japanese Tradition by Wm. Theodore de Bary (Editor); Donald Keene (Editor); George Tanabe (Editor); Paul Varley (Editor)
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ISBN: 0231121385
Publication Date: 2001-05-07
Sources of Japanese Tradition is a best-selling classic, unrivaled for its wide selection of source readings on history, society, politics, education, philosophy, and religion in the Land of the Rising Sun. In this long-awaited second edition, the editors have revised or retranslated most of the texts in the original 1958 edition, and added a great many selections not included or translated before. They have also restructured volume 1 to span the period from the early Japanese chronicles to the end of the sixteenth century. New additions include: o readings on early and medieval Shinto and on the tea ceremony, o readings on state Buddhism and Chinese political thought influential in Japan, and o sections on women's education, medieval innovations in the uses of history, and laws and precepts of the medieval warrior houses. Together, the selections shed light on the development of Japanese civilization in its own terms, without reference to Western parallels, and will continue to assist generations of students and lay readers in understanding Japanese culture.
Modern Japan by James L. Huffman (Editor)
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ISBN: 0815325258
Publication Date: 1997-10-01
Concentrating on the period following Admiral Perry's visit in the 1850s, this encyclopedia examines the historical events, leaders, and societal pressures in the country's past that affected Japan's entry into the modern age. Like its companion volume, the encyclopedia covers important political topics, the arts, religion, business, literature, education, journalism, and other major social, cultural, and economic forces. Emphasizing the close ties that always existed between the emperor system and nationalism, the encyclopedia carefully explores the various forms of nationalism that flourished since the middle of the last century, discusses how the supernationalism of the beginning of the century ultimately led to World War II, looks at the uniquely Japanese custom of national self-analysis, and examines the country's remarkable postwar market-building economic nationalism.
Routledge Handbook of Japanese Culture and Society by Theodore C. Bestor; Victoria Bestor
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ISBN: 9780415436496
Publication Date: 2011-05-13
This handbook is an interdisciplinary resource that focuses on contemporary Japan and the social and cultural trends that are important at the beginning of the 21st century.

Research Help

Margaret Schaus

Email Me

Subjects: Africana & Black Studies, Cities, Classics, History, Latin American & Iberian Studies, Political Science, Writing Program

Newspapers

The Yomiuri Shimbun 読売新聞
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One of Japan's most important newspapers. We have e-access. (English only)
The Japan Times
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An English language Japanese newspaper. We have e-access.