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Japan 560H/Japan 499Seminar: The Samurai

Doris G. Bargen, Dept. of Asian Languages & Literatures

This pathfinder has been created by Sharon Domier (librarian) for the students enrolled in Japan 560H/Japan 499 Seminar on the Samurai, and is intended to explain how to use the library catalog and other tools to find published materials (books and articles) that will support your research in this class. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need help finding materials.

Getting Started  Using the Library Catalog  Using Printed Bibliographies  Searching for Articles  Related Websites

Getting Started:

You should always begin your assignments by looking at the reading list that you professor has given you. Prof. Bargen has already provided you with an extensive reading list for your course on the Samurai and placed most of the items on reserve. The Reserve Department is located on the 3rd Floor of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. Please remember that these materials are limited to a 2 hour or overnight loan. Even if you misplace your syllabus and reading list, you can check what is on reserve by going to the library catalog and clicking on either the "Reserve Lists by Instructor" or "Reserve Lists by Course" buttons.

Here is a shortcut to the Reserved Readings for this course.

In addition to the materials on reserve, here are some of the articles that you can read online because UMass Amherst has a subscription to JSTOR:

The Heike monogatari and The Japanese Warrior Ethic
                              Kenneth Dean Butler
                          Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 29. (1969), pp. 93-108.

Teeth and Claws. Provincial Warriors and the Heian Court
                              Karl Friday
                          Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 43, No. 2. (Summer, 1988), pp. 153-185.

The Reign of Go-Sanjo and the Revival of Imperial Power
                              G. Cameron Hurst
                          Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 27, No. 1. (Spring, 1972), pp. 65-83.

Religious Life of the Kamakura Bushi. Kumagai Naozane and His Descendants
                              Miyazaki Fumiko
                          Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 47, No. 4. (Winter, 1992), pp. 435-467.

Adoption and Samurai Mobility in Tokugawa Japan
                              Ray A. Moore
                          Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3. (May, 1970), pp. 617-632.

Women and Inheritance in Japan's Early Warrior Society (in CSSH Discussion)
                              Hitomi Tonomura
                          Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 32, No. 3. (Jul., 1990), pp. 592-623.

The Way of the Bow and Arrow. The Japanese Warrior in Konjaku Monogatari
                              William Ritchie Wilson
                          Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 28, No. 2. (Summer, 1973), pp. 177-233.

The Dramatic Structure of Ataka, a Noh Play
                              Kenneth Yasuda
                          Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 27, No. 4. (Winter, 1972), pp. 359-398.
 

Using the Library Catalog:

Use both the UMass Library Catalog and the 4 College Library Catalog to find books on your topic. Most people start with a keyword search, because it the easiest way to find books on your topic. Using samurai as a keyword generated a lot of hits, and some of them are not relevent. But if you scan the list for appropriate titles, you can see if there any good matches. Once you have found one, look carefully at the subject headings. Subject headings are "controlled vocabulary" and eliminate irrelevent materials (an example of an irrelevent hit might be "Hitler's Samurai: A Study of the Waffen-SS in Action")

What if your subject search fails?
I tried a subject  warriors japan  -- The computer asks me if I want to search them as words. Answer yes and you will get some good readings. Take a good look at the subject headings assigned to these books and work from there.

The following are examples of appropriate subject headings that you can use to look for books:  Samurai
Browse further to see more detailed subject headings such as: Samurai Conduct of Life
Whenever you see a note such as: Samurai  see also Bushido
                                                                     see also Hatamoto
You should explore these options, because the subject headings are very closely related, and will open up many more opportunities.

Depending on what angle you take, you will also want to look for books on either Japanese history, Japanese performing arts, or Japanese literature. In each case, you can begin with the basic subject heading, but then you need to think very carefully about the time period you are researching.

Japan History
Take a look at the choices you get. Japan -- History gives you general textbooks  while Japan -- History -- Restoration is much more specific.

Searching for Articles

You cannot use the library catalog to search for articles themselves. Instead you need to use an index first to find out the bibliographic citations of the articles. Then you can check the library catalog for information about the journals that contain the articles. There are several excellent indexes for finding articles related to samurai. Because there is considerable overlap between the various indexing services, you may find the same articles being cited over and over again.

These indexes contain citations only (which means you need to find the printed article in the library or request a copy through interlibrary loan:
    Bibliography of Asian Studies
    Historical Abstracts
    International Index to the Performing Arts
    MLA Bibliography

These indexes contain full-text:
    JSTOR
    PROJECT MUSE
 

Related Websites:

Samurai Archives
This website is maintained by C.E. West and F.W. Seal.

Richard Stein's Japanese Sword Index
This site is truly amazing. It includes glossaries, biographical information, and a great number of images.

An Online Japanese Armour Construction Manual
by Anthony J. Bryant.


UMass LogoCopyright © 2002 University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
      Produced and maintained by the UMass Amherst Libraries, comments to: Sharon Domier
      This is an official page of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Campus.
Created: Aug.  2002; updated Oct. 30, 2002