Maps Archives - Hazine

April 19, 2014August 20, 2020

National Archives of Japan

Introduction

The National Archives of Japan (Kokuritsu kōbunsho-kan 國立公文書館) are invaluable to researchers working on Japan’s relationships with and growing interest in the Middle East and Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The archives are located in the Imperial Palace complex in Tokyo’s Chiyoda District at the north end of Kitanomaru Park, the former site of Edo Castle and the seat of the Tokugawa Shogun (1603-1867).

Researchers interested in the important relationships between Pan-Asianism and Pan-Islamism, non-western expressions of transnationalism and internationalism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Japan’s growing scholarly interest in Islam at the turn of the twentieth century will find these archives invaluable for their research.

History

The National Archives of Japan houses most the of administrative documents of the government, as well as many journals, newspapers, manuscripts, and important books published since the Meiji Period (1868-1912) or collected by different governments since that period. During the Allied Occupation of Japan, the Diet acknowledged the need to create a permanent facility to prevent the further destruction and disbursement of documents, and to ensure that they would be made available to the public. However, it was not until 1971 that the Diet voted to establish the National Archives to ensure the preservation of government documents and publications, and to ensure that they would all be housed in one, central location. This brought together many disparate collections, such as the library for the cabinet of the Meiji government, which included seminal works of ancient Japanese and Chinese philosophy not found anywhere else. In 2001, the National Archives opened its current location and is home to the majority of surviving documents regarding decisions made by the central government.

Researchers should be aware that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains its own archive and library, holding all diplomatic documents from the end of the Tokugawa Bakufu in the mid-nineteenth century until the postwar period. For anyone working on foreign relations with Japan, it is imperative that they visit this collection as well.

Collection

The archive holds government documents and publications that are available to the public from the establishment of the Cabinet system in Japan to the early 1970s. The archives also house the Momijiyama Library (紅葉山文庫), which began as the library of Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1602. This library contains maps, manuscripts, and books collected by the government from the Tokugawa Bakufu onwards, as well as important Chinese works on East Asian medical traditions, politics, plays, and early Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) novels and poetry.

However, the collections that researchers will find the most valuable are the materials compiled by the Diet starting in the Meiji Period. These document collections are arranged chronologically and classified into categories, such as public works, education, and foreign affairs. Here, researchers will find detailed works on the history of Islam and Muslim societies, detailed ethnographic studies of Muslim populations in the Middle East, India, Central Asia, and China, and reports of Japanese efforts to enlist the support of Muslims in the prewar and war periods. They will also find documents pertaining to Japan’s plans to position itself as the “Mecca of the East,” the building of the Tokyo Camii, the naturalization of Muslim Tatar refugees from the Crimea after the Russia Revolution, as well as journals and papers chronicling the conversion of numerous Japanese scholars to Islam following their studies in Istanbul and Cairo. All of these together make up one of the most important collections of works in Japanese concerning Islam.

Documents up to the end of WWII are open and public, although an archivist must screen many documents from the post-war period before they are made available to researchers. The screening process can take time, so if you plan to look at documents from 1945 onwards, inquire with the archives before visiting. Having never had to request a document that needed to be screened, I am relying on information provided on the archives website which explains that they will screen up to five documents a day per person and notify the researcher once the documents have been screened and cleared for viewing.

The Research Experience

The collection is completely searchable online by keyword, although researchers must be physically present at the archives to request documents or to view the majority of the digitized documents. Searches can be narrowed to include certain years or reigns. Researchers are advised to spend time trying numerous keyword combinations to optimize search results. They should also try kanji, hiragana, katakana and the other spelling variants. For instance, if looking for documents pertaining to “Turkey” in Japanese, it is advisable to search kanji (土耳其), hiragana (とるこ), katakana (トルコ), and any other spelling variants you are familiar with to maximize the number of hits.

There are also paper catalogs in the research room that are worth examining to cross-reference online searches, as they sometimes yield sources or avenues to researchers that online catalogs do not. Discrepancies or anomalies between the online and paper catalogs are rare, although occasionally the printed editions provide information not available in the online catalogs. Given the efficiency of the online catalog, researchers can spend a few days before they visit the archives searching the documents they would like to see or have pulled when they arrive. This allows researchers to hit the ground running: you can have a document in hand within an hour of arriving at the archives.

Japan is at the forefront of archival digitization and you can browse all of their digital holdings online (see website below). The quality of digitization is extremely high, and in my experience, there was no need to request the original if the digital copy was available. Many of the digitized documents are only available to view or print from within the archives. Some manuscripts and journals that are available widely can be downloaded from an outside network, but most documents require the physical presence of the researcher at the archives—even if the material is digitized. Printing digitized copies is free.

Pulling items that have not been digitized requires that researchers complete a form and submit it to the incredibly helpful staff. Although the staff only speak Japanese, they are extremely polite, patient, and thoughtful. After submitting a request, you can expect to see your first documents within an hour, and the archivists pull documents throughout the day, depending on the number of requests. The research room is well lit and well air-conditioned. There are some dictionaries and encyclopedias for reference use. Recently, the research room has been equipped with Wi-Fi for researchers, which is easily accessible in a few simple steps.

Access

The archives are open Monday to Friday, 9:15 to 17:00. They are closed on weekends, Japanese national holidays, and December 28-January 4 for New Year holidays. Last admission to the archives and the last time to submit a request for documents is thirty minutes before closing.

Upon arrival at the archives, you will need to register using either your passport or a valid form of government identification issued by your home country, such as a driver’s license. The process is simple and efficient and takes no more than ten minutes. Following this, researchers must sign in with a security guard who issues them a locker key to secure their belongings for the day. All government buildings in Japan are wheelchair accessible.

Reproductions

Until recently, the archives did not allow photographs, and copying was expensive. However, the archives have recently amended their regulations and now allow researchers to photograph most documents. Many Meiji (1868-1912) documents cannot be photographed, whereas most Taishō (1912-1926) and Shōwa (1928-1989) documents can. A word of advice: the National Archives holds a number of important manuscripts and journals about Islam and Islam in Asia published in the first half of the twentieth century. It is advisable to check the catalog of the National Archives of Japan before you pay to copy them at other locations (for instance at the Waseda University Library, Tōyō Bunko, or the National Library of Japan) since they may be photographed at the archives for free. This only applies to a few books and publications, but it is worth looking into since copying materials is often prohibitively expensive in Japan.

If the documents you want cannot be photographed, expect to fill out a form requesting one of the staff to copy them for you (researchers are not allowed to copy their own documents). This can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a few days, depending on the number of pages you request. Researchers can also request PDFs and/or JPEGs of their documents, which are digitized on a CD ROM for a nominal fee. Each page costs upwards of 35 US cents (or around 30-35 Japanese yen) to copy, so having the time to make good choices about what you want to copy is important.

Transportation and Food

The easiest way to get to the archive is by metro. The closest metro stop is Takebashi 竹橋 on the Tōzai Line. The next closest stop, Jinbōchō 神保町, is a kilometer walk from the archives and is on the Hanzōmon, Mita, and Shinjuku lines. As an aside, Jinbōchō is the used book district in Tokyo, and many hours can be spent meandering its small, winding streets and incredible used bookstores. Depending on where researchers are staying in Tokyo, it will cost between US $8-12 per day getting to and from the archives by metro. Researchers who are planning to stay in Tokyo for longer periods can also buy a bicycle, which is a pleasant and affordable way to get around the city. There is bike parking at the archives, or nearby at the Tōzai metro station.

There is no cafeteria in the archives, although there is a small lunchroom that researchers are welcome to share with the staff. The room has some large armchairs for quick post-lunch naps, but they are rarely vacant. Researchers can also use the vending machines and hot water dispenser in the lunchroom. Given the location of the archives at the north end of the Imperial Palace complex, there are few affordable places to eat in the surrounding areas. The archives are situated next to the National Museum of Modern Art, which has a lovely, yet rather expensive, coffee shop. A few small restaurants serving bento boxes and meal combos (teishoku) can be found within walking distance, but they are also quite expensive for lunch. The best and most affordable option for those who do not bring their own lunch are the numerous convenience stores (konbini) that are located within a kilometer or so radius from the archives. As anyone who has spent time in Japan will know, the konbini offers a very viable and affordable option for a quick lunch.

Future Plans and Rumors

The archives are constantly taking documents out of circulation for digitization. On my last visit, I was not able to see two or three documents that I ordered because they were being digitized. This slight inconvenience, however, should not deter researchers—I was able to see about 95% of what I requested.

Contact Information

3-2 Kitanomaru Park, Chiyoda District, Tokyo

東京都千代田区北の丸公園３番2 号

Telephone number: 03-3214-0621

Resources and Links

Searchable Digital Archive Collection (Japanese)

Searchable Digital Archive Collection (English)

Archive Website (Japanese)

Archive Website (English)

Valuable tool for researchers to do some preliminary planning before their trip:

Kosugi Yashishi, Hayashi Kayoko and Tonaga Yasushi, eds. Islamic World Research Manual.Nayoga: Nagoya University Press, 2008.

小杉泰、林佳世子、東長靖、編. イスラム世界研究マニュアル. 名古屋：名古屋学生時代出版社、2008.

Kelly Hammond is a doctoral student at Georgetown University. Her work focuses on the Japanese efforts to win the hearts and minds of Muslims in North China during the China War (1931-1945).

21 April 2014

Cite this: Kelly Hammond, “The National Archives of Japan for Scholars of the the Middle East,” Hazine, 21 April 2014, https://hazine.info/2014/04/19/national-archives-japan/

March 13, 2014August 20, 2020

Archivo General de Simancas

Written by Claire Gilbert

The Archivo General de Simancas (AGS) is the primary central archive of the Hispanic Monarchy for documents from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, although it also holds documents dating from the medieval period. It is located in the fifteenth-century castle of Simancas in a small village of the same name, ten kilometers from Valladolid. It is a valuable repository not only for the study of early modern Iberian empires, but also for North Africa and the Mediterranean.

History

The history of the AGS has its precedents in the consolidation of the royal archival depository in the first part of the sixteenth century, first on the orders of Ferdinand II of Aragon and then under his grandson Charles V in the 1540s. Charles’s son, Philip II, made the founding of a permanent physical repository of state documents a priority, not long after founding a permanent capital in Madrid and the royal library in El Escorial (which included a collection of Arabic texts). The site was renovated throughout the sixteenth century in order to transform it from a state prison to the royal state archive, and for several decades the two functions coexisted. In 1599 the military head of the prison-fortress was permanently replaced with the head archivist. All documents pertaining to the business of the Hispanic monarchy were thereafter deposited and preserved in the archival fortress, where historians requested special permission to consult them. The archive was partially relocated during the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), but the documents were subsequently returned to Simancas. In the eighteenth century most documents pertaining to Spanish possessions in and trade with the Americas were moved from Simancas to the Archivo General de las Indias in Seville. During the Peninsular War and Napoleonic occupation (1807-1814), many state papers from Simancas were captured and transported to France, including many papers relating to Spanish enterprises in North Africa, although almost all have since been returned. While most documents pertaining directly to royal administration remained in Simancas, other state documents (including those pertaining to the Inquisition, which confiscated Arabic documents) began to be deposited in or were transferred to the Archivo Histórico Nacional in Madrid. Today the AGS is part of a modern network of Spanish state archives, run by the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, y Deporte (Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport, MECD), formerly Ministerio de Cultura. This network also includes the Archivo Histórico Nacional, the Archivo de la Corona de Aragón and the Archivo General de Indias, among several others. A complete list may be found on the MECD website.

Collection:

The AGS houses many documents related to the history of diplomatic and commercial relations between the Hispanic Monarchy and different Muslim powers and communities. Most documents are in Spanish, Italian, and other European languages, but there are documents in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish, and possibly in Persian —as part of the Habsburg-Safavid diplomatic correspondence—as well as translations from those languages into Spanish or Italian. These are likely to be found interpolated with diplomatic correspondence and reports. After the eighteenth century, complementary collections concerning diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire were to be found in the Archivo del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores (AMAE) in Madrid. The AMAE was closed last year, and although the documents have been transferred to the Archivo Histórico Nacional in Madrid and the Archivo General de la Administración in Alcalá de Henares, the AMAE collections are not currently accessible for researchers. Arabic documents produced in or sent to Valencia and Catalunya are more likely to be found in the rich Arabic collections of the Archivo de la Corona de Aragón in Barcelona, where they may be accessed, in part, online via PARES.

The holdings of Simancas, which are vast, are divided into twenty-eight broad collections, within which there are many subdivisions. Collections of particular interest for scholars of North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Islamic Spain are Patronato Real, Secretarías del Consejo de Estado, Secretarías de los Consejos de Flandes, Italia y Portugal, and Guerra y Marina, although there are documents relating to Islamic Spain, North Africa, and the Mediterranean to be found throughout the archive. The bulk of Patronato Real documents, including treaties between Castile and Nasrid Granada dating from 1406, are digitized and available online at PARES. The other collections must be consulted at Simancas. The most common method of cataloging across the collections is by individual name, place name, and date range, so scholars will want to formulate their research questions in this particular archive following these kinds of keywords through the different collections. There is no standard catalog across the archive, although the online database (PARES) is a good place to start and can support keyword searches other than name, place, and date. The online search is useful if you are not at Simancas but it can only take you so far. The real map to the holdings is to be found in the paper catalogs in the AGS reading rooms, which correspond to specific collections and which are quite heterogeneous in organization and layout.

simancas 1 — An interior hall in Simancas archive

The AGS also holds a rich collection of maps and drawings, including of sites in North Africa. The entire maps and drawing collection (Mapas, Planos y Dibujos) has been digitized. More information about the collection and how to consult it can be found here:

The Research Experience:

Researchers can bring only pencils, laptops, and half sheets of paper (provided) into the reading room. All other belongings are left in lockers in the break room. There are spaces for at least twenty researchers in the reading room, with additional space in a neighboring room, and it is rarely full, except in the summer months.

Since 2013, document requests are now made from one of two computer terminals in the reading room, as part of a now standard practice across state archives. You use the username and password that are issued to you with your research ID (carné de investigador). Document requests are fulfilled as they are received, and it usually takes about 15-20 minutes for the documents to be brought to the reading room. A researcher may request three legajos at a time and there is a limit of 10 legajos per day.

There is an active program of digitization across the Spanish state archives, including Simancas. However, by far the bulk of the materials remain available in manuscript format only. There is no single catalog of the AGS, although the Simancas holdings are partially described online as part of the main archive bibliographic database, PARES. Some of the documentary collections have published catalogs, which may be available in university libraries. The entire catalog collection may only be consulted completely in the Simancas reading rooms. Most catalogs are available for consultation on the reading-room shelves. Some of the collections still rely on seventeenth-century catalogs, which must be requested from the archivist.

The archivists at the AGS provide outstanding research help and can help guide researchers to the right collections and catalogs based on their topics and questions. The best place to start for any researcher is with a copy of the guide, Archivo General de Simancas: Guía del investigador (1962), sadly out of print but available in many university libraries and in several well-worn copies in the AGS reading room. This guide gives a detailed overview of the collections, their subdivisions, and the date ranges in each. The guide is not a substitute for the catalogs, but is an important first step to understand the possible research directions one may take in the AGS.

The AGS also houses a respectable research library collection with books and articles related to early modern Spanish history and in particular related to research topics that may be done from Simancas. The library catalog can be found here. Users should specify “Biblioteca: Archivo General de Simancas.” Researchers can request books to be delivered to the reading room, and this can be a valuable compliment to manuscript research. There are also a range of dictionaries on the shelves that researchers may use as they wish.

The archive staff is kind, professional, and thoroughly knowledgeable about the collection. New researchers will have a chance to speak with the Jefa de sala (Head of the Reading Room), who will help orient you in the catalogs and give guidance about which collections to search based on your research topic. Spanish is the primary language of communication, and is recommended, although the archivists are scholars themselves and thus possess a range of fluency in other languages. The researchers are also an international group, so for those researchers who do not speak Spanish, it may be possible to find someone to help translate in a pinch. The most prudent strategy would be to arrive with a version of your primary research topic in Spanish, although there will likely be a multilingual and friendly group in the reading room who can help facilitate communication.

Last Will and Testament of Queen Isabella, from the Simancas Archive

Reproductions:

Reproductions are available on CD or in paper, and the format depends on the collection. Some collections have not been digitized, and are only currently available in paper copies. Other collections have been digitized and are only available in digital copies on CD. Prices vary but are reasonable (e.g., 0.15 Euros/page for a black and white A4), and there is a small cost for the CD if digital copies are requested. There are different reproduction-request forms for either digital or paper copies, and both are available in the reading room. It is best to consult one of the archivists or technicians about which form to use since they have an immediate sense of whether a document is available for digital or paper reproduction. Digital reproductions are made much more quickly than the paper copies, for obvious reasons. Because the archive is so well used, the wait for paper reproductions can take between a few weeks to a few months, but the staff does its best to complete reproduction orders as quickly as their resources allow. Reproductions can be sent internationally for the cost of postage and it might be possible to request them from abroad as well.

Access:

The AGS is open Monday through Friday from 8:15 until 14:30 only. In practice, the archivists begin to collect materials by 14:15, meaning that research ends at that time. The Valladolid-Simancas bus arrives around 8:30, meaning that researchers who stay in the village of Simancas have the advantage of an extra half-hour in the archive. There are no long-term closures, and the AGS remains open in August, when some Spanish libraries and archives close. Holidays fall throughout the year, however, and a list of holiday closures (días festivos) is available on the main archive web page.

Entrance to the AGS and any Spanish state archive is open to all. However, a recent change in policy means that you do need to apply for a research ID (carné de investigador) when you arrive, which is applicable at all state archives. If you already have an ID from another state archive, you simply present it at the AGS. In Simancas, as in any of the state archives, obtaining a research ID requires a passport and a short interview, which can best be facilitated if you have a letter of affiliation on hand. It is not a difficult process, but it is important to bring the required materials and be able to explain briefly your interest in the collections. If you are not Spanish, you must bring your passport to the archive each day in order to gain access to the site.

The archive also houses a small museum and exhibition space, which is open in the morning and afternoon, including Saturdays (the archive is not open on Saturdays). Tourists may visit on weekdays from 10:00-14:00 and 17:00-19:00 and Saturdays from 11:00-14:00 and 17:00-19:00. See the website for more information about guided tours.

Transportation and Food:

Simancas is not far from Valladolid, which serves as the main base for researchers who are not staying in the village. Transportation to and from the archive can be complicated for the uninitiated. If you do not have your own car, you must use the medium-distance bus service, which departs from the Valladolid Bus Station, and the fare is just over a Euro each way (though prices may change). Researchers based in Madrid should take the Alvia train from the Chamartín train station (an early train allows you to catch the 10:00 bus to Simancas, but verify current transportation schedules), or the ALSA bus from either the Moncloa or South Bus Stations. There is also a bus that goes straight from the Barajas International Airport just outside Madrid to Valladolid. Once in Valladolid, the train and bus stations are about a 15-minute walk from one another. The Simancas bus (La Regional) leaves from one of the central bays, and you may buy your ticket from the window inside or from the bus driver. There has been in the past a bono-card which allows you to purchase ten journeys for a slightly cheaper fare. The bus leaves Valladolid at 8:00, but then not again until 10:00, (especially important for researchers coming from Madrid who need to coordinate train schedules). Subsequently the bus leaves every hour. The bus returns from Simancas to Valladolid around 14:15 and 15:15, but the next bus back to Valladolid is not until 17:15. If you miss the 14:15 bus, you should stay and have lunch in the village. An online bus schedule can be found here.

There are several bars and restaurants in Simancas, in addition to a coffee and snack machine in the archive break room. Researchers are generally very friendly and sociable, and will gather for a coffee break at the machine or one of the bars around 11:00, and/or for lunch once the archive closes.

Miscellaneous:

The archive runs small temporary exhibitions based on its collections, which are uniformly excellent and certainly worth visiting. There is no charge associated with visiting the exhibition. Overall, Simancas is an exceptional place to do research, given the richness of the collections, the kindness and professionalism of the staff, and the pleasant reading room and efficient document delivery.

Contact information:

Telephone:

(34) 983 590 003

Address:

Calle Miravete, 8

47130 Simancas (Valladolid)

SPAIN

Website and Email:

http://www.mcu.es/archivos/MC/AGS/

ags@mcu.es

Resources and Links:

The “Guide” to Simancas, a thorough though not detailed overview of the collections, their contents, histories, date ranges and shelfmarks: Angel de la Plaza Bores, Archivo General de Simancas: Guía del Investigador, Valladolid: Dirección General de Archivos y Bibliotecas, 1962.

A recent collection of scholarly essays about the AGS and the work which has been done using its collections: Alberto Marcos Martín (ed.), Hacer historia desde Simancas, Valladolid: Junta de Castilla y León, 2011.

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Claire Gilbert is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at UCLA working on translators between Spain and Morocco in the sixteenth century.

Cite this: Claire Gilbert, “Simancas”, HAZINE, https://hazine.info/2014/03/13/simancas/, 13 Mar 2014

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