Monumenta Nipponica is an English-language academic journal featuring peer-reviewed articles and book reviews on Japanese society, culture, history, religion, literature, art, anthropology, and other topics relevant to Japanese and Asian studies. Affiliated with Sophia University in Tokyo, it is published on a quarterly basis. Each issue presents three to four main articles documenting the research of contributing scholars, as well as approximately ten to fifteen reviews of recent books in Japanese studies.
History
Monumenta Nipponica was one of the earliest journals in a Western language that was devoted exclusively to scholarship in the field of Japanese studies. Founded in 1938 by a group of mainly European scholars at Sophia University, the early volumes tend to reflect the Jesuit affiliation of its editors with a large number of articles dealing with the relations between Japan of the "Christian century (1550–1650)" and the Catholic Church. This evident bias, however, did not limit the range of articles published in these early volumes, which dealt with such diverse fields as literature, art, history, philosophy, science, ethnology, linquistics, music and politics.
While the format of the journal today remains more or less the same, several changes in content have occurred. From the late 1950s on, English supplanted other languages as the language of publication. At the same time, there was a shift away from the early emphasis on the history of Japan's relations with the Catholic Church. Another change was the increase in the relative proportion of reviews to articles.
Since its inception, Monumenta Nipponica has remained as one of the benchmark journals in the field of Japanese studies.
Comments
Monumenta Nipponica is an essential journal in the field of Japanese studies. It is especially strong in literature, history, and religion. In particular, the book reviews (often written by the leading scholars in a particular area) are invaluable to any scholar of Japan because they provide a way to stay abreast of the latest developments in the field.
The editorial policy of providing kanji "for Japanese and Chinese words and names appearing in the text and footnotes" enhances the usefulness of the articles as does the generous quotations from the original of Japanese and Chinese texts. In addition to the articles and reviews, the journal periodically includes a brief section of correspondence, which provides an open forum for scholarly debate. An occasional section entitled "Brief Notes" provides information of a more tendentious or immediate interest such as statistical tid-bits. Notes on contributors are generally given at the beginning of each article. While the journal continues to publish articles by acknowledged experts in the field, it is generous in the space allotted to new scholars. The importance given to translation also deserves mention.
Back issues of Monumenta Nipponica are accessible through JSTOR, while the most recent issue is available through the online database (as well as all issues that will follow), ProjectMuse.
Current Editors
- Editor:
Kate Wildman Nakai
- Managing Editor:
Lynne E. Riggs
Historical Editors (1938–present)
- Vols. 1–6 (1938–1943) – J. B. Kraus (founder)
- Vols. 7–17 (1951–1962) – Wilhelm Schiffer
- Vol. 18 (1963) – Wilhelm Schiffer, Francis Mathy
- Vols. 19–23 (1964–1968) – Joseph Pittau
- Vols. 24–25 (1969–1970) – Edmund R. Skrzypczak
- Vols. 26–51 (1971–1996) – Michael Cooper
- Vol. 52 (1997) – Michael Cooper, Kate Wildman Nakai
- Vol. 53– (1998–present) – Kate Wildman Nakai
External links
- Monumenta Nipponica
- JSTOR
Visit JSTOR for back issues available online. - ProjectMuse
Visit ProjectMuse for a free sample of the most recent issue online.