Sources & Archives

Compiled by the Kamakura Bakufu

Official chronicle of the Kamakura Bakufu, recording Yoritomo's career year by year

Nanboku-chō-period war chronicle written from the Ashikaga side

Tsukahara Bokuden

Bokuden's own collection of didactic poems — the earliest primary source for his thought on swordsmanship

Itō Hirobumi

Itō's official commentary on the constitution — original text of Japanese constitutionalism

Compiled by the Date clan

Official chronicle of the Sendai domain detailing Masamune's career

Meiji Government

The April 6, 1868 promulgation by the Dajōkan

Muromachi-period text, the principal classical source for Yoshitsune and Benkei legends

Miyamoto Musashi

Musashi's own treatise on strategy, completed at Reigandō cave shortly before his death

Yamamoto Tsunetomo (dictated), Tashiro Tsuramoto (recorded)

Classic mid-Edo treatise on bushidō from the Saga Nabeshima domain

Yagyū Munenori

Munenori's own family treatise on the sword — original text of the katsujinken thought

Katsu Kaishū

Late-life talks of Katsu Kaishū transcribed by Yoshimoto Jō — a first-rank source on the Bakumatsu-Restoration transition

Luís Fróis

Contemporary Jesuit account documenting Gracia's conversion in detail

Horibe Yasubē Taketsune

Contemporary diary by one of the forty-seven, covering the months around the raid

Transmitted in the Ii family

Compiled domain record transmitting the foundation of the Ii house and the Hikone domain

Compiled by the Tokugawa Bakufu

Official Bakufu register of warrior-clan genealogies including the Hattori

Takeda Izumo, Miyoshi Shōraku, Namiki Senryū

1748 jōruri / kabuki adaptation that became the most influential dramatization of the Akō Incident

Held by Kashima Shrine

Shrine documents on the Bokuden-Kashima relation

Kido Takayoshi

Personal diary of the late-Bakumatsu and early-Meiji political process

Dictated by Kōsaka Masanobu, edited by Obata Kagenori

War chronicle by a Takeda retainer — foundational text of Kai military doctrine

Records of the Ii-clan Kōyōgata office

Hikone-domain record detailing the bakufu administration during Naosuke's tenure as Tairō

Compiled by Kaibara Ekken

Systematic chronicle of the Kuroda clan and its achievements

Held by the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Contemporary diplomatic records of the Harbin incident

Ōkubo Hikozaemon Tadataka

Contemporary chronicle by a hereditary Mikawa retainer of the Tokugawa

Held by the Imperial Household Agency, Sannomaru Shōzōkan

Contemporary illustrated scroll by Takezaki Suenaga — the foremost surviving primary source on the Mongol invasions

Historiographical Institute, the University of Tokyo

Primary source including Motonari's letters around the Battle of Itsukushima

Historiographical Institute, the University of Tokyo

Critical edition of the documents transmitted in the Mōri house, including the original of the Sanshi Kyōkunjō

Naoe Kanetsugu

Kanetsugu's April 1600 reply to Ieyasu's summons

Okado Denpachirō

Same-day report of the Pine Corridor incident by a Bakufu metsuke on duty in Edo Castle

National Diet Library, Modern Japanese Political History Materials Room

Ōkubo's autograph letters and diaries — primary record of the early Meiji government

Principal compendium for the Sieges of Osaka, recording Matabei's movements

Held by the Hokkaido Prefectural Archives

Original government documents of Enomoto Takeaki's Ezo Republic

Yoshida Shōin

The last letter to his students, written in prison days before execution — the verbal core of Shōin's thought

Daiwa Shobō

Collected letters, poems, and writings of Saigō

National Diet Library, Modern Japanese Political History Materials Room

Includes Ryōma's autograph letters and Bakumatsu political papers

Held by Ueda City Museum and Matsushiro Sanada Treasury

Hereditary Sanada-clan documents including correspondence relating to Nobushige

Held by Ueda City Museum

Hereditary Sanada-clan documents including Masayuki's autograph correspondence

Held by Matsushiro Sanada Treasury

Hereditary documents of the Matsushiro Sanada line including Nobuyuki's autograph correspondence

Mōri Motonari

Letter of instruction given by Motonari to his three sons in 1557; preserved in the Mōri-ke Monjo; original extant

Edo-period compendium and principal narrative source for the Battle of Sekigahara

Edited by Shibusawa Eiichi

Late-life recollections by Yoshinobu himself, recording his Bakumatsu political decisions

Ōta Gyūichi

Records the principal phases of Mitsuhide's Tanba campaign

Ōta Gyūichi

Contemporary record by Nobunaga's vassal — the foremost Azuchi-Momoyama era source

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna

Kamiizumi's inka and teaching documents for his students — the theoretical core of the Shinkage-ryū

Nagakura Shinpachi

Memoir by a surviving Shinsengumi captain — the principal first-hand source on the unit's internal life

Held by the Shōin Shrine

Autograph letters and writings of the Shōka Sonjuku students

Yamaoka Tesshū

Tesshū's own theoretical lectures on the Mutō-ryū

Nanboku-chō-period war chronicle; foremost source for Masashige's career

Held by the Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives

Autograph correspondence and Chōshū-related papers

Yamaguchi Prefectural Archives

Includes Takasugi's autograph correspondence around the founding of the Kiheitai

Takasugi Shinsaku

Includes correspondence from the period of his tuberculosis

Held by Zenshō-an

Talks of Yamaoka Tesshū transcribed by his students including Ogura Tessui

Miyamoto Musashi

Completed 1645; Musashi's own treatise on strategy — the primary source from which all later depictions descend

Kamakura-period epic; principal classical source for Tomoe Gozen and Kiso Yoshinaka

Yamashina Tokitsugu

Eiroku-era Kyoto diary; transmits the relation of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru to the swordsmen of the period

Takenaka Shigekado

Account by the son of Hideyoshi's strategist Takenaka Hanbei

Includes the correspondence around the Hideaki adoptions

National Treasure — Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum

Hereditary Uesugi clan documents including Kenshin's autograph letters

Compiled by the Uesugi clan

Chronological clan record covering Kanetsugu's era

Held by the Yagyū family

Fragmentary record of Munenori's ōmetsuke-era intelligence activities

Compiled by Yanagawa domain

Official chronicle of the Tachibana clan and Yanagawa domain

Yoshida Shōin

Includes letters around the Shimoda stowaway attempt

Compiled by Yonezawa domain

Domain-internal record of Yōzan's words, deeds, and reform measures

Edo-period war chronicle and principal narrative source for Kiyomasa's career

Suwa Katsunori / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan

Source-critical assessment of competing accounts of Mitsuhide's death

Kameda Toshitaka / KADOKAWA

Biography reflecting recent scholarship on the Nanboku-chō period (in Japanese)

Nakano Hitoshi / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan (2017)

Latest scholarly synthesis on Mitsunari (in Japanese)

Taguchi Akiko / Pelican-sha

Kabuki scholar's study of the performance and reception history of Chūshingura

Yamamoto Hirofumi / Shinchō Shinsho

Economic and organizational analysis of the Akō Incident by a University of Tokyo Historiographical Institute professor

Kobayashi Seiji / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, Jinbutsu Sōsho series

Definitive academic biography (in Japanese)

Yamamoto Hirofumi / Chikuma Shinsho

Modern Japanese translation and commentary by a University of Tokyo Historiographical Institute professor

Yamada Yūji / KADOKAWA

Academic ninja research from the Mie University Iga collaboration project

Nomura Ikuyo / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, Jinbutsu Sōsho series

Definitive academic biography (in Japanese)

Murai Shōsuke / NHK Books

Standard reinterpretation of the Mongol invasions in an East Asian context (in Japanese)

An Jung-won / Chūkō Shinsho

Modern biography reflecting current scholarship (in Japanese)

Yoshida Tsunekichi / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan

Classic and definitive Naosuke study (in Japanese)

Itō Yukio / Kōdansha (Academic Bunko)

Standard recent biography of Itō Hirobumi

Gomi Fumihiko / Kōdansha Gakujutsu Bunko

Standard medievalist analysis of the Kamakura government structure in contrast with Kyoto

Yamada Takashi / Ebisu Kōshō Shuppan

Modern biography reflecting recent scholarship (in Japanese)

Matsuura Rei / Chūōkōronshinsha

Standard scholarly biography; detailed empirical account of the bloodless-surrender negotiations

Fujii Tetsuhiro / Chūōkōronshinsha

Study of the Nagasaki Naval Training Center, the Kanrin-maru, and the Kobe Naval Training Center

Taniguchi Katsuhiro / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan

Document-based reassessment of Mitsuhide's motives

Sasaki Suguru / Chūkō Shinsho

Standard biography by a leading Bakumatsu / Meiji historian

Owada Tetsuo / Heibonsha Shinsho

Biography by a leading Sengoku-era scholar (in Japanese)

Mori Shigeaki / KADOKAWA

Biography by a leading scholar of the Nanboku-chō period (in Japanese)

Motoki Yasuo / Chūkō Shinsho

Standard biography by a leading medievalist (in Japanese)

Gomi Fumihiko / Iwanami Shinsho

Standard biography by a leading medievalist; Benkei is a major subject (in Japanese)

Kawai Masaharu / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan (Jinbutsu Sōsho)

Standard postwar biography of Mōri Motonari

Hirayama Yū / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan

Definitive modern study of the Nagashino campaign

Imafuku Tadashi / Shinjinbutsu Ōraisha

Standard modern biography

Sasama Yoshihiko / Kashiwa Shobō

Describes the Mutekatsu-ryū concept and its place in sword-thought history

Tobe Shinjūrō / Chūōkōronshinsha (Chūkō Bunko)

Standard popular study of Sengoku swordsmen, with a chapter on Bokuden

Toyoda Kagehide

Posthumous biography that is the source of major Musashi legends including the Ganryū Island duel

Taniguchi Katsuhiro / Chūkō Shinsho

Empirical reassessment of Nobunaga-era retainer biographies including Mitsuhide's revolt

Taniguchi Katsuhiro / Chūkō Shinsho

Document-based reconstruction of the Oda command structure including Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi

Ikegami Hiroko / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, Jinbutsu Sōsho series

Definitive academic biography (in Japanese)

Taniguchi Katsuhiro / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan

Comprehensive document-based reference for Mitsuhide and the Oda command

Sasaki Suguru / Chūkō Shinsho

Standard biography from Bakumatsu and Meiji historical scholarship (in Japanese)

Iechika Yoshiki / Minerva Shobō

Biography by a leading scholar of Bakumatsu and Meiji history (in Japanese)

Matsuura Rei / Iwanami Shinsho (2008)

Standard empirical biography that strips away later mythologization (in Japanese)

Matsuura Rei / Iwanami Shinsho

Empirical reconstruction of Ryōma's brokering of the alliance

Hirayama Yū / KADOKAWA (2015)

Definitive modern biography reflecting current scholarship (in Japanese)

Kasaya Kazuhiko / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan

Definitive study of Sekigahara including Ōtani's decision to join the Western Army

Ōishi Manabu / Chūkō Shinsho

Standard modern study based on recent archival research

Shimozawa Kan / Chūkō Bunko

Classic 1928 Shinsengumi study that combines documentary research with received tradition

Sasama Yoshihiko / Yūzankaku

Study of representative Japanese spears, including the Tonbogiri

Uozumi Takashi / Shin-Jinbutsuōraisha

Standard scholarly study of the Book of Five Rings, including treatment of modern-era Musashi imagery

Kawai Yasushi / Kōdansha Gakujutsu Bunko

Standard medievalist work re-examining Genpei-era imagery (in Japanese)

Nakano Hitoshi / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, Jinbutsu Sōsho series

Definitive academic biography (in Japanese)

Oze Hoan

Early Edo-period biography that shaped the popular image of Hideyoshi

Ichisaka Tarō / Bunshun Shinsho

Leading-scholar biography of late-Bakumatsu Chōshū

Sasamoto Shōji / Minerva Shobō

Modern academic biography reflecting current scholarship (in Japanese)

Kamogawa Tatsuo / Iwanami Shinsho (2007)

Document-based standard study of Takeda military history

Kamogawa Tatsuo / Iwanami Shinsho

Document-based study of the continuity from Shingen to Katsuyori

Hirayama Yū / KADOKAWA

Document-based study of the Katsuyori-era collapse

Uozumi Takashi / Shinjinbutsu Ōraisha

Definitive academic edition collating extant manuscripts

Kasaya Kazuhiko / Shibunkaku Shuppan

Empirical examination of the course of Sekigahara and the movements of various commanders

Hirayama Yū / PHP Shinsho

Modern study tracing Masayuki, Nobuyuki, and Nobushige (in Japanese)

Irimoto Masuo / Shin-Jinbutsuōraisha

Source-critical scholarly account of the four figures together

Compiled by the Tokugawa Bakufu

Official chronological history of the Tokugawa shoguns

Iechika Yoshiki / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, Jinbutsu Sōsho series

Definitive academic biography (in Japanese)

Yamada Kuniaki / Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, Jinbutsu Sōsho series

Definitive academic biography (in Japanese)

Dōmon Fuyuji / Shūeisha Bunko

Bestselling popular biography that revived Yōzan's modern reputation (in Japanese)

Yamamoto Hirofumi / Shin-Jinbutsuōraisha

Standard modern biography examining the life and thought of Tesshū

Kaihara Tōru / Minerva Shobō

Standard modern biography

Tanaka Akira / Chikuma Shobō

Locates Shōin's position at the hinge between early-modern and modern Japan

Kawaguchi Masaaki / Chichi Shuppansha

Biography drawing on long Shōin scholarship at the Hagi Academy

Ogurusu, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto

Traditional site of Mitsuhide's death, preserved as a historical site

Akō, Hyōgo Prefecture

Central archive for materials on the Akō Incident

Chihayaakasaka, Osaka Prefecture

Adjacent to the Chihaya Castle ruins; holds Kusunoki-clan materials

Bunkyō, Tokyo

Comprehensive archive of materials inherited from the Hosokawa clan

Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture

Ōtani's mortuary temple, holds related materials

Kamakura City

Head Rinzai Zen temple founded by Tokimune to memorialize the Mongol-invasion war dead

Fukuchiyama, Kyoto Prefecture

Dedicated museum on Mitsuhide's tenure as lord of Tanba

Fukuoka City Museum

Holds the Nihongō spear and other Kuroda heirlooms

Fukuoka Prefecture

Holds extensive Tachibana-family documents

Ōtsu City

Temple associated with Kiso Yoshinaka and Tomoe Gozen, holds related artifacts

Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Central repository of Shōin and Shōka Sonjuku materials

Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Holds materials on Itō Hirobumi and other Chōshū-born Meiji elder statesmen

Hakodate City

Comprehensive holdings on the Goryōkaku and Hakodate War

Hino, Tokyo

Dedicated museum at his birthplace, holding his autograph letters and the prized Izumi-no-Kami Kanesada blade

Hikone City

Comprehensive archive of Ii-family heirlooms and documents

Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture

Holds Ii-family armor, Red Devil equipment, and documents

Hino, Tokyo

Dedicated museum on the Shinsengumi's Hino roots

Hiraizumi Town, Iwate Prefecture

Materials relating to Yoshitsune and Benkei's final stand at Koromogawa

Kumamoto City

Kiyomasa's mortuary temple, holds Katō family materials

Kyoto City

Site of the incident; holds related materials

Yagyū-chō, Nara City

Yagyū family mortuary temple including Munenori's grave

Ibaraki Prefecture

Holds materials related to Tokugawa Yoshinobu

Hatsukaichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture

The battlefield of the Battle of Itsukushima, with related historical sites

Kakogawa, Hyōgo Prefecture

Holds materials around the Matabei birthplace tradition

Kamakura City

Holds Kamakura-period sculpture, crafts, and documents

Kanagawa Prefecture

Specialist medieval-history archive holding extensive Kamakura-period documents

Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture

Bokuden's training ground; holds related materials

Ōta-ku, Tokyo (in Senzoku-ike Park)

Katsu's grave site and related materials

Sendai City Museum (UNESCO Memory of the World Register)

Original records of Masamune's mission to Europe (1613–1620)

Kōshū, Yamanashi Prefecture

Takeda mortuary temple near the site of Katsuyori's suicide

Kōchi Prefecture

Comprehensive archive of Ryōma-related materials

Habikino, Osaka Prefecture

Located near the Dōmyōji battlefield and has related historical sites

Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture

The site of the coup; still active as a Sōtō Zen temple

Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art

Original Musashi ink paintings including Shrike on a Withered Branch

Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture

Holds Musashi's self-portrait and related materials

Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture

Holds Kamiizumi and Shinkage-ryū local materials

Nagano City

Comprehensive archive of Sanada-family heirlooms

Mie University

Leading academic institution for ninja and ninjutsu studies

Kobe City

Built at the site of Masashige's last stand at the Battle of Minatogawa

Hōfu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Holds Mōri-family materials, including the original of the Sanshi Kyōkunjō

National Archives of Japan

Holds extensive Tokugawa family documents and pre-Meiji administrative records

National Archives of Japan

Original taikō kenchi land-survey ledgers and Toyotomi-era documents

Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Holds materials on the Constitution of the Empire of Japan

National Diet Library

Central archive for Bakumatsu and Meiji-era political papers

National Diet Library, Japan

Full-text access to primary Nobunaga-era manuscripts and woodblock editions

Chiyoda, Tokyo

Holds performance records and scripts of kabuki and jōruri productions

Okayama Prefecture

Holds materials on Kobayakawa's brief Okayama reign

Osaka City

Comprehensive archive of materials related to the Sieges of Osaka

Ōtaki Town, Chiba Prefecture

Ōtaki Castle where Tadakatsu served as first lord; holds Honda-family materials

Ōyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture

Local archive adjacent to the Yamazaki battlefield

Kagoshima Prefecture

Comprehensive archive for Satsuma-domain and Saigō-related materials

Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto

Central archive of Bakumatsu loyalist materials, including graves of Ikedaya casualties

Kudanshita, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Site of the Saitō Yakurō dōjō where Katsura was head student; a memorial stone remains

Kōchi City, Kōchi Prefecture

Holds Ryōma-related materials including Katsu-Ryōma correspondence

Sekigahara, Gifu Prefecture

Adjacent to the battlefield; comprehensive archive of related materials

Sekigahara Town, Fuwa District, Gifu Prefecture

Holds Sekigahara-related materials

Motoazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Site of Okita Sōji's grave, extant today

Shiga Prefecture

Holds materials related to Mitsunari's seat at Sawayama Castle

Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture

Holds materials on Perry's arrival and the Shōin stowaway incident

Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture

Municipal museum adjacent to the Nagashino battlefield

Shōin Shrine grounds, Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture

The original building, designated a National Historic Site

Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Takasugi's mortuary temple; principal archive of related materials

Kyoto City

Mortuary temple of the Ashikaga shogunate, holds portrait sculptures of successive shoguns

Ueda City

Holds Sanada-clan artifacts and documents

Yamaguchi Prefecture

Holds Kido's autograph correspondence and related materials

Yamanashi Prefectural Museum

Holds Shingen's red-seal letters and the Kōshū legal code

Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture

Holds materials on the Bakumatsu Japanese navy

Yonezawa City

Comprehensive archive of Uesugi family documents and artifacts

Yanaka, Taitō-ku, Tokyo

Rinzai Zen temple founded by Tesshū; houses his grave and personal effects