This research project aims to digitize three valuable collections of archival material related to the economic history of Japan held at Tohoku University: the Kemuyama village and Imai village document collections located on microfilm at the Economics Department, and the Kotani documents at Tohoku University Library.

　The Kemuyama and Imai documents formed the basis of several studies by Professor Nakamura Kichiji during the middle of the 20th century that reshaped our understanding of village society in early modern and modern Japan, while the Kotani documents offer unparalleled insights into the structure of trade, guilds, the sugar business, and finance in eastern Japan during the 19th century.

　With the help of students, the project will make these materials publicly available through ToUDA, the university’s digital archive, create an online exhibition in English and Japanese based on part of the materials for use in classrooms inside and outside of Japan, and conduct a workshop on campus to study the sources. In doing so, the project will enable new digital research rooted in collaboration with researchers around the world, as well as shed new light onto changes in Japan’s economy and society across the early modern and modern periods.


▲Draft of a petition regarding a dispute over seating order in the meetings of the materia medica guild in Sendai, 5/1865. Kotani documents collection, Tohoku University Library.