Course resource help for Japanese Studies

• If you're new to the Oxford Brookes Library, check our quick guides For new starters
• Find out How to get help using the Library
• Find out about Library services for users with a disability and Alternate formats
• Check a PDF floor plan of the Headington Library The main section for language resources is on Level 2 in Zone E of the Headington Library, but note this will be moving up to Level 3 during the summer of 2025. Japanese arts and cinema are on Level 4.

Going to university is a huge step but there is lots of support available. Here are links to support services and useful resources for self-care:

• Life and study balance - find out about the Library Wellbeing Zone, Sensory Study Space and collections of self-care resources.
• Managing yourself and your time (part of our Study Smarter series)
• Student support and wellbeing - how to contact your Student Support Co-ordinator and other services. 
• Inclusive Support Service

Check the Study Smarter section to find online resources and recommended books on study skills topics, including:

• Managing yourself and your time
• Reading, lectures and note taking
• Writing essays, reports and other assignments
• Group work and presentations
• Preparing for exams
• Skills for dissertations and independent research

Why should I use databases?

LibrarySearch is a good starting point but it doesn’t include all of our e-resources. We have lots of specialist search engines called databases that will help you trace a wide variety of additional sources. Many databases focus on journal articles but others contain newspaper articles, business information, even images and TV programmes / films. 

How do I use databases?

Check the section How to use databases (below) to find:

• Links to recommended databases like Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, Factiva and BoB
• How to search databases effectively

• OED - online version of the Oxford English Dictionary.
• Oxford Reference Online - collection of Oxford University Press reference books on a variety of subjects. Good sources for finding concise factual information and definitions. Individual titles from the collection are also listed on LibrarySearch.

Using Google and Google Scholar

• Google Scholar is a freely available search engine that focuses on scholarly sources. Check our guide Searching Scholar to find out how to ensure it recognises resources you can access for free via Oxford Brookes.
• Get more from Google - tips on using Google and Google Scholar more effectively.

Assessing the quality of web sources

Remember that you need high quality reliable sources for your university work. Take a look at our guide to Evaluating Web sources for tips (Word & PDF versions available).

Useful websites

• The online publication The Conversation contains articles written by academics for a general audience on topics currently in the news and contains links to freely available resources, including statistics. This can be a good starting point for getting ideas on how to approach a research topic.

• Selection of useful websites for Japanese Studies

Referencing web pages

Check Cite Them Right Online for guidance on how to reference web pages and how to reference publications of international organisations in the Harvard style used at Oxford Brookes.

Always check the assignment brief to see whether any use of AI is permitted. If you have used AI, make sure you fill out the declaration form.

Key Brookes links:

• Artificial Intelligence  - Centre for Academic Development (CAD) guidance
• Use of Artificial Intelligence - Academic Integrity module on Moodle

Can I use generative AI tools like ChaptGPT to produce references?

Take care when using chat tools as they will often invent plausible but non-existent references. These tools don’t carry out a search of the literature for you and they may generate references using real people, journals & words from titles, but which do not exist.

Are there AI tools that could be useful for research?

There are other AI tools like Research Rabbit, Keenious and SciSpace which are designed to help you to find literature and understand how different sources relate to each other. To find out more, check the Library page Use AI tools for research.

Using images in your presentations and coursework

Check this guide Using images in your assignments (Google slides) which covers:

• Understanding copyright
• Finding free to use images
• Crediting and referencing images

Collections of images

For high quality photographs & other images, try these digital image databases mentioned in the guide above:

• Bridgeman Education - a digital image database highly recommended if you want to find images of Japan, from art works to historical photographs of Japan and its people.
• JSTOR image search (incorporating ARTstor) - provides high-quality images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more.

Collections of high quality, free to use photos and images - all mentioned in the guide above:

• Unsplash
• Pexels
• Pixabay

Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an online archive of films, TV and radio programmes. You can create your own clips from programmes and include them in presentations. Find out more from the How to use BoB video guides produced by Learning on Screen. 

Doing presentations

• Guide to Using images in your assignments (Google slides) 
• Useful resources on Doing groupwork and presentations (part of our Study Smarter series)

Doing exams

• Past exam papers are available for download by Brookes students and staff from RADAR. Check this quick video guide Finding past Oxford Brookes exam papers on RADAR
• Useful resources on Preparing for exams (part of our Study Smarter series)

Primary sources: book sources on Japan

Primary sources: Online primary sources - these are all Open Access, so free to use

Collections of images

For high quality photographs & other images on Japan, try these digital image databases mentioned in the guide above:

• Bridgeman Education - a digital image database highly recommended if you want to find images of Japan, from art works to historical photographs of Japan and its people.
• JSTOR image search (incorporating ARTstor) - provides high-quality images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more.

Box of Broadcasts (BoB) is an online archive of films, TV and radio programmes. You can create your own clips from programmes and include them in presentations. Learn more from the BoB Video Tutorials

Using images in your presentations and coursework

Check this guide Using images in your assignments (Google slides) which covers:

• Understanding copyright
• Finding free to use images
• Crediting and referencing images

• Factiva is an international news database and a key resource for Japanese studies. It covers many Japanese newspapers and magazines. Check the guide for tips on how to search for resources from Japan or in Japanese.
• HeinOnline This database offers full text resources on international relations and international law, such as journal articles, government documents and much more. The collection includes historical sources on foreign affairs, many from a US perspective. 

Books and other resources for learning Japanese are shelved on Level 2 of the Library, in Zone E (silent study area) of the Headington Library.
Note that the languages section will be moving up to Level 3 during the summer of 2025.

Some key sections are:

• 418.02 Translation
• 420 English language
• 495.6 Japanese language
• 495.6321 Japanese dictionaries
• 495.65 Japanese grammar
• 495.68 Learning Japanese, Japanese language usage
• 495.686 Graded readers including the Brookes series Let's Read Japanese

Learn Japanese: Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese Freely available online.

• Japanese texts: easy readers & fiction - list of resources available in Brookes Library for students of Japanese who want to read Japanese texts
• Japanese literature in translation - list of shorter Japanese fiction, essays and novels translated into English, available from Brookes Library.
• Aozora Bunko - (the "Blue Sky Library", also known as the "Open Air Library") is a Japanese digital library of thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-of-copyright books or works that the authors wish to make freely available.

Manga texts in translation are shelved around 741.5952 on Level 4 in Zone B of the Headington Library. 

Browse this list Japanese films and manga to find out what series are available.

Useful resources on doing Dissertations and independent research (part of our Study Smarter series) 

Who can access: Japanese Studies undergraduates doing honours level equivalent research (from the 2nd Semester of your 2nd Year) are eligible to apply for a Bodleian card. 

What they hold: The Bodleian is a copyright deposit library, which means that a copy of all British publications should be deposited in its collections by the publisher under copyright law. Check their Library catalogue SOLO

How to apply: Check How to access the Bodleian and other libraries. Note that there are different procedures if you apply during the vacation 

What you can access: You can use the main Bodleian Library of Oxford University, as well as the Bodleian Japanese Library.
Your Bodleian card gives you access to print and e-resources but only within their library buildings. You will be given a Bodleian Libraries username and password which allows you to log into SOLO, library PCs and the ‘Bodleian-Libraries’ Wi-Fi network as well as using their Print, Copy and Scan (PCAS) service. For full details, check their guide What access do I have as a Bodleian Reader card holder 

Interlibrary loan service

You can use this free service to request a loan of a print book or to obtain a copy of a journal article that we don’t hold at Brookes. Find out more about the interlibrary loan service

Go further, get more

Check the Library's Go further, get more page for other options.

• LibrarySearch: Libraries worldwide
  You can use LibrarySearch to look for resources in Brookes Library and beyond. To look for books and articles held by other libraries, type your keywords in the search box and then use the menu on the left to change the settings from 'Oxford Brookes University' to 'Libraries Worldwide.' For many items you will see an option to place an interlibrary loan request.
• Jisc Library Hub Discover allows you to search materials held in many UK national, academic and specialist libraries.
• SOLO Search the catalogue of the University of Oxford