(1) Japanese old photographs in the Bakumatsu-Meiji period

    Nagasaki University-owned old photographs were those shot at different parts of the country between 1860' s and 1890' s by Hikoma Ueno, who opened Japan' s first photo studio in Nagasaki, British photographer Felix Beato, and others. Many of these were beautifully colored by professional artists.

    They date from the time when photography was first introduced into Japan. Their historic value is, therefore, very high and they are also precious data that show what life was like for the Japanese people of those days.

    The Collection consists of 6,026 original pictures focusing especially on foreign settlements, harbor scenes, and buildings in Nagasaki and Yokohama, and scenes and customs of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, and other places from Bakumatsu to early Meiji.

    The University made a database of this Collection in 1997 and 1998 with the financial support of MEXT and released it on the Internet to share results for the common good.

< --- To Online Database of Old Japanese Photographs of the University Library(English/Japanese)

(2) Database with ultra-high-resolution of old Japanese photographic images of the Bakumatsu-Meiji period

    The University-owned old Japanese photographs were taken from the Bakumatsu era to mid-Meiji. Many of these are still extremely clear and depict information regarding cities, landscapes, and customs of those days in great details.

    The University created a "Database with ultra-high-resolution of old Japanese photographic images of the Bakumatsu-Meiji period" and opened it to the public on the website. Users can now take advantage of the in-depth information in these photographs, since images can be enlarged on the computer screen five to ten times with unchanged sharpness.

    This image database includes 201 photos of Nagasaki and 300 of other places. These images can be searched on the website from the map, by categories and from keywords. In addition, detailed descriptions are presented in both the English and Japanese languages. Images of Japan from the Bakumatsu to Meiji period when the country was on the process of modernization are available for appreciation in ultra-high-resolution quality.

< --- To Database with ultra-high-resolution of old Japanese photographic images in the Bakumatsu-Meiji period(English/Japanese)

(3) Reproduction of old Japanese photographs for exhibition on website

    The Japan Association of National University Libraries exhibited Nagasaki University-owned "old Japanese photos" in various places in Japan from 1995 to 1997. The University posted those pictures on its website including:

• Nagasaki and Opening of the port in the Bakumatsu period
  • Nagasaki foreign settlement and Dejima
  • Nagasaki Port and the city
  • Nagasaki by Hikoma Ueno and Felix Beato
  • Profile of Nagasaki
• Westernization and modernization - lights and shadows in the various regions of Japan
  • Yokohama trade port and western-style architecture
  • From Edo to Tokyo
  • Resort districts near Tokyo and the suburb of Yokohama
  • Hustle and bustle of port town Kobe
  • Modernization of mercantile city Osaka
  • Development in ancient Kyoto
  • Nagoya Castle, Nobi earthquake, and Nakasendo
  • Matsushima and Hakodate
  • Temporary American Consulate and Exclusion in the Bakumatsu period
• Occupation, life style, and customs
  • A variety of customs
  • Agriculture
  • Handicraft industry
  • Store shelves and peddling
  • life style and culture

< --- To Reproduction of old Japanese photograph for exhibition on the website(Japanese)

(4) Glover Atlas

    Businessman Tomisaburo Kuraba, or Thomas Albert Glover, second son of British trader Thomas Blake Glover who supported young reformists involved in the Meiji Restoration, commissioned five local artists to draw some 600 kinds of fish landed the Nagasaki Fish Market for 20 years from late Meiji to early Showa. The "Glover Atlas" is a colored book consisting of 806 paintings (801 sheets) of fish in 34 volumes, and it is considered one of the four major books on fish in Japan.

    The collection was left with Keizo Shibusawa from Tomisaburo Kuraba after the war and donated to Nagasaki University Faculty of Fisheries. The University digitized the Atlas and posted it on the Internet in 1998.

< --- To Glover Atlas(Japanese)

(5) Digital archives of the history of modern medicine

    The history of Western medical education in Japan all started when army surgeon Dr. Pompe of the Dutch navy first established Igakudenshusho, the oldest medical school in Japan, and later opened the Yojyosho, or Sanatorium, in Nagasaki. The Igakudenshusho is the origin of Nagasaki University School of Medicine.

    The Medical Library is posted on the web. It shows its many medical history materials, telling how modern medicine emerged in Nagasaki and how it developed. This includes items such as the "Kunstrijk" , an anatomical model made from paper which Dr. Pompe used for anatomy practice for the first time ever, the book on Western medicine "Kouigekasoden" written by Chinzan Narabayashi, Japan' s oldest "stethoscope" , Philip Franz von Siebold' s "Flora Japonica" , "Dr. Pompe' s transcript of lectures" , and "Siebold' s map" .

< --- To Digital archives of the history of modern medicine(Japanese)

(6) Muto Collection

    The Muto Collection consists of 10,000 Japanese and foreign books, journals, booklets, and 200 other materials which were donated by Dr. Chozo Muto, who served as a professor of Nagasaki Higher Commercial School, presently the Faculty of Economics of Nagasaki University. This Collection includes rare books from a wide range of disciplines mainly from the Japan-Holland and Japan-England trading, historical materials about Nagasaki at the end of the Bakumatsu period, and classic books on economics.

    Of this Collection, classic books on economics, foreign negotiation-linked materials, and information associated with modern Nagasaki have been made public on the Internet, including Josiah Child' s "A Discourse about Trade" and "A New Discourse of Trade" , Adam Smith' s "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, vol. 1, 2 (first edition)" and "Essays on Philosophical Subjects (first edition)" , David Ricardo' s "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (first edition)" , and T. R. Malthus' "An Inquiry into the Nature and Progress of Rent (first edition)" , "Additions to the Fourth and Former Editions of an Essay on the Principles of Population (first edition)" , and "Principles of Political Economy (first edition)" . It is also noteworthy that the "Memorandum of Nagasaki Magistrate' s Office" and eight other modern Nagasaki-related books can be viewed in their entire text.

< --- To Muto Collection(Japanese)