The IFLA Local History and Genealogy (LHG) Section is pleased to announce a new Webinar on new ways to approach the fields of local history and genealogy. This Webinar focuses one of the largest integrated services that provides access to historical and cultural digital collections called “Japan Search”, and an analytical approach to a unique historical and ongoing relationship between the peoples of Okinawa and Micronesia through oral history research.

The webinar is on 25 January 2022 at 14:00 to 15:00 Japan Standard Time (JST). We have two interesting speakers with different views on this topic, such as: Makoto GOTO and Yumiko IMAIZUMI. See below for more information about the speakers.

Makoto GOTO: New methods for knowledge discovery from local historical materials and data: Japan Search

In Japan, the digitization and Web publication of local historical and cultural materials has made great progress. Digitized historical and cultural materials are called “digital archive” in Japan. Today, the biggest “digital archive” is called “Japan Search”. Japan Search is an integrated service that provides access to historical and cultural contents. And it is the best service to get information about “digital archive” in Japan. In addition to the function of viewing content by humans, Japan Search also enables advanced analysis by computers. By using this advanced analysis, a new way of accessing “digital archive” is being established. In this lecture, I will introduce this function of Japan Search and the new movement of “digital archive”.

Makoto GOTO (Ph.D)
Makoto Goto is an Associate Professor at the National Museum of Japanese History. His current research is focused on the construction of a digital network system for historical resources in Japan. Through that digital network, he analyzes and visualizes local historical resources. And he is currently serving as a member of the Japanese government’s external expert committee on “digital archive”.

Yumiko Imaizumi: Oral History Research: A unique historical and ongoing relationship between the peoples of Okinawa and Micronesia

Nanyo Gunto, the region in Micronesia consisting of the Marianas, Palau, FSM and Republic of the Marshalls, was under Japan’s colonial administration from 1914 to 1945. Not much has been written or researched about this history with the exception of Tadao Yanaihara’s Pacific Islands under Japanese Mandate (1935) and M. R. Peattie’s Nan’yo: The Rise and Fall of the Japanese in Micronesia, 1885-1945, (1992). However, archival materials contain much information about this period in addition to the silent voices of the people who experienced the period under a strict social classification structure that defined mainland Japanese as first class citizens, Okinawans and Koreans as second class citizens. “Tomin” (native inhabitants of the islands) were considered even lower. This brief presentation touches on archival materials, oral histories by survivors and their descendants focused on the Okinawans and their historical recollections and ongoing relationships with Micronesia.

Yumiko Imaizumi is a professor of Hosei University. Her major is International Studies and International History. Her research focuses on Micronesia-Japan relations, especially on colonial policy, society, and immigration under Japanese administration. She also researches exchanging of Micronesian with Japanese repatriates after WWII. She served as a consultant on several projects such as “South Seas Collection” in Library of Congress (US) and “Tadao Yanaihara Collection” in University of Ryukyu Library. She is a principal investigator of Micronesia-Japan joint research of ” Developing a shared history: through an understanding of historical relationships between Micronesia and Japan”(Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI)(C) 2020-2024).