Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
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Newsjunkie.net is a resource guide for journalists. We show who's behind the news, and provide tools to help navigate the modern business of information.
Use of Data
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The Hokkaido University Archives (北海道大学文書館) is the institutional archive of Hokkaido University, one of Japan's foremost research universities and the oldest institution of higher education in the Hokkaido region. The Archives preserves official university records, historical documents, and materials documenting the development of Hokkaido University and the broader history of Hokkaido's settlement and development.
Hokkaido University traces its origins to the Sapporo Agricultural College, founded in 1876 as part of the Meiji government's project to develop Hokkaido through Western-style agricultural and scientific education. The institution is closely associated with the American agricultural scientist William S. Clark, who helped establish the college and is remembered for his famous exhortation, "Boys, be ambitious!" The Archives was formally established to preserve the records of this long institutional history.
The Archives holds official university records including administrative documents, faculty meeting minutes, student records, financial records, and records of the university's research institutes. Significant historical collections include documents from the Sapporo Agricultural College era, materials relating to early scientific expeditions to Hokkaido and the broader Pacific region, and the personal papers of notable faculty members. The Archives also maintains collections of photographs, maps, and artifacts documenting the university's physical development and campus life across more than a century.
Among the most historically significant holdings are records from the Sapporo Agricultural College period (1876 onwards), documenting the university's pivotal role in the development of Hokkaido as a model of modern agricultural science. Materials related to the legacy of William S. Clark and other foreign faculty members who contributed to the early institution are of particular interest to historians of the Meiji period and of Japanese-American educational exchange.
The Archives is accessible to researchers and the public. Information and access to some digitized materials are available through the Hokkaido University website. The Archives supports academic research, alumni inquiries, and institutional history projects.