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 Military Archives is a specialized archival facility within the Center for Military History at the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), the think tank of Japan's Ministry of Defense. NIDS is the only national academic research institute on security matters in Japan. The Military Archives holds the principal collection of historical documents relating to Japan's Imperial Army and Navy.
The origins of the Military Archives lie in the Office of War Study, established in 1955 to collect, organize, and publish Japan's military history. After Japan's surrender in 1945, most military documents were destroyed or scattered. Documents that survived were seized by Allied Occupation Forces and kept at the U.S. National Archives; following diplomatic negotiations, these were returned to Japan in April 1958. The reference room of the NIDS Library was formally designated a historical archives by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2001. In 2002, when NIDS was reorganized, the facility was formally constituted as the Military Archives. A further reorganization in 2011 merged the Military Archives into the new Center for Military History, which encompasses the Military History Division, National Security Policy Division, and International Conflict Division.
The Military Archives holds approximately 58,000 volumes related to the Imperial Army and 38,000 volumes related to the Imperial Navy. Core holdings include: action reports (Senji Nisshi and Sento Shoho) from the Sino-Japanese Wars, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, and World War II; the 102-volume Senshi Sosho (War History Series) compiled between 1966 and 1980; personal documents and historical materials related to Japan's national security policy from the Meiji Restoration (1868) to 1945; and oral history recordings of postwar Japanese security policy development. NIDS also actively collects newly declassified materials from foreign archives.
The Military Archives are physically located within the Ministry of Defense compound in Tokyo, accessible through the Kaga Gate on the north side. Visitors must present a valid passport and sign in at reception. Documents may not be borrowed; research is conducted in the on-site reading room. All request forms are in Japanese. Inquiries by post are accepted (international postage coupons required). Neither email nor fax inquiries are accepted. Some materials are being digitized for eventual release through the NIDS website.