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Asian Studies Digital Collections

The Asian studies digital collections range from Chinese manuscript and archival collections, Korean rare books, Japanese traditional woodblock prints, to oral history interviews on key figures of the American occupation government in postwar Japan.

American Occupation of Japan

The Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College produced a 10-part documentary series The Pacific Century, in 1993. For part 5, “Reinventing Japan,” which focuses on post-World War II Japan, key figures of the American occupation government were interviewed about their contributions and views.

Five interviews are currently available in the American Occupation of Japan, Voices of the Key Participants collection in The Claremont Colleges Digital Library (CCDL)

Ch'en Shou-yi Papers 陳受頤文書

Visit the Online Archive of California (OAC) for the finding aid:  The Ch’en Shou-yi Papers 陳受頤檔案

The Ch’en Shou-yi Collection consists of Professor Chen’s correspondence, photos, manuscripts, private library collections, etc. donated to The Claremont Colleges Library by his family. In 2014 Special Collections & Libraries at The Claremont Colleges collaborated with the Academia Sinica in Taiwan to create a digital archive highlighting photos and correspondence of Professor Ch’en Shou-yi with key figures of modern Chinese intellectual history, such as Hu Shih (胡适), Fu Sinian (傅斯年), Lin Yutang (林語堂), and Chiang Molin (蔣夢麟).  Requests for permission to use images from the Academia Sinica website must be submitted to Special Collections in The Claremont Colleges Library. The original materials and items are owned and kept at the Asian Library in The Claremont Colleges Library.

Chikanobu and Yoshitoshi Woodblock Prints

The Scripps College Collection of Japanese Prints, which numbers over 1500 works with more than 500 works by the artists Chikanobu (1838-1912) and Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), is primarily a teaching collection, with woodblock prints and illustrated books from the late 17th century to late 20th century. Most Japanese print designers working in the 18-19th centuries are represented, including more than 150 works by Hiroshige (1797-1858).

Over 500 examples of these works have been digitized and can be found in the Chikanobu and Yoshitoshi Woodblock Prints collection in The Claremont Colleges Digital Library (CCDL).

Chinese Political Posters, 1970s-1980s

The collection contains 145 posters originally donated by Len Rubenstein to Prof. John Regan at the Claremont Graduate University. The posters are now part of the Special Collections and are available for study and review. For more information, please refer to the book China: A moment in Time – Chinese Political Posters and Recollections 中國政治宣傳畫及回憶. Claremont, Calif.: Claremont Graduate University.

See the Len Rubenstein Chinese Political Poster Collection in the Twentieth Century Poster Collection of The Claremont Colleges Digital Library (CCDL).

Asian Library Digital Collection

The Asian Library Digital Collection in The Claremont Colleges Digital Library (CCDL) will contain a variety of digitized materials from the Asian Library.  Currently, the collection holds a selection of Korean rare books from the Frederick McCormick Collection.

Asian Studies Electronic Resources

Find eBooks, journal and newspaper articles, photographs, images, manuscript and archival documents in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean via Asian Studies Online Databases which are available for users affiliated with The Claremont Colleges.

Contact the Head of Asian Library
Xiuying Zou
Head, Asian Library