Scholarly communities emerge around and are sustained by archives. As a digital information hub and repository for open-access resources, Japan Past & Present (JPP) seeks to mobilize the centripetal force of the archive to reimagine the Japanese humanities as a genuinely global field. On the one hand, JPP works to provide global access to archives and information; on the other, it offers funding to incentivize the formation of global groups of scholars who tap into the potential of local archives.

Despite the fact that the CEEJA Japan Library contains a variety of special collections that, at first glance, might appear more pertinent to the conference theme, this preliminary introduction will focus on the extensive collection of regional and local histories, in Japanese "chihôshi".
This assertion may initially appear counterintuitive; however, upon closer examination of the global image of Japan, it becomes evident that regional and local histories play a pivotal role. The global image of Japan is predominantly influenced by the national narrative, which conveys a generalised representation of the nation. Conversely, regional and local histories have the capacity to contribute to the deconstruction of the national narrative and global image by serving as sources of diversity and variety.

This presentation introduces digitize Japan-related collections at the Museum of Cultural History of University of Oslo and the University of Oslo Library.
The University Museum preserves a diverse range of Japanese handcrafted objects, including suits of armor and other weapons, many of which have entered the collection through donations. In autumn 2025, the museum launched a portal of series of themes based on items already digitized in its collection database. One of these is focus on seventeen suits of Japanese armor, the sites are available in English, Norwegian, Japanese. In addition, 3D “Samurai” exhibition is available which was held at the museum in 2023.

The National Diet Library (NDL) makes available to its overseas patrons the Digitized Contents Transmission Service for Libraries (DCTL) and Remote Photoduplication Service (PDF download) as useful tools for Japanese studies.
The DCTL provides patrons at NDL partner libraries with access to digitized materials that are protected by copyright but out-of-print or otherwise difficult-to-obtain. The reception of digital content transmitted by the NDL is considered to be subject to the law of the country where the content is received, which means that compliance with the laws of the receiving country must be ensured. For this reason, partner libraries overseas are required to follow a special application procedure.