Research of Japanese Archives in the United Kingdom

(1)项目目的本项目旨在对流出和保存在海外的日本档案的位置和保存进行研究，并将收集到的信息放入我们的“档案和手稿位置数据库”，以供研究人员访问，同时试图为原始材料的保存和管理做出贡献。(2)研究结果对22家档案机构进行了现场调查，并通过向许多其他机构发送问卷询问相关信息。研究结果总结如下：1.查找的资料大多保存在几个机构中。这些资料的核心是近代留日外交官和学者的私人收藏。2.我们证实存在原属于日本驻伦敦和柏林大使馆的日本外交记录，这些记录是在第二次世界大战期间缴获的。3.似乎到目前为止还没有对日本在英国的外交和商业档案进行彻底的调查。这些未知的和未使用的档案可能存在。4.许多受访机构将其日本收藏品作为一个整体保存在一个保管系统中，即包括书籍或图纸，根据档案分析编制详细清单仍然存在问题。5.材料遭受严重损坏或保存不当的情况，我们对此提出了适当的建议。(3)未来展望1.为了宣传研究成果，我们已编写了一份报告，将广泛分发。2.收集到的数据将在适当时候加入我们的数据库，供公众使用。3.我们对未来有关机构的可能贡献将是在a)安排和描述以及b)保护方面与它们合作。

(1) Purpose of the projectOur project is intended to do research into the location and preservation of Japanese archives flown out ant kept overseas, and put the collected information in our "Archives and Manuscripts Location Data Base" to make it accessible to researchers, while trying to contribute to the preservation and management of the original materials.(2) Result of the researchOn-site surveys for 22 archival institutions was conducted, as well as asking for related information by sending questionnaires to many other institutions. The result is summarized as below.1.Most of the materials searched for are kept in several institutions only.The core of the materials are private collections created by diplomats and scholars who stayd in Japan in early modern period.2.We confirmed the existence of Japanese diplomatic records originally belonged to Japanese embassies in London and Berlin and were seized during the Second World War.3.It seems that no thorough survey concerning Japanese diplomatic and business archives in the United Kingdom has been conducted so far. Such archives which are still unknown and unused might exist.4.Many of the institutions surveyed keep their Japanese collections as a whole in one custodial system, ie including books or drawings, Compiling detailed lists based on archival analyzes still remains problems to them.5.There are some cases that materials suffer serious damage or are given improper conservation treatment, for which we have given advices where appropreate.(3) Future prospect1.In order to publicize the fruit of the research, we have compiled a report to be distributed widely.2.The collected data will be added to our data base for public use in due course.3.Our possible contribution to the institutions conerned in the future will be to cooperate with them in, a) arrangement and description and, b) conservation.