Book reviews are short essays in which a reviewer critiques a book. When looking for book reviews, one should know the book's title, author, and year of publication.

Numbers shown in brackets 【 】 indicate the NDL call number for an item.

[Range] indicates the range of years for which reviews have been indexed for the book in question.

1. Searching with Book Review Indexes

Book review indexes can be used to find reviews of a particular book and to ascertain in what newspaper or magazine a review was published.

1-1. Indexes on the Web

• Shohyo ni Notta Hon (Hanmoto.com)
  [Range] December 2010-present　
  Comprises information on book reviews (publication date, reviewer, etc.) from 90 newspapers and magazines, including "The Asahi Shinbun" , "The Yomiuri Shinbun" , "The Nihon Keizai Shinbun" , "The Mainichi Shinbun" , "The Sankei Shinbun" , "The Tokyo Shinbun" and "The Chunichi Shinbun".
• Shohyo Nabi (Dokushojin)
  Users can view or download the 'Nikkanshi no shohyo annai' printed in the ["Shukan dokushojin"](/en/books/R100000002-I000000056738 with reviews from the last two months or so.
• Shohyo Kensaku (Tosho Shinbun)
  Users can search by keywords for book reviews and look up article titles and publication dates from the "Tosho shinbun" starting with issue number 2843, dated October 27, 2007. A subscription is required, however, to browse book reviews online.

1-2. Booklet Indexes

• "Shuppan nenkan" (Publishers yearbook) (Shuppan Nyusu　annual)
  [Range] 2001-2017
  Their 'Shinbun/Zasshi shohyo risuto' has been published since the 2002 edition (which covers the year 2001). This is a yearly accumulation of the book review index published in "Shuppan news".
• Kindai Shoshi Konwakai, ed., "Shohyo no shoshi : book review sakuin" (Bibliography of book review: index of book reviews) (Kanazawa Bunpokaku　2012-)
  [Range] 1955-1962, 2011-present
  [Note] In Nippon Decimal Classification 9th Revised Edition order. Searchable by author and reviewer names
• "Shohyo nen po . Bungaku geijutsu jido hen" (Book review annual. Literature, fine arts, and children's volume) (Shohyo Nenpo Kankokai　1972-2001)
  [Range] 1971-2000
• "Shohyo nenpo. Jinbun shakai shizen hen" (Book review annual. Humanities, society, and nature volume) (Shohyo Nenpo Kankokai 1971-2001)
  [Range] 1970-2000
• "Tosho shinbun" (Book review press) (Fuji Shuppan　1989-1992　【Z99-204】)
  [Range] 1949-1988
• "Nihon dokusho shinbun" (Japan reading newspaper) (reduced-size edition　Nihon Shuppan Kyokai　1987　【Z99-765】)
  [Range] 1937-1960
• "Nihon shohyo kaidai sakuin geppo" (Japan monthly book review bibliography) (Uchida Rokakuho　1959-1960　【Z21-161】)
  [Range] 1959

2. Searching with Article Indexes

2-1. Journal Article Indexes

Please refer to the Article Index of Periodicals in Japanese. The following databases, in particular, have the feature of enabling display of book review articles only.

• Web OYA-bunko (Oya Soichi Library Japanese Periodicals Index Search Web Version) (subscription database at the NDL: in-library use only)　
  On the "詳細検索" (advanced search) screen, you can select "書評" (book review) from the "記事種類" (article type).
• NDL Search
  Open the "Refiners" , "Periodical article etc" for material type, enter keywords for the theme and topic you are searching.

2-2. Newspaper Article Indexes

Users can search the full texts of newspapers such as "The Asahi Shinbun" (*searchable range: Meiji period-present), "The Yomiuri Shinbun" (*Meiji period-present), "The Nihon Keizai Shinbun" (*October 1981-present), "The Mainichi Shinbun" (*1987-present), "The Sankei Shinbun" (*September 7, 1992-present), "The Chunichi Shinbun" (*April 2010-present), and "The Tokyo Shinbun" (*April 2010-present) with the databases subscribed to by the NDL, but searching for old book reviews with the materials below affords a greater degree of certainty.

• Teruo Ikeuchi, ed., "Jiji shinpo mokuroku :bungeihen. Taishoki" (The current affairs news: literature volume. Taisho period) (Yagi Shoten　2004　【UP58-H6】)
  [Range] 1912-1926
• Toshiro Kono, "Yomiuri shinbun bungeiran saimoku" (The Yomiuri Shinbun literary columns in depth) 2 vols. (Nichigai Associates　1986　【KG1-116】)
  [Range] 1901-1926
• Yumi Hirata, [ed.,] "Meiji chuki Yomiuri shinbun bungei kankei kiji mokuroku" (Catalog of literary articles in the Yomiuri Shinbun during the mid-Meiji period) (Kyoto Daigaku Jinbun Kagaku Kenkyujo　1989　【KG1-E20】)
  [Range] 1886-1894

3. Getting a General Overview of Posted Book Review Content

3-1. Newspaper Websites

The following websites are major newspaper book review sites.

• Good Life With Books (The Asahi Shinbun Company)
• Hon Yomiurido (The Yomiuri Shinbun)
• Art & Review Nikkei Style (Nikkei)
• Hon Sankei News (The Sankei Shinbun)
• Shohyo Tokyo Shinbun TOKYO Web (The Chunichi Shinbun)

3-2. Bookstore Websites

*Example*
Kinokuniya Booklog (Books Kinokuniya)

3-3. Publisher PR Magazines

Publisher PR magazines include book reviews of their own publications and author self-critiques (book reviews by authors themselves). One can use the publication year of a book as a clue to acquire an overview. Examples of PR magazines by major publishing companies are listed below in Japanese alphabetical order.

• "Tosho" (Iwanami Shoten　November 1949-present　monthly　【Z21-184】)
• "Hon no tabibito" (Kadokawa Shoten　[November 1995]-present　monthly　【Z21-B367】)
• "Hon" (Kodansha　February 1976-present　monthly　【Z21-805】)
• "Seishun to dokusho" (Shueisha　[1967]-present　monthly　【Z21-398】)
• "Hon no mado" (Shogakukan　early spring 1978-present　monthly　【Z21-1337】)
• "Nami" (Shinchosha　January 1967-present　monthly　【Z21-124】)
• "Sobun" (Sobunsha　August 1962-autumn 2016　monthly)
• "Chikuma" (Chikuma Shobo　May 1965-present　monthly　【Z21-235】)
• "UP" (Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai　November 1972-present　monthly　【Z21-392】)
• "Hon no hanashi" (Bungei Shunju　July 1995-October 2011　monthly　【Z21-B300】)
  Currently, this has relocated to the web site Bungei Shunju BOOKS .
• "Misuzu" (Misuzu Shobo　September 1959-present　monthly　【Z21-66】)
• "Mirai" (Miraisha　quarterly　【Z21-353】)
• "Shosai no mado" (Yuhikaku　June 1953-present　bi-monthly　【Z21-183】)

3-4. Specialist Journals

One can also gain an overview by surveying related specialist journals.

3-5. Omnibus Reviews

In some instances book reviews are recompiled and published as a book. Some recent examples are listed below.

• Kyodo Tsushin Bunkabu, ed., "Shohyo taizen" (A collection of book reviews) (Sanseido　2015　【US61-L110】)
  [Range] March 1998-March 2014
  Textual compilation of approximately 5,000 book reviews originally distributed by Kyodo Tsushin (Kyodo News Service). In transmission date order. Includes indexes (book title, author and editor, translator and translation supervisor, photographer, etc., reviewer, publisher, keyword).

Some examples of prewar book review collections are listed below.

• "Shoko" 9 vols. (Reprinted edition　Ryokuin Shobo　1992　【Z21-B207】)
  [Range] 1930-1938
  Various newspaper book reviews have been summarized and reprinted in the 'Book review list/Book review survey' column. There is no index, so users must get a general overview from the publication year.

Though omnibus reviews are assumed to have begun around the time of Jun Tosaka's "Dokushoho" (Mikasa Shobo　1938　【特501-202】) (National Diet Library Digital Collections), there are few books with which one can search cross-sectionally the book review contents collected in the omnibuses. Searchable in the National Diet Library Digital Collections if the table of contents data has been registered.

3-6. Meiji-Taisho Period Literary Books

In the Meiji-Taisho period, some books were reprinted with book reviews at the back of the book. Unfortunately, however, there are few such examples in the NDL based on the legal deposit system.

*Example*
Otowasei, "Ruiran no toyo :* seiji shosetsu"* (The perilous predicament of the Orient) (5th edition　Matataro Ohashi　1899　【71-395x】)
Approximately 40 or so book reviews have been printed at the back of the book (between the epilogue and the colophon).

Sometimes when an author published multiple books through the same publisher, reprints of book reviews for previous books would be appended to the back of the latest book.

*Example*
Yosaburo Takekoshi, " 2500* nenshi*" (A history of 2,500 years) (Revised and enlarged edition　Niyusha　1916　【73-86ヘ】) (National Diet Library Digital Collections）