Most of the Nishiki-e (Ukiyo-e) held by the National Diet Library were inherited from the Imperial Library and are now housed in the Rare Books and Old Materials Room of the Tokyo Main Library.
This webpage explains how to search for Nishiki-e (Ukiyo-e) in the Rare Books and Old Materials Room.

1. How to search

1-1. Searching with the NDL Digital Collections

The NDL Digital Collections includes digitized images of most Nishiki-e (Ukiyo-e) held by the Rare Books and Old Materials Room. It is a convenient resource for searching for images.

How to search

1. From the top page of the NDL Digital Collections, select “Rare Books and Old Materials” from “Collections” to open the search screen for the Rare Books and Old Materials collection.
2. Click “All search conditions.” In the “Subcategories” field, check “Nishiki-e”, and make sure that “Include Volume Number” is selected, then run the search.

Points to note

• In the NDL Digital Collections, titles of works and names of artists are, in principle, entered exactly as they appear on the materials. Searches using general or commonly used titles, artist names or spellings may return no results.

• Materials whose call numbers begin with VA301- belong to the Eiryo Ashihara Collection held by the Music and Audio-Visual Materials Room of the Tokyo Main Library. For details, see the Research Navi page “Eiryo Ashihara Collection.”

1-2. Searching with NDL Search

Some materials that cannot be found in the NDL Digital Collections can be searched using NDL Search. If you do not see the search fields you need, you can add them by customizing the search fields.

How to search

1. In the Location field, select “Tokyo Main Library (Tokyo) > Rare Books and Old Materials Room.”
2. In the Material type field (you can select more than one):
   • For items from the Edo period, select “Japanese and Chinese Old Materials.”
   • For items from the Meiji period onward, select “Books.”
3. In the Keyword field, enter the title of the work, the artist’s name, etc., and run the search.

1-3. Searching with printed catalogs

If you cannot find the material you are looking for in the NDL Digital Collections or NDL Search, please also consult the printed catalogs below.

• Teikoku toshokan wakan tosho shomei mokuroku (Catalog of Japanese and Chinese book titles in the Imperial Library) (Imperial Library / National Diet Library, 1899–1966)
  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
  The recorded range covers the holdings as of the end of 1893 (Meiji 26) and additions made until March 1949 (Showa 24).

• Teikoku toshokan wakan tosho shomei mokuroku (Catalog of Japanese and Chinese book titles in the Imperial Library) Revised and abridged edition (Kyuko Shoin, 1982–1986)
  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 A-Sa, Part 4 Shi-To, Part 4 Na-Wa

• Kokuritsu kokkai toshokan shibu ueno toshokan wakanjo shomei mokuroku: kosho-no-bu (Ueno Library, Branch of the National Diet Library, Catalog of old Japanese and Chinese Materials - Antiquarian Section) (Administrative Department, National Diet Library, 1952, NDL Call No. 029.1-Ko548u) (NDL Digital Collections)
  The recorded range covers books acquired between January 1943 (Showa 18) and March 1949 (Showa 24).

• Kokuritsu kokkai toshokan shibu ueno toshokan wakanjo bunrui mokuroku kosho- no-bu (Ueno Library, Branch of the National Diet Library, Classified catalog of Japanese and Chinese Materials - Antiquarian Section) (Ueno Library, Branch of the National Diet Library, 1959, NDL Call No. 029.1-Ko548u) (NDL Digital Collections)
  The recorded range covers additions made between April 1949 (Showa 24) and March 1961 (Showa 36), with materials added from January 1959 (Showa 34) onward included in the supplement at the end of the volume. Classification is based on the 6th edition of the Nippon Decimal Classification (NDC6), and Nishiki-e are included under “721 Japanese paintings.”

2. How to use

• Most Nishiki-e held by the National Diet Library have been digitized. For digitized materials, please access them through the NDL Digital Collections.
• For information on how to use other materials, please refer to the webpage for the Rare Books and Old Materials Room of the Tokyo Main Library.

3. Related Search Guides

• Eiryo Ashihara Collection
• Ukiyo-e Illustrations
• Illustrations of Art Works (Japan) (in Japanese)
• Illustrations that Show the Everyday Life of the Common People in the Edo Period (in Japanese)