Shigaku zasshi

Shigaku Zasshi (史学雑誌, literally “Magazine on the study of history”) is the oldest academic journal of history in Japan. It was established in 1889 as the official publication of The Historical Society of Japan (Shigakkai) in Tokyo. It is published in Japanese with English abstracts.

Contents of the Journal

The Journal consists of original research articles, reviews, and reports on academic trends in various fields. Although articles on Japanese and East Asian history are particularly well represented within the pages of this journal, articles on European and American history also have a visible presence. Articles devoted to topics outside of East Asia, Europe, and the US are relatively uncommon.

May Issue

The annual May issue of Shigaku Zasshi is of particular interest to historians trying to keep up with recent historiographic developments in Japan. The May issue is devoted to review articles summing up recent developments in the academic field of history within Japan. A general assessment of the work of the previous year in the field of history is summed up in the recurring headliner section "Kaiko to Tenbo" (“review and outlook”), and articles devoted to more specialized areas follow.

The latest May issue contained 1 article on historiographic theory, 5 articles on Japan (divided by period), 9 articles on China (thinly divided by period), 1 article on Korea, 1 article on Central Asia, 1 article on Southeast Asia, 1 article on South Asia, 1 article on West Asia/North Africa, 1 article on Africa, 17 articles on Europe (divided by both period and country), and 2 articles on America (divided into North America and Latin America).

May issues of Shigaku Zasshi from 1949–1985 are also collected in the volume, Nihon rekishi gakkai no kaiko to tenbō edited by the Historical Society of Japan and published in 1987 by Yamakawa Shuppansha.