NewsDDH
NIJL DDH Project
About the Project
As the only Large-Scale Academic Frontiers Project in the humanities (Ministry of Education, Culture,
Sports, Science and Technology), we are implementing the Model Building in Humanities through Data-Driven Problem Solving (NIJL DDH Project) from FY2024 to FY2033, as a 10-year plan. This is a successor project that further develops the achievements of the Project to Build an International Collaborative Research Network for Pre-modern Japanese Texts (NIJL–NW Project) conducted from FY2014 to FY2023.
In this project, we will establish a data infrastructure centered on Japanese literature by further expandingthe collection of image data through collaboration with domestic and overseas institutions, converting imagedata into text data through the use of AI and other means, and promoting the development of data analysistechnologies.
We aim to pioneer next-generation humanities research utilizing large-scale data in collaborationwith domestic and international researchers from different fields based on an awareness of various issues.
Data expansion and sophistication of the research infrastructure database
Expansion of image data
We have already achieved full digitization of 300,000 volumes of premodern Japanese texts and made them available as open data in the Union Catalogue Database of Japanese Texts , which can be used free of charge by anyone, anytime on the web.
In this project, the scope of image data accumulation will be expanded to include the early Meiji era, an addition of full digitization of 150,000 volumes of premodern Japanese texts will be created, comprising a total of 450,000 volumes.
OCR Text of Premodern Books
OCR is used to create machine-readable text data based on the image data of 300,000 volumes of premodern Japanese texts published in the Union Catalogue Database of Japanese Texts. This will allow us to use the data in online search and display systems as well as for the creation of machine learning models.
Promotion of data-driven research through interdisciplinary fusion
To achieve the digitization and textualization of a large number of premodern books—making them available to the general public—and to structure, systematize, and utilize the data, we promote collaborative research in four areas: Construction of Data Infrastructure, Development of Humanities Data Analysis Technologies, Interdisciplinary applications of Content Analysis, Material Analysis and Modeling.
Construction of Data Infrastructure
We develop both the hardware and software aspects of the data-driven research system designed to serve as foundation
for this project, creating also a plan for how it will operate, which we will then put into practical implementation.
We are also conducting collaborative research on advanced OCR technology for premodern books and the development of image search functions.
Development of Humanities Data Analysis Technologies
We develop methods and analytical technologies for data-driven integration of humanities data by extracting research materials
through the use of AI technology and their adaptation to multiple fields, developing text analysis and search technologies for nontext materials such as images, and responding to international standardization of data storage.
Interdisciplinary applications of Content Analysis
Transforming the kind of evidential data previously confined to use in the human sciences into data that can also be utilized by the natural and social sciences, we will engage in collaborative research projects directed towards the resolution of various issues facing contemporary society.
Material Analysis and Modeling
Japan's 1,000 years' worth of texts have not only the accumulated data of their written content to offer, but also all the data they themselves embody as physical objects. One of our aims is to establish a technological basis enabling the extraction—and analysis and investigation—of data from this material aspect of texts, on a scale only rarely
attempted in the past.
Also, we are conducting interdisciplinary research with domestic and international researchers based on the awareness of various issues using large-scale data, taking advantage of the economies of scale of the organization, in collaboration with other organizations within the National Institutes for the Humanities, which act as the hub for various humanities fields.
Collaboration with Overseas Institutions
In addition to domestic collections, we are also engaged in enhancing the images and bibliographic information of premodern Japanese books held overseas.
Based on memorandums of understanding with EAJRS and CEAL, we hold workshops on kuzushiji and other activities annually, promoting exchange with overseas researchers, primarily among young researchers.
In addition, to enable Japanese researchers to actively conduct research abroad, we collaborate with institutions overseas that hold collections of Japanese pre-modern texts, and provide information such as contact points and overviews of their collections on our website.
At the “Global Consortium for Japanese Textual Scholarship,” for which our institution serves as the coordinating organization, we host study sessions on bibliographic terminology and conduct multilingual examinations of terms related to Japanese pre-modern texts, actively working to enhance the project’s international recognition and promote collaboration among researchers both in Japan and abroad.
Information Dissemination
We actively disseminate collaborative research results through symposiums and workshops in Japan and abroad, while also promoting the utilization of the Union Catalogue Database of Japanese Texts. We conduct outreach activities for the general public and for junior high and high school students to share research results with a broad audience.
Events
Publications
![[Japanese only] booklet](https://www.nijl.ac.jp/wp/wp-content/themes/nijl/images/common/icon_noImage.webp){kind=icon}
Contact
For inquiries regarding this project, please contact us at:
htddpsinfo@nijl.ac.jp