General

• Asia for Educators http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ (Columbia University)
  Provides information by topic and format; includes a featured resource on Contemporary Japan by Theodore Bestor and Helen Hardacre.
• Culture for Kids: Guide to Japanese Traditions
  Recommended by some sixth grade students and their teacher; while I am skeptical of the word unique used in the first sentence, overall this is a useful guide to religion, art, language and tradition.  I like the fact that it points to influences on Japanese culture from the world and Japanese influences on other cultures.
• J-Guide http://jguide.stanford.edu/ (Stanford University)
  A topically arranged directory of online information about Japan. It contains numerous links, and is a practical educational guide aimed at undergraduate and graduate students.
• Japan Bibliographies http://spice.stanford.edu/clearinghouse/biblio/ (Spice, Stanford University)
  Drawing on entries in the U.S.-Japan database, the Internet, and other resources, these Japan Bibliographies present annotations of books, periodicals, websites, and multimedia materials on topics of Japanese art, manga and anime, stereotypes of Japan in the United States, and geisha.
• Japan Focus http://japanfocus.org/
  Japan Focus presents writings about Japan, Japan in Asia and the world, as well as Japanese and international perspectives on contemporary Japanese politics, economics, society, and culture. It offers translations from Japanese, reprints of important English language texts, and Japan Focus originals.  A subscription link to their weekly newsletter is available on the website.
• Japan Forum: Japanese Culture and Daily Life http://www.tjf.or.jp/eng/content/japaneseculture/index.htm
  Part of a larger site developed to support Japanese language teaching and mutual understanding among youth, this page is the digital version of "A Day in the Life" series and "Japanese Culture now" series published in The Japan Forum Newsletter, which focuses on familiar aspects of everyday Japanese culture  Includes both text and wonderful pictures.  Topics range from developing robots, to theme parks, manga cafes, popular music, young people's language, cell phones and more.
• Japan Information Network http://jin.jcic.or.jp/
  Created by JCIC (Japan Center for Intercultural Communications) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan to act as the WWW Doorway to Japan. The information about the Japanese society, culture, education, current events, regional information, census data, statistics, and other aspects of Japan appearing on this site is gathered and edited by JCIC. The JIN also serves as a central hub, providing users with links to the best sites for finding factual information they need about Japan.
• Japan Reference http://www.jref.com/
  Aims to provide both a broad overview and detailed informaiton on all aspects of Japanese society, modern and traditional.  Includes Japan Directory, Japan Forum, a photo gallery, Japan Pop Culture Gallery and a Practical section -- facts for visitors, life in Japan, travel guide with 150+ pages on destinations.
• National Diet Library online gallery http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/gallery/index.html
  Includes many exhbitions on the history and culture of Japan in English, including modern Japan in archives; fauna and flora in illustrations (Edo period), portraits of modern Japanese historical figures, Ex-libris stamps, Birth of the Constitution, the Japanese calendar, Rare books, Scenic mementos of Japan, The Vienna International Exposition (1873), and Modern Japanese political history materials.
• Teaching and Learning about Japan http://www.csuohio.edu/history/japan/index.html
  Created by Lee A. Makela at Cleveland State University, has information on many current and historical topics ranging from archeology to anime.
• Web-Japan http://web-jpn.org/
  Web Japan is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and operated by a Japanese non government organization.

Anime

• Anime café http://www.abcb.com/
  Includes reviews of anime, an anime encyclopedia with both synopses of films and a basic dictionary of words and A Parents Guide to Anime which evaluates anime as suitable for family viewing, needing parental guidance or for mature audiences.
• Anime Web Turnpike http://www.anipike.com/
  The most well-known topical guide to Internet resources on anime, and manga. This is a good place to begin looking for information; includes links to the web pages of companies, pages put up by anime clubs, devoted to specific series, and many excellent online reference tools or databases.
• Nausicaa.net http://www.nausicaa.net/
  This fan created site focuses on the works of Studio Ghibli and its directors. Has a major section on Miyazaki Hayao, including a filmography.

Japanese History

• Internet East Asian History Sourcebook http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/eastasiasbook.html
  Provides information on cultural origins, religious traditions, traditional Japan, Japan as a world power; is particularly useful for WWII and the decision to drop the atomic bomb.  Provides links to full-text sources.
• Visualizing Japan http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027j/menu/index11.html
  Authored by John W. Dower & Shigeru Miyagawa (MIT), this multi-media based class begins with "Black ships and samurai," an exhibit featuring some 200 Japanese and American graphics depicting the 1853-1854 mission by Commodore Matthew Perry that led to the opening of Japan to the outside world. The Core Exhibit brings together a wealth of rarely seen graphics from both sides of this historical encounter and interweaves these with an original text by John W. Dower. The course includes six units, including Yokohama boomtown, Throwing off Asia, Asia Rising, Yellow Promise/Yellow Peril and Ground Zero 1945, pictures of Atomic bomb survivors.  It also includes some photograph albums from the Meiji period.
• Historical maps online http://library.duke.edu/research/subject/guides/japan/reference/geography/historical.html
  This page provides brief descriptions and links to digitized maps held in North America and Japan.
• Sengoku daimyō http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/
  Collection of pages by Anthony Bryant, previously in the Ph.D. program at Indiana University on warriors/local leaders during the Warring States period (1467-1573). See the pages on Japanese armour, clothing, and even architecture. Good content although background colors are overwhelming.
• Virtual Edo http://www.us-japan.org/edomatsu/
  This somewhat funky site uses woodblock prints to show life in old Edo, the capital of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The viewer accompanies a young country boy on his journey to Edo, the capitol of Tokugawa Japan. The map of Edo and its environs is a useful navigating tool.
• Rekishi Kaido http://www.kiis.or.jp/rekishi/kaido-e.html
  Linked to the Kansai Digital Archives, this page on 'Historical Routes of the Kansai Region' provides historical information on the Kansai area organized by routes involving five areas representing five different periods of Japanese history.

Japanese Literature

• History of Japanese Literature http://www.kanzaki.com/jinfo/jliterature.html
  This page is based on Japan: A Pocket Guide, 1996 Edition (Foreign Press Center)
• The Japanese Literature Homepage http://www.jlit.net/
  A site rich in information, the Japanese Literature Homepage features outline discussions of Japanese literature in the Classical and Modern periods, detailed timelines, index of Japanese authors, and lists of on-line resources.
• Liza Dalby's webspace http://www.lizadalby.com/welcome.html
  This website was created by Liza Dalby to supplement her novel, "Tale of Murasaki" and provides information on geisha, the characters in the Tale of Genji and many subjects including food, clothing, architecture, pets, seasons, homosexuality, music, the Lotus Sutra, names, games, The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon etc..
• 2001 Waka http://www.shef.ac.uk/japan2001/introduction.shtml
  This contents of this site are produced by the staff and students of the School of East Asian Studies at the University of Sheffield.  Poems are organized by poet, collection and theme.  Created for the Japan 2001 Festival, the site is a collection of 2001 poems, covering approximately the first thousand years of poetry in Japan. The poems appear in the original Japanese, transcribed into the Roman alphabet (romanised) and translated into English. They are accompanied by commentary and background material to fill in the blanks on the world the Old Japanese poets lived in, their beliefs and society.

Newspapers online (in English)

• The Japan Times http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
  Indexed and searchable back to 1999.
• Asahi Shinbun (English) http://www.asahi.com/english/
  The most influential Japanese newspaper.