Bibliography on Deaf Communities in Japan

by Karen Nakamura -- Yale University
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At this point, this bibliography focuses on any material I can find relating to the Deaf communities in Japan. Unfortunately, almost all of them are in Japanese and I haven't updated this list since 1995....... I have translated some of the titles when possible (my initials KN follow my translations), but the translations should be treated as tentative and not reliable. I have been turmoiled over how to translate "ro-a" in Japanese. The dictionary translation (and literal translation) is "Deaf-mute" but that now has negative connotation. I have translated modern usage of it as "Deaf" but have kept historical references as "Deaf-mute" to give best indication in English of the word in historical context.

If you feel I am missing something, please contact me at . Click here to go back up to Karen's Deaf resource library.

This page was last updated on October 7th, 1995 and has 55 references.


Amano, Shigeo. 1979.
Ubawareta kotoba [Stolen words (KN)]. Tokyo: Mainichi Shimbun Sha.

Hiraoka, T. 1987.
A manual guide of Japanese Sign Language for beginners. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 8: 53-63.

Honna, Nobuyuki and Mikoho Kota
Year The sign language situation in Japan - problems and solutions. In Equality and self-reliance. Proceedings of the XI World Congress of the World Fderation of the Deaf in Tokyo, Japan, edited by World Federation of the Deaf, , 716-732.
Horikoshi, Y. 1987.
Some features of Japanese Sign Language in a discourse. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 8: 1-12.

Iritani, Sensuke and Hyosuke Hayashi. 1975.
Oto kara hedaterarete: Nanchosha no koe . Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.

Ito, M. 1983.
Lip movements in Japanese Sign Language: an emphasis on linguistic features of non-verbal lip movements. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 5: 6-13.

Ito, M.Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1981.
An analysis of linguistic construction of traditional sign language. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 3: 40-51.

Ito, Shunsuke. 1967.
Roukyouiku: kimira oto o ubawarete [Education of the deaf: you have had your sound stolen (KN)]. Kyoto: Buraku Mondai Kenkyujo [The Institute for the Study of the Buraku Minority Group Problem (KN)].

Japan Monbusho [Ministry of Education]. 196u.
Kyokasho mokuroku: mogakko, rogakko, yogo gakko yo [A catalogue of textbooks for blind schools, deaf schools, and language schools (KN)]. [Tokyo]: Mombusho.

Japan. Mombusho. 1904.
Education in Japan. :

Japan. Monbusho. 1904.
Education in Japan. In Louisiana Purchase Exposition Saint Louis, Mo.) , [St. Louis? :bs.n.:

Japan. Monbusho [Ministry of Education]. 1987.
Rogakko chugakubu kokugo (gengo hen) kyokasho shidosho [A guide to textbooks dealing with (Japanese) language education for schools for the deaf at the junior-high level (KN)]. Shohan ed. Tokyo: Keio Tsushin.

Japan. Rodosho. Shogaisha Koyo Taisakushitsu. 1987.
Shikaku shogaisha, chokaku shogaisha no koyo kanri: saiyo to shokuba teichaku no tebiki [Dealing with the visually impaired and hearing impaired: techniques for the workplace (JKN)]. Tokyo: Koyo Mondai Kenkyukai.

Japanese Federation of the Deaf. 1973.
Watashi tachi no shuwa [Our sign language]. Tokyo:

Japanese Federation of the Deaf. 1984.
Our signs. Tokyo: Japanese Federation of the Deaf.

Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1978.
Sociolinguistic problems of sign language in Japan. Memoirs of Mejiro Gakuen Women's Junior College 15:

Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1979.
A comparative study of the vocabulary of Japanese Sign Language and North American Indian's Sign Language: the ratio of similarities of each basic vocabulary. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 1: 8-21.

Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1981.
Dialect and historical change in JSL. In Varieties of sign language, ed. Fred C. Peng.

Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1981.
A survey of understandability of the basic vocabulary in JSL. In Varieties of sign language, ed. Fred C. Peng.

Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1986.
Sign language. In Kotoba to ningen [Language and humans], ed. Nobuyuki Honna. Sanseido.

Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1987.
Japanese Sign Language. In Gallaudet Encyclopedia of Deaf People and Deafness, ed. John V. Van Cleve. 89-92. , Vol. 3 S-Z. St. Louis: Mc Graw-Hill Book Company.

Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1989.
A change of sign language. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 10: 30-43.

Kanda, Kazuyuki. 1989.
Historical change in JSL. Bulletin of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 10:

Kaneda, Fumi. 1980.
Nihon shuwa jiten [A dictionary of Japanese Sign Language (KN)]. Tokyo: Hikari Shobo.

Kimura, Harumi and Yasuhiro Ichida. 1995.
Roubunka Sengen [An explanation of Deaf Culture]. Gendai Shisou 23 (3): 354-399.

Kimura, Harumi and Akihiro Yonaiyama. 1995.
Roubunka wo Kataru [Narrating Deaf Culture]. Gendai Shisou 23 (3): 363-392.

Kokuritsu Tokushu Kyoiku Sogo Kenkyujo. 1986.
Roji rou seishin hakujakuji to no gengo shutoku to tayo na komyunikeshon no oyo ni kansuru kenkyu: tokubetsu kenkyu hokokusho [Research for language acquistion and understanding of various communication methods for deaf or mentally retarded children]. Yokosuka-shi: Kokuritsu Tokushu Kyoiku Sogo Kenkyujo.

Matsumoto, Masayuki, Shigeki Ishihara, and Osamu Watanabe. 1992.
Chokaku shogaisha to keiji tetsuzuki: kosei na shuwa tsuyaku to keiji bengo no tame ni [Hearing impaired person and legal proceedings: towards a proper usage of sign language translation and legal advocacy (KN)]. Tokyo: Gyosei.

Murakami, Kyukichi. 1988.
Moa jinbutsuden [A historical chronicle (?) of the deaf (KN)]. Tokyo: Ozorasha.

Nagasaki-ken Roa Fukushi Kyokai [The association for the assistance of the Deaf in Nagasaki Prefecture (KN)], Zenkoku Shuwa Tsuyaku Mondai Kenkyukai (Japan) [The national research committee on exploring the problems of sign language translation (KN)], and Nagasaki Shibu. 1986.
Te yo katare: roa hibakusha no shogen [Speak with your hands: the testimonies of deaf-mute nuclear bomb survivors (KN)]. Shohan ed. Tokyo: Hokujinsha: Hatsubaimoto Keibunsha.

Nakagawa, Tatsuo and Kokuritsu Tokushu Kyoiku Sogo Kenkyujo. Chokaku Gengo Shogaiji Kyoiku Kenkyubu. 1990.
Chokaku shogaiji no tame no denwa komyunikeshon kunren no shisutemu, puroguramu no kaihatsu kenkyu: Heisei gannendo kagaku kenkyuhi hojokin (ippan kenkyu (B)) kenkyu seika hokokusho [A research program examining a telephone communications training system for the hearing impaired: 1989 financial report (?) and research results (KN)]. Yokosuka-shi: Kokuritsu Tokushu Kyoiku Sogo Kenkyujo.

Nakanishi, Kikuji. 1992.
News from Japan. Signpost 4 (2): 35-38.

Peng, Fred C. 1974.
Kinship signs in Japanese Sign Language. Sign Language Studies 5: 31-47.

Peng, Fred C. and D. Clouse
Year Place names in Japanese Sign Language. In The 3rd LACUS Forum in Columbia, S.C., edited by A. Makkai and V. Bekker Makkai, Hornbeam Press, 295-308.
Proctor, Adele. 1986.
Tactile aid research and rehabilitation procedures for deaf children in Australia and Japan. Boston, Mass.: Northeastern University.

Shigeru, T and M. Taira. 1990.
A trial of a sig language-Japanese dictionary. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 11: 1-15.

Soya, Mori. 1995.
Shuwa no gengogaku ni mukete [Towards a linguistics of sign language]. Gendai Shisou 23 (3): 393-399.

Sternberg, Martin Leo Altar. 1986.
The making of a sign language dictionary. Ed.D., New York University (0146).

Takada, Eiichi
Year The history and philosophy of sign language interpreting in Japan. In The deaf peoplein modern society. Proceedings of the 8th World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf in Varna, edited by Bulgarian Deaf Union, , 20-27.
Takemura, S. 1981.
A study of parts of speech in Japanese Sign Language. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 3: 7-10.

Tanaka, Noriko. 1987.
Waga omoi o ryo no te ni [I have put my emotions in both my hands (KN)]. Tokyo: Kairyusha.

Tanaka, Seuchi
Year Sign language interpreter dispatch system in Tokyo. In Equality and self-reliance. Proceedings of the XI World Congreess of the World Federation of the Deaf in Tokyo, Japan, edited by World Federation of the Deaf, , 834-843.
Tanokami, T, A. Mori, and M. Tateno. 1979.
Basic features of the traditional sign language's syntax as compared with spoen Japanese. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 1: 28-31.

Tanokami, T., A. Mori, and M. Tateno. 1982.
Internal language of the deaf. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 4: 1-15.

Tanokami, T., A. Mori, and M. Tateno. 1984.
The expressions of the comparative defree in Japanese Sign Language, Chinese Sign Language, and American Sign Language. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 6: 7-10.

Tanokami, Takashi. c, Akio Mori, and Minako Tateno. 1979.
Shuwa no sekai [The world of sign language (KN)]. Tokyo: Nihon Hoso Shuppan Kyokai.

Tokyo Blind and dumb school. 1903.
Short account of the Tokyo blind and dumb school. Tokyo, Japan:

Tokyo Kyoiku Daigaku Fuzoku Rogakko [The Deaf School Attached to Tokyo Kyoiku University (KN)]. 1975.
Tokyo Kyoiku Daigaku Fuzoku Rogakko no kyoiku: sono hyakunen no rekishi [Education at the Deaf School Attached to Tokyo Kyoiku University : a one hundred year history (KN)]. [Ichikawa]: Do ko.

Tokyo Ro-a Gakko. 1915.
Short account of Tokyo Ro-a Gakko (the Tokyo School for the Deaf-Mute). Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo Ro-a Gakko.

Yamagishi, S. 1979.
Parts of speech of Japanese Sign Language. Proceedings of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 1: 52-55.

Yonekawa, A. 1982.
Silent communication in the middle of the Meiji period. Proceeding of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 4: 26-39.

Yonekawa, A. 1984.
The history of the Japanese word shuwa (sign language). Proceeding of the Japanese Society of Sign Language Studies 6: 11-16.

Yonekawa, Akihiko. 1984.
Shuwa gengo no kijutsuteki kenkyu [A descriptive study of (Japanese) sign language (KN)]. Tokyo: Meiji Shoin.