Over 22,000 people around the world access the rich literary heritage of Japan via Charlottesville every month.
The Japanese Text Initiative, run by the University Library's Electronic Text Center, has provided the opportunity for people in countries as diverse as Peru, Bulgaria, Monaco and the South Pacific island of Tonga to study classic masterpieces of Japanese literature - online.
In recognition of its worldwide impact, the initiative won the second annual Digital Archives Award, an honor presented to a digital project that provides rich content and is dedicated to the preservation of world cultures using advanced technology.
Digital Frontier Kyoto, which represents businesses and universities in Japan, presents the award each year. Project coordinator Sachiko Iwabuchi accepted the award at a ceremony last month in Kyoto.
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University coordinators worked in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Library and other scholars in the United States and Japan to create the online database of classic Japanese literature.
The project has put about 100 major Japanese texts with English translations online, Iwabuchi said. The works include haiku poetry, Kabuki plays and masterpieces such as "The Tale of Genji."
The collection traces classic Japanese literature from its origins in the early eighth century to modern poetry and novels.
The Japanese works are part of 51,000 other texts available through the University's Electronic Text Center. A pioneer in the growing field of online textual references, the e-text center was founded in 1992.
The Japanese texts now are accessed about 80,000 times a month, a figure that represents about 22,000 visitors from around the world, including an average of 150 Japanese visitors each day, Deputy Librarian Kendon Stubbs said. Stubbs is the project's co-director.
Despite its success, the project is still far from complete.
"We're looking for grants and funding to expand what we're doing," Stubbs said.
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