| Level | Sub-sub-sub-fonds |
| Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure) | CMS/B/OMS/J |
| Title | Japan mission |
| Extent | [19 volumes], 351 items, 21 boxes |
| Date | 1868-1934 |
| Description | Records compiled by the committees of the CMS Overseas (Foreign) Division, London, up to 1934.
Comprising papers under the Committee of Correspondence 1868-1880, and under the East Asia (initially 'Group 1') Committee 1881-1934. Including incoming correspondence from the mission to the CMS in London 1868-1934, outgoing correspondence from the CMS in London to the mission 1868-1934, office copies of the incoming correspondence 1868-1880, and office summaries (précis) of the incoming correspondence 1881-1934.
Some of these records are held in the China Mission series [details are given in the 'Arrangement' field of this catalogue entry].
Papers under the East Asia and Asia committees for the years 1935-1959 are catalogued separately. Details are given below under ‘Finding Aids’. |
| Notes | When the catalogue was created names of mission stations were standardised but there was no attempt to give present-day place names where these differ from place names in the records. The bulk of names in the sub-number references are the spellings used in the documents.
Work is underway to address outdated, discriminatory, and offensive language in finding aids used by the Cadbury Research Library, and to improve accessibility of the online catalogue in line with current standards including adding present-day place names standardised according to 'The Times Atlas of the World', comprehensive edition, 2023. Copies of the original catalogues have been retained as a record. |
| Arrangement | There are no mission books specifically for the Japan Mission. The clerks in the CMS London office working under the Committee of Correspondence used the same mission book volumes for the Japan Mission as the China Mission and the archived volumes are listed and held with the China Mission series (CMS/B/OMS/CH). Researchers interested in office copies of correspondence for the years 1868-1880 must consult the mission books in the China Mission series.
Similarly, up to 1874, outgoing correspondence of the Japan Mission can be found in the China Mission letter-book series. Furthermore, the letter-book for correspondence dating from 1874 which was started under the Committee of Correspondence continued to be used after the day-to-day administration of the mission passed from the Committee of Correspondence to the Group Committee: researchers interested in outgoing correspondence of the Japan Mission dating from 1881 to 1887 will need to use the letter-book held under finding number CMS/B/OMS/C J L1.
Although there are no Individual letter-books specifically for the Japan Mission for outgoing correspondence dating from before 1888, there are some earlier entries in the China Mission Individual letter-books kept under the East Asia (Group 1) Committee.
Papers under the Committee of Correspondence are arranged as:
L: Letter-books 1868-1887 (outgoing) [for 1868-1873 see CMS/B/OMS/C CH L2]
M: Mission books 1868-1880 (incoming: copies) [see CMS/B/OMS/C CH M4-9]
O: Original papers 1868-1880 (incoming)
Papers under the East Asia (initially Group 1) Committee are arranged as:
I: Individual letter-books 1881-1914 (outgoing) [for c 1881-1887 see CMS/B/OMS/C CH I1 and G1/CH I2]
L: Letter-books 1887-1934 (outgoing)
O: Original papers 1881-1934 (incoming)
P: Précis books 1881-1934 (incoming: summaries) |
| Access Conditions | For conservation reasons digital or microfilm copies are made available in place of the originals. |
| Finding Aids | Click on the Finding Number to display the full online catalogue of the Overseas Division mission series up to 1934, including the lower level entries for the 'Japan Mission'. Alternatively, the original paper catalogues for the mission series can be consulted in the Cadbury Research Library and CMS (Oxford). The 'Japan Mission' series 1868-1934 are listed in the ‘East Asia (Group 1) Missions’ catalogue, volume three: Japan.
The ‘Catalogue to the Papers of the Overseas Division’, which includes a listing of the mission series 1935-1959, is not available online. A paper copy of the catalogue is available to view in the Cadbury Research Library and CMS (Oxford). Copies can also be supplied on request (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk).
Guides to the Adam Matthew microfilm and digitally published copies of the Japan Mission series are available online and in CMS (Oxford), Cadbury Research Library, and other subscribing institutions. |
| Access Status | Open, but subject to some access restrictions |
| Physical Description | The incoming Japan mission correspondence series is missing hundreds of numbers (CMS/B/OMS/G1 J O). The missing numbers are listed in the Japan mission typescript handlist in the Cadbury Research Library reading room.
The archive reference numbers of the pre-1880 incoming papers are marked in pencil on the back of each item, for example, C J/O 4/2. The post-1880 incoming papers are each individually marked in red ink, and this number, plus the year, comprised the original archive reference for each item, for example, G1 J/1897/102. When the records were transferred to the University of Birmingham and the online copy of the catalogue was created the archive finding numbers for the records of the Overseas Division were extended: the letters CMS/B/OMS were added at the beginning of the original filing numbers (denoting records of the Church Mission Society Archive: Overseas Division: Overseas Mission Series). In addition, for the papers under the East Asia (Group 2) Committee, a letter denoting the type of record (O for Original papers or L for Letter-book, etc) was added after the mission reference, for example CMS/B/OMS/G1 J/O 1897/102. |
| Administrative History | CMS began work in Japan in 1869 at Nagasaki. Until March 1874 it was administered as part of the CMS China mission.
By 1898 there were four secretaryships, the country being divided into four administrative areas: South Tokyo, Kyushu, Hokkaido and Osaka. By 1906 these had settled into three missions: Central Japan, Kyushu and Hokkaido. Unlike the normal CMS administrative procedure, the Japan mission archives were continued as one series for the whole of the country rather than as a separate mission series for each administrative area.
Main mission stations for Central Japan (listed by start date):
1873 Osaka
1874 Tokyo
1888 Tokushima; Fukuoka; Matsuye
1892 Hiroshima
Main mission stations for Kyshu:
1869 Nagasaki
Main mission stations for Hokkaido:
1874 Hakodate
1892 Sapporo
1897 Otaru |
| Custodial History | Deposited in the Library of the University of Birmingham, 1981. |
| Archival Note | Catalogued by Rosemary A. Keen, CMS 1967. Hard copy handlist revised and expanded: Rosemary Keen 1982. Copied to the University of Birmingham online archive catalogue, 2000. Updates underway, 2024. |
| Copies | Available on microfilm and online.
Microfilm:
'Church Missionary Society Archive': Section I: East Asia Missions, Parts 1-3.
Publisher: Marlborough: Adam Matthew Publications, 1997.
Location in the Cadbury Research Library: microfilm drawers B6, C1 and C2.
Digital publication:
'AM Scholar-Church Missionary Society Archive': East Asia Missions: Japan Mission
Publisher: Adam Matthew Digital.
Access: by institutional subscription: free to members of the University of Birmingham and visitors to the Cadbury Research Library and other subscribing institutions. |
| Related Material | Records of the CMS Overseas Division: China mission series (CMS/B/OMS/C CH and CMS/B/OMS G1 CH); Japan mission series 1935-1959 (CMS/B/AS 35-59/G1 J). |