In recent years personal computers have become a virtual necessity for research in the sciences. Of course in the humanities as well they are already being put to work in many areas, but their broad applicability still offers many possibilities. This article, whose scope is limited to Japanese language and literature, examines how computers have been used in their research, and also explores the possibilities for their future use.
In research concerning the linguistic study of Japanese.. which is actually a very broad field of study.. we find not only textual data bases, but also data bases of audio, visual (including maps), and other kinds of information, which indeed makes full use of computers' multimedia capabilities. In view of this situation, one might even say that future research which does not use computers will not have corrency.
Meanwhile, in the area of Japanese literature research there are grand conceptions such as one for a "Japanese classical literature data base," but at this time there are only data bases of the texts themselves, which are used only by individuals or, at most, small groups. Nevertheless, the groundwork is quickly being laid by commercial developments such as the publication of the CD-ROM edition of the Kojien dictionary. There are still many challenges such as networking by electonic mail, but in the future personal computers are expected to make significant contributions to the consolidation and systematization of research.