People

General

• World Biographical Information System (WBIS) Online　　　※Subscription database for on-site use only
• Kotobank
  • Asahi Dictionary of Japanese Historical Figures, Dictionary of Notable Edo-Tokyo Figures, Dictionary of Notable Entertainers, Who's Who of Non-Japanese , Dictionary of Japanese Politicians, Celebrity Data Bank, Dictionary of Notable Western Figures of the Twentieth-Century, Dictionary of Notable Japanese Figures of the Twentieth-Century, The Biographical Dictionary of Japan
• JapanKnowledge Lib　　　※Subscription database for on-site use only
  • JK Who's Who, Dictionary of Japanese Fictional and Legendary Characters, The Biographical Dictionary of Japan
• Finding biographies of historical figures(Research Navi)
• Roots: Searching family trees(Research Navi)
• Finding an author’s year of death(Research Navi)
• Bibliography of Japanese Biographical Information (Humanities) （National Diet Library）
• Japan Biographical Database （Sophia University）

Early modern period (Person of letters, etc.)

• Kinsei Chukouki Kamigata Bundanjintekikouryu Database
• Kinsei Kijinden (Biographical Database of Unusual Individuals) （International Research Center for Japanese Studies）
• Kokugaku Personalities Database （Kokugakuin University）　　　"Wagakusha　Soran"
• Biography Bibliography Database (Jige Kaden / Haga Jinmei Jiten) （National Institute of Japanese Literature）
• A regional database of Dutch scholars and their students （National Museum of Japanese History）
• Heian Jinbutsushi (Biographical Database of Individuals from the Heian Era) （International Research Center for Japanese Studies）　　　Edo era
• Heian Jinbutsushi tanzaku jō （International Research Center for Japanese Studies）

Modern period (Government officials, etc.)

• Lexikon Japans Studierende
• Pioneros ver. 2.2: Database of Japanese immigrants to Peru (1899-1941)(Asociación Peruano Japonesa, Japanese Overseas Migration Museum)
• Korean History Database　　　Government-General of Korea and affiliated government personnel list (1910-1943), searchable with Japanese kanji
• Meiji Restoration Collection （Kyoto University）
• Bibliography of Persons in Modern Japanese Politics （National Diet Library）
• Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures (Online Gallery) （National Diet Library）
• Kokugaku Personalities Database （Kokugakuin University）　　　"Wagakusha　Soran"
• National Archives of Japan Digital Archive Cross Search
• Japanese missionaries in colonial Korea(Shikoku Gakuin University)
• Japanese Who's Who Record "JINJI KOSHINROKU" （Nagoya University）　　　1st,4th,8th ed.
• Taiwan Sotokufu Personnel Directory　　　Government-General of Taiwan personnel list (1896-1944), not searchable with Japanese kanji
• Tokyo Telephone Directory　　　1926-1942
• Directory of Ministry of Education Officials Database 　　　Data of "Directory of Ministry of Education Officials" 1872-1892, "Directory of Government Officials" 1894-1943
• Database of Meiji era bureaucrats and government posts on the web(Kagoshima University)

Indexes etc.

General

• Bibliography of Persons in Modern Japanese Politics （National Diet Library）
• Contemporary Writers of Japan
• Koseisha Database Compendium of Information on Japanese Personages
• JapanKnowledge Lib　　　※Subscription database for on-site use only
• Bibliography of Japanese Biographies
• Bibliography and Database of People by Regional (Research Navi) （National Diet Library）
• Bibliography of Japanese Biographical Information (Humanities) （National Diet Library）

Newspaper articles

• See Newspaper Indexes

Surnames

• Searching family names （National Diet Library）
• A map of Japanese familly names （Ritsumeikan University）

Portraits

Digital images

• National Portrait Gallery
• Meiji Restoration Collection （Kyoto University）　　　Includes some portraits
• Portraits of Modern Japanese Historical Figures (Online Gallery) （National Diet Library）
• National Diet Library Digital Collections　　　"集古十種""前賢故実""大日本名家肖像集"
• Search engine of photographs of plays (Shochiku Otani Library)　　　Commercial photographs of Meiji era Kabuki actors – before World WarⅡ
• Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo Database
  • Database of old photographs
  • Database of portrait reproductions
• Historical Figure Image Database （National Institute of Japanese Literature）

Portrait indexes

• Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo Database
  • Location-information database of portraits
• Bibliography of Japanese Biographical Information (Humanities) （National Diet Library）