Monumenta Nipponica is one of the leading Japan studies journals in the world. In the first quarter of 2024, alone, people in over 120 countries accessed Monumenta Nipponica’s peer-reviewed articles and book reviews more than 45,500 times.

The journal was founded in 1938 by Sophia economics professor Johannes B. Kraus, S.J. (1892–1946), and eighty-five years later it continues to be a vibrant forum for the exchange of ideas. The journal welcomes contributions representing diverse disciplinary perspectives in the humanities and dealing with all periods, from ancient to modern times, and also maintains its commitment to providing a platform for translations of Japanese literary and historical sources and texts.

Published twice a year, making a total of seventy-eight volumes as of April 2024, Monumenta Nipponica carries original scholarly contributions on Japanese history, literature, art, religion, thought, and society, as well as translations of important Japanese literary texts and historical sources. Each issue carries three articles and as many as twenty authoritative reviews of recent books on Japan. From volume 60 (2005), the journal has been available online through Project MUSE. All back issues are available online, with a five-year moving wall, through JSTOR. The journal is indexed by EBSCO, Web of Science, CNKI Scholar, ERIH PLUS, and Scopus.