This paper purposes to examine the relationship between the reference materials and research methods of modern Buddhism. The main subjects studied are reference tools―papers, catalogs, tables of contents, and reprints or databases―for researching Buddhist magazines. First, this study argues why it is difficult to study modern Japanese religious history and how important it is to use Buddhist magazines from the perspective of distinction and preservation of modern historical materials. Subsequently, it discusses the history of development of the aforementioned reference materials. Following the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, since Buddhist magazines were increasingly becoming scattered and historical materials from the Meiji period were getting lost, many institutions conducted activities to preserve Buddhist magazines. In the 1930s, numerous papers and catalogs on Buddhist magazines were published. Since 1945, Ryukoku University has been continuously researching Buddhist magazines. Further, since the 1980s, a movement to publish reprints and construct databases of general newspapers has been active. After 2000, the digitization of texts on modern Buddhism, including introduction of Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC), sale of magazines converted into electronic formats, and publishing of catalogs on the web, rapidly developed. This study suggests that these reference materials enable researchers to perform efficient investigations, including keyword search, and lead to the evolution of more effective methods to study the rituals of modern Buddhism.

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