This page introduces the tools used in ancestry research.

The symbols ◎, 〇, △ and × in the tables below have the following meanings.
◎: Necessary, essential, needed
〇: Not necessary, not required, but better to have (*)
△: Not necessary, not required, you may or may not have it (*)
×: Unnecessary, useless, not needed, better not to have
* Some people use “not necessary” or “not required” to mean “unnecessary” or “useless”. That is a misuse. These words only deny that the item is necessary; they do not mean the item is not needed or that it is better not to have it.

Hardware

Item	Necessity	Use and notes
Identification (preferably a driver’s license)	◎	Needed to obtain koseki (戸籍) and joseki-bo (除籍簿). Outside the large metropolitan areas, it helps if you can drive. The person you are researching may also ask you to show proof of identity.
Personal seal (mitome-in)	△	Normally not used, but for occasions when a seal is requested.
Smartphone	◎	Useful at the research site for web searches, maps, photographs and audio recording. It can also be used to read cursive script (kuzushiji) with handwriting-input apps, old-document decoding apps or online decoding services. You should install a voice recording app and a silent camera app.
IC (voice) recorder	〇	A smartphone alone may run short of storage or battery. To record what the person you are researching says without fail, use an IC recorder as well as the smartphone’s recording app. In some cases it records more clearly than a smartphone app.
Recording app	◎	Install a recording app on your smartphone so that what the person says is reliably preserved. Use both an IC recorder and a recording app, in case one has noise, was not switched on, or is short of storage or battery. You may think, “Why not just listen and take notes?” However, for the recorder, keeping the live conversation as information is also useful for checking the recorder’s own misunderstandings, and it is highly valuable as an original record.
Telephoto camera, binoculars, telescope	△	Used to look for graveyards in the mountains or in places that are hard to reach. A telephoto camera is preferable if possible.
Digital camera	〇	A smartphone camera app will do, but photographing old documents uses a lot of battery, and in summer in particular the screen often becomes too hot to take pictures.
Table converting era names, sexagenary cycle years and Western years	〇	Without a table of era names (gengo), sexagenary cycle years (eto) and Western years, old documents and gravestones are hard to read. You can memorize it, or keep it in a tool such as Google Sheets, but if you carry it on a smartphone, watch the battery. When you interview descendants or local residents, it is better to carry a printout to show them and help them recall accurately (on a smartphone the screen may be too small to show it well, and outdoors there may not be enough light to see it).
Car smartphone charger	〇	Better to have when doing field research by car.
Family tree and ancestor information	◎	Whether you are researching old documents, graveyards, the family temple or descendant families, print out the family tree and a list of ancestor information and carry it with you. When you interview descendants or local residents, it is better to carry a printout to show them and help them recall accurately (on a smartphone the screen may be too small to show it well, and outdoors there may not be enough light to see it). Prepare a printout for the person you are researching as well, so that you can hand it over to ask for continued cooperation and to have them confirm that what has been found so far is correct.
Business card or contact details	◎	Give it to the person you are researching so that they can contact you if something new comes to light later. A business card may be lost, so it is less error-prone to write your contact details on the family tree and ancestor information mentioned above.
Finger cots / page-turning rubber	△	Convenient when reading documents with many pages, such as old documents.
Car	〇	If you are going to do field research in a rural area, it is more convenient to load your own car with the various materials and equipment.
Computer	◎	A computer is easier to use than a smartphone or tablet for creating family trees and organizing materials and data, and it can handle large amounts of data.
A3 multifunction machine (printer and scanner)	◎	Besides printing the materials you take with you, you also need a scanner to digitize the materials you obtain, so that you can store and carry them. You may think A4 is enough, but maps and genealogical materials are often B4 or A3 size, so we strongly recommend A3. It is good to have a high-performance scanner to scan photographs clearly. As introduced in our institute’s high-resolution service, even a small old photograph can yield a good deal of information when enlarged greatly. If you want to scan a large number of old photographs, whether your own or borrowed, to obtain information, or to record your ancestors’ faces properly, you should have a high-performance scanner. If you expect to scan a lot of materials, the scanner will be heavily used, so it may be wise to keep a separate A3 scanner as a spare in case of breakdown.
HDD	◎	If you are serious about your research, you will collect a very large amount of data (scan data and photographs in particular), so we suggest preparing a large-capacity drive of at least about 1 TB.
Generator	△	If you carry a laptop or multifunction machine in your car, your own generator is more convenient than borrowing power at your lodging or at the research site.
Gloves	△	Usually not required, but useful when you do not want to soil the documents.
Clipboard / clip file	◎	Used for graveyard research. Clip the era name / sexagenary cycle / Western year conversion table and note paper to it. You may think, “If I take photographs, I don’t need notes.” But when you get home and look at the photographs, you may find that you cannot read them well, or that you no longer know which gravestone is which. Take photographs on site, and always take notes as well.
Light source	△	In graveyard research, shine light on places that are in shadow or worn so that you can read them.
Rubbing set (takuhon)	〇

In addition, there may be items needed for field research in special environments, such as mountains where bears live, but these are omitted here.

Software

Item	Necessity	Use and notes
Recording app	◎	Install a recording app on your smartphone so that what the person says is reliably preserved. Use both an IC recorder and a recording app, in case one has noise, was not switched on, or is short of storage or battery. You may think, “Why not just listen and take notes?” However, for the recorder, keeping the live conversation as information is also useful for checking the recorder’s own misunderstandings, and it is highly valuable as an original record.
Silent camera app	〇
Spreadsheet software	◎	Used to create family trees. Software that you can view and operate away from your desk, such as Google Sheets, is preferable.
Word processor	〇	Used to compile information and research items, and to compile a family biographical dictionary. Software that you can view and operate away from your desk, such as Google Docs, is preferable. Essential for those who do not use a spreadsheet in place of a word processor. Even if you use software with greater layout freedom for compiling the biographical dictionary, use a cloud-based tool to compile information and research items.
Drawing software (floor-plan software)	〇	Used to create floor plans of the homes of relatively recent ancestors, graveyard maps and the like.
OCR software (character recognition)	〇	It is a good idea to read the text of digitized materials with OCR software so that you can search them efficiently. Google Docs is free and its accuracy is very high.
PDF editing software	△	Used to convert data of materials to PDF when giving it to research collaborators.
Image editing software	◎	Used to process and use map information, portrait photographs and the like. Free software such as Paint is fine.