Material from the former archives of political scientist Teiji Yabe (1902-67), a figure integral to the realpolitik of the prewar through postwar period. As well as serving before the war as head of the diplomatic section of Fumimaro Konoe’s Showa Kenkyukai research group think-tank in his capacity as a University of Tokyo professor, Yabe helped to guide policy in various ways during the war, as a part-time advisor to the Navy and Foreign Affairs Ministries. Continuing to serve after the war on numerous councils and commissions including as　vice-chairman of the Constitutional Investigation Committee (Kenpo Chosa-kai), and council for the electoral system (Senkyo seido shingi-kai), political scientist Yabe was consistently involved in the practicalities of Japanese politics. This database consists of a huge cache of primary source material--around 6,000 items--retained by Yabe, covering the decades from the 1920s to the late 1960s and tracing the career of an intellectual whose life spanned some of Japan’s most turbulent times. Wide-ranging in content, it consists of Yabe's own writings and correspondence, plus internal documents of the groups and institutions he was involved with from before the war, right through to the postwar years, such as the Showa Kenkyukai think-tank, Navy Ministry and naval academy, Constitutional Investigation Committee, administrative council (Gyosei Shingikai), public security investigation committee (Koan Shinsa Iinkai), council for the electoral system, and committee charged with preparations for the Meiji centenary. This includes material of the first order providing a closeup look at critical events in Showa history, such as Yabe's own memos as the nation moved toward a total war footing, and committee materials on the discussions around postwar overhaul of the Constitution, and administrative reforms. An essential collection of historical resources for the study not only of political history and the history of political thought, but modern history, including legal and social history.