By around 1920, the growing industrialization of Japan was propelling a notable population shift to urban areas. Goto Shinpei, then mayor of Tokyo, established the Tokyo Shisei Chosakai (Tokyo Institute for Municipal Research) to begin studying urban issues and local government. Renamed the Goto-Yasuda Kinen Tokyo Toshi Kenkyusho in 2012 (though retaining its original English title), the TIMR serves as the repository for over ninety years’ worth of study and research on municipal concerns.

Urban Issue and Local Autonomy is an online database containing a digitized version of this valuable asset (approximately 800 items), plus a detailed bibliograph