While early Japanese imprints, the gift of Ithaca resident William Griffis, are among the oldest East Asian titles in Cornell University Library, Cornell did not begin to seriously collect Japanese language materials until the mid-1970s. Following a successful fundraising campaign, in 1998 the collection acquired the private library of the late literary critic and scholar Maeda Ai, greatly enhancing its holdings on early modern Japan. The generous support of the Japan Foundation and other sources has enabled Wason to assemble a significant collection of materials on popular culture, late Edo- and early Meiji-period Japanese literature, and strong holdings in such areas as premodern literature and history.