Prewar and wartime Japanese scholars compiled a considerable body of research on regions of the South Pacific then under Japanese rule. Today, as Pacific island cultures undergo rapid change, these studies have become precious records of traditional ways of life in the region. The works of Hisakatsu Hijikata, an amateur ethnographer who made extensive field observations in Micronesia before and during World War Ⅱ, are regarded as among the most valuable in this respect. In order to make them available to English-speaking students and researchers in many countries, a number of his writings are being translated, published and donated to libraries, universities and research institutes in the Pacific Islands and throughout the world. This year, as the first volume of the translation was already attracting critical acclaim among Oceania scholars both in Japan and overseas, work was completed on the second volume, 1,000 copies of which were then donated to universities and libraries in several countries.