Abstract: JAPAN/MARC is a Japanese MARC tape format. As the development of Japan’s MARC was relatively earlier and more mature with a high quality of MARC data, it has played an important role in the catalogue of China’s collection in Japanese literature. Through the analysis and research of JAPAN/MARC, this study drew the following features of JAPAN/MARC: no special field indicator; special field setting; different forms of access points; defined special fields for the multi volume books. Then, based on the comparative analysis of two kinds of MARC formats, it found the differences and corresponding relationship between fields, which could help to effectively use JAPAN/MARC bibliographic data and improve its quality and efficiency.

Key words: JAPAN/MARC