Your best sources for citations to articles of the period will be bibliographies of secondary works, such as books and journal articles, and full-length bibliographies.
Electronic databases that index older publications:
Periodicals Index Online
Index to periodicals in the humanities and social sciences, from their first issues to 1995. Some records Include links to full-text in Periodicals Archive Online. Dates of coverage vary, but some publications go back before the 1900's.
JSTOR
Archive of full-text articles for core journals in economics, political science, ecology, population studies, asian studies (17 titles), literature, history, and other areas. Covers journals from their first issue until roughly 2 - 4 years ago (i.e. current issues not included).
PAIS Archive
Indexes journals, books, and documents covering global public policy and social issues in all disciplines. 1915 -1976. For 1972 - current switch to PAIS International (click on Databases link from within FirstSearch to add PAIS International. You can search both at once).
If your topic occurred since 1941, you may find articles written at the time by using:
Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) Indexes western language publications on East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. All subjects. 1971 - present online. 1941 - 1991 available in print. Main Library Stacks DS5 .A1
Few other electronic databases have coverage beyond the last 10 - 20 years. You will most likely have to use print indexes, which have limited coverage of Asian sources, although they will include Asian topics.
To locate articles in journals and magazines on U.S. and international subjects, 1907+
International Index to Periodical Articles, 1907 - 1965.
Main Library Reference AI3 .S6
Social Sciences & Humanities Index, 1965 - 1974.
Main Library Reference AI3 S6
Social Sciences Index, 1974 - 1993.
Main Library Reference AI3 .S62
Humanities Index, 1974 - 1993.
Main Library Reference AI3 .H8
If you think your topic might be covered in popular American magazines from 1890 to present, try:
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, 1890 - present.
Main Library Reference AI3 R48