Wikipedia

National Diet Library

TheNational Diet Library(NDL)(Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán,Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan)is thenational libraryofJapanand among thelargest libraries in the world.It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of theNational Diet of Japan(Quốc hội,Kokkai)in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope to the United StatesLibrary of Congress.

National Diet Library (NDL)
Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán
(Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan)
Tokyo Main Library of the National Diet Library
Map
35°40′42″N139°44′39″E/ 35.67833°N 139.74417°E/35.67833; 139.74417
LocationTokyoandKyoto,Japan
TypeNational Library, Parliamentary Library
Established1948(76 years ago)(1948)
Architect(s)Maekawa Associates, Architects & EngineersEdit this on Wikidata
Reference to legal mandateNational Diet Library Law
Branches27
Collection
Items collectedbooks, journals, newspapers, electronic archives, manuscripts, official publications, doctoral dissertations, maps, sheet music
Size41,881,649 items (March 2016)[1]
Criteria for collectionPublications issued in Japan, statutes and parliamentary documents, publications on Japan, reference material, material on science and technology, publications of international organizations and foreign governments, children's literature and related material, Asian works
Legal depositlegal deposit
Access and use
Access requirementseighteen years of age or older for the Tokyo Main Library and the Kansai-kan
Population servedmembers of the Diet (722: fixed number as of Feb. 2009) and the general public
Other information
BudgetJP¥20,163M (FY2008) (US$221M)
DirectorMotonobu Yoshinaga[ja](2020)[2]
Employees908
Websitewww.ndl.go.jp/en/Edit this at Wikidata
Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library

The National Diet Library (NDL) consists of two main facilities inTokyoandKyoto,and several other branch libraries throughout Japan.

History

edit

The National Diet Library is the successor of three separate libraries: the library of theHouse of Peers,the library of theHouse of Representatives,both of which were established at the creation of Japan'sImperial Dietin 1890; and theImperial Library,which had been established in 1872 under the jurisdiction of theMinistry of Education.

The Diet's power in pre-war Japan was limited, and its need for information was "correspondingly small." The original Diet libraries "never developed either the collections or the services which might have made them vital adjuncts of genuinely responsible legislative activity." Until Japan's defeat, moreover, the executive had controlled all political documents, depriving the people and the Diet of access to vital information. TheU.S. occupationforces under GeneralDouglas MacArthurdeemed reform of the Diet library system to be an important part of the democratization of Japan after its defeat inWorld War II.

In 1946, each house of the Diet formed its own National Diet Library Standing Committee.Hani Gorō,aMarxisthistorian who had been imprisoned during the war for thought crimes and had been elected to theHouse of Councillors(the successor to the abolished House of Peers) after the war, spearheaded the reform efforts. Hani envisioned the new body as "both a 'citadel of popular sovereignty,'" and the means of realizing a "peaceful revolution." The Occupation officers responsible for overseeing library reforms reported that, although the Occupation was a catalyst for change, local initiative pre-existed the Occupation, and the successful reforms were due to dedicated Japanese like Hani.

The National Diet Library opened in June 1948 in the present-dayState Guest-House(former Akasaka Detached Palace) with an initial collection of 100,000 volumes. The first Librarian of the Diet Library was the politicianTokujirō Kanamori.[3]The philosopherMasakazu Nakaiserved as the first Vice Librarian.[3]In 1949, the NDL merged with the National Library (previously called the Imperial Library) and became the only national library in Japan. At this time the collection gained an additional million volumes previously housed in the former National Library inUeno.

In 1961, the NDL opened at its present location[4]inNagatachō,adjacent to the National Diet. In 1986, the NDL's Annex was completed to accommodate a combined total of 12 million books and periodicals. TheKansai-kan(theKansaiLibrary), which opened in October 2002 in theKansai Science City(SeikaTown,Sōraku County,Kyoto Prefecture), has a collection of 6 million items. In May 2002, the NDL opened a new branch, theInternational Library of Children's Literature,in the former building of the Imperial Library in Ueno. This branch contains some 400,000 items of children's literature from around the world.

Though the NDL's original mandate was to be a research library for the National Diet, the general public is the largest consumer of the library's services. In the fiscal year ending March 2004, for example, the library reported more than 250,000 reference inquiries; in contrast, it recorded only 32,000 requests for research from the National Diet.

In response to thecoronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,the NDL suspended library services to the public on March 5, 2020.[5]The NDL reopened to the public on June 11, 2020, with a maximum of 200 visitors per day based on a lottery-style drawing, with prospective visitors being required to register beforehand for a chance to be selected.[6]On June 22 2023, this restriction was lifted.[7]

Main collection

edit
The National Diet Library
Main building in Tokyo

As Japan's national library, the NDL collects copies of all publications published in Japan. Moreover, because the NDL serves as aresearch libraryfor Diet members, their staff, and the general public, it maintains an extensive collection of materials published in foreign languages on a wide range of topics.

Important special collections

edit

The NDL also has eight major specialized collections: Modern Political and Constitutional History; Materials Concerning the Postwar Occupation of Japan; Laws and Preliminary Records; Science and Technology; Maps; Music; Foreign Books About Japan; and Rare Books.

Modern political and constitutional history

edit

The Modern Political and Constitutional History Collection comprises some 300,000 items related to Japan's political and legal modernization in the 19th century, including the original document archives of important Japanese statesmen from the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century likeItō Hirobumi,Iwakura Tomomi,Sanjō Sanetomi,Mutsu Munemitsu,Terauchi Masatake,and other influential figures from theMeiji(1868–1912) andTaishō(1912–1926) periods.

Materials concerning the postwar occupation of Japan

edit

The NDL has an extensive microform collection of some 30 million pages of documents relating to theOccupation of Japanafter World War II. This collection include the documents prepared byGeneral Headquarters(GHQ) and theSupreme Commander of the Allied Powers(SCAP), theFar Eastern Commission(FEC), and theUnited States Strategic Bombing Survey Team.(The originals of these documents are in the possession of the United StatesNational Archives.)

Laws and preliminary records

edit

The Laws and Preliminary Records Collection consists of some 170,000 Japanese and 200,000 foreign-language documents concerning proceedings of the National Diet and the legislatures of some 70 foreign countries, and the official gazettes, statutes, judicial opinions, and international treaties pertaining to some 150 foreign countries.

Science and technology

edit

The NDL maintains a collection of some 530,000 books and booklets and 2 million microform titles relating to the sciences. These materials include, among other things, foreign doctoral dissertations in the sciences, the proceedings and reports of academic societies, catalogues of technical standards, etc.

Maps

edit

The NDL has a collection of approximately 440,000 maps of Japan and other countries, including the topographical, geological, and hydrological maps and charts dating back to the earlyMeiji period(1868–1912) and topographical maps of foreign countries.

Music

edit

The NDL collects all phonographic recordings made in Japan, and presently holds a collection comprising 300,000 vinyl records and 200,000 compact disks.

Foreign books about Japan

edit

Following the tradition established by the Imperial Library, the NDL collects foreign-language materials about Japan, including rare and ancient documents, such as reports of European missionaries visiting Japan in the 16th century.

Rare books and old materials

edit
The Analects of Confuciusin the collection of the National Diet Library has a back flyleaf with Nobukata's autograph provenance notes dated November of the 16th year of theTenmon era(1547) and is clearly printed; therefore this seems to be a rare first edition. A sumptuous cover made ofNishijin brocadewas put on the book in theEdo period.

The NDL houses the former Imperial Library's collection of Japanese language materials from theEdo period(1603–1867) and earlier periods. The major catalogues in this collection include: (1) some 6,000 documents relating to theTokugawa shogunate(1603–1867), such as records of town magistrates, the shogunal Supreme Court, and theJisha-bugyō(Commissioners of Shrines and Temples), as well as documents concerning the succession ofshōguns;(2) theItō BunkoandShirai Bunko,consisting of 8,000 handwritten and woodblock printed books dating from the Edo and Meiji periods and concerning Japanese medicine; and (3) theShinjo Bunko,consisting of 11,000 examples of pre-modern writings on astronomy and calendars, in addition to ancient Chinese works on theQing dynasty,genealogy, and local history.

National Diet Library buildings

edit

The Kansai-Kan

edit
Main article:Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library

Kansai-kan (Kansai Library), which opened in Kyoto Prefecture in 2002, is the second facility of the NDL.

The NDL has transferred the following collections to the Kansai-kan: most western periodicals; books and other materials in non-Japanese Asian languages; certain scientific and technological materials (technical reports, papers of foreign academic societies, catalogs of Japanese and foreign technical standards, foreign doctoral dissertations, and conference proceedings in Western languages); scientific research reports compiled under grants from theMinistry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology;Japanese doctoral dissertations; and books on tape.[8]

National Diet Library online resources

edit

The National Diet Library has in recent years compiled a detailed website in both Japanese[9]and English.[10]Its online databases consist of the National Diet Library Online Public Access Catalog (NDL-OPAC), National Diet Library Digital Collections and the Minutes of the Imperial Diet and National Diet.

National Diet Library Online Public Access Catalog (NDL-OPAC)

edit

The NDL provides an Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC), by which users can search the NDL's entire collection from anywhere in the world in either English[11]or Japanese.[12]Using OPAC to identify sources and catalog numbers, overseas users may obtain certain materials from the NDL throughinterlibrary loan.[13]In addition, the NDL provides a fee-based reproduction service for scholars residing overseas.[14]As of June 2017 NDL-OPAC is planned to end at the end of December 2017 and new online services will be launched.[15]

National Diet Library Digital Collections

edit

NDL Digital Collections provinces various online materials such as rare books, audio-visual materials and the materials whose copyrights has expired. The contents consisting of Digital Library from the Meiji Era and Rare Books Image Database (to be mentioned later) are now availablable on NDL Digital Collections. NDL Digitalized Contents was renamed to be NDL Digital Collections in 2014.[16][17]

Digital Library from the Meiji Era

edit
Main article:ja: Cận đại デジタルライブラリー

One of the most important features of the NDL's website is the Digital Library of the Meiji Era(Cận đại デジタルライブラリー,Kindai dejitaru raiburarii,lit. Recent Age Digital Library).[18]The Digital Library is the digital descendant of theMaruzen Meiji Microfilm,the product of an ambitious project to microfilm the NDL's entire collection of Meiji era books, a collection of some 60,000 volumes. The digital library contains actual images of these works, which are divided into ten main categories based onNippon Decimal Classification(NDC): (0) general(Tổng ký,sōki);(1) philosophy(Triết học,tetsugaku);(2) history(Lịch sử,rekishi);(3) social sciences(Xã hội khoa học,shakai kagaku);(4) natural sciences(Tự nhiên khoa học,shizen kagaku);(5) engineering and manufacturing(Công học ・ công nghiệp,kōgaku/kōgyō);(6) industry(Sản nghiệp,sangyō);(7) arts and athletics(Vân thuật ・ thể dục,geijutsu/taiiku);(8) language(Ngữ học,gogaku);and (9) literature(Văn học,bungaku).The images are not coded, so text searches are not possible; however, Japanese-language searches for the title, author, publisher, subject, and table of contents of the works in the database are possible. Meiji period periodicals are not included in this collection. Digital Library from the Meiji Era was merged into NDL Digital Collections in 2015.[17]

Rare Books Image Database

edit

The NDL's website also contains the Rare Books Image Database(Quý trọng thư họa tượng データベース,kichōsho gazō dētabēsu)a collection of digital images from 37,000 illustrated books published before the Edo Period. Japanese-language searches by title, author, and call-number are possible in this database.[19]Rare Books Image Database was integrated into NDL Digitalized Contents (now NDL Digital Collections) in 2012.[17]

Minutes of the Imperial Diet and National Diet

edit

The NDL provides a database of the minutes of both the Imperial Diet and the National Diet, the only one of the NDL's online database that is full-text searchable. All minutes from the National Diet's inception in May 1947 through the present are searchable online.[20]At present, only minutes from the last two (91st and 92nd) sessions of the Imperial Diet (November 1946 through May 1947) are available.[21]

edit

Japan Search[ja]is aweb portallaunched on 25 August 2020 and operated by the NDL for integrated searches across multiple databases hosted by the various partner organizations.[22][23]As of March 2023, the service worked with 38aggregatorsand drew on over 28 million items of data from 198databases.[24]

Standards

edit

In addition to its library services, the organization is also involved in standard activities in areas related to bibliographical and search and retrieve standards. Areas of work include, National Diet Library Dublin Core Metadata Description (DC-NDL),[25]and National Diet Library Linked Open Data (NDL LOD).[26]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^"Statistics".National Diet Library.2017.Archivedfrom the original on July 7, 2014.RetrievedSeptember 9,2017.
  2. ^Quan tây quán đồ thư quán hiệp lực khóa điều tra tình báo hệ, ed. (May 28, 2020)."Cát vĩnh nguyên tín quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán tân quán trường インタビュー".カレントアウェアネス-E(in Japanese). Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán quan tây quán đồ thư quán hiệp lực khóa.Archivedfrom the original on May 28, 2023.RetrievedAugust 17,2023.
  3. ^ab"Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan Shōshi"Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán tiểu sử(in Japanese). "Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan" quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán [National Diet Library]. Archived fromthe originalon January 16, 2011.RetrievedJanuary 13,2011.
  4. ^This was the ground of the German Embassy since the Meiji period. It was confiscated in 1945 and not given back.
  5. ^"Urgent Notice of Temporary Closure from March 5 to March 16｜National Diet Library".www.ndl.go.jp.Archivedfrom the original on April 27, 2021.RetrievedApril 27,2021.
  6. ^"Reopening of National Diet Library Facilities (Update: June 12) ｜National Diet Library".www.ndl.go.jp.Archivedfrom the original on June 23, 2021.RetrievedApril 27,2021.
  7. ^"Elimination of Entry Restrictions".RetrievedSeptember 21,2023.
  8. ^"Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library".National Diet Library.Archivedfrom the original on August 30, 2005.RetrievedSeptember 27,2005.
  9. ^"Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán ―National Diet Library".www.ndl.go.jp.Archivedfrom the original on April 27, 2021.RetrievedApril 27,2021.
  10. ^"National Diet Library".www.ndl.go.jp.Archivedfrom the original on May 5, 2021.RetrievedApril 27,2021.
  11. ^"National Diet Library Online Public Access Catalog".National Diet Library.Archived fromthe originalon December 11, 2009.RetrievedDecember 11,2009.
  12. ^"Kokuritsu Kokkaitoshokan Zōsho Kensaku Mōshikomi Shisutemu"Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán tàng thư kiểm tác ・ thân 込システム[National Diet Library Collection Search/Application System] (in Japanese). Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan "Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán [National Diet Library]. Archived fromthe originalon October 2, 2002.RetrievedOctober 2,2002.
  13. ^"International Loan Service".National Diet Library.Archived fromthe originalon November 19, 2005.RetrievedSeptember 27,2005.
  14. ^"International Photoduplication Service".National Diet Library.Archived fromthe originalon November 14, 2005.RetrievedSeptember 27,2005.
  15. ^"NDL to Implement a New Search System in January 2018".National Diet Library. Archived fromthe originalon December 13, 2017.RetrievedDecember 13,2017.
  16. ^"About the National Diet Library Digital Collections".National Diet Library.Archivedfrom the original on April 28, 2019.RetrievedDecember 13,2017.
  17. ^abc"Kokuritsu Kokkaitoshokan Dejitaru Korekushon no Ayumi"Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán デジタルコレクションの bộ み[History of the National Diet Library Digital Collection] (in Japanese). Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan "Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán [National Diet Library].Archivedfrom the original on December 13, 2017.RetrievedDecember 13,2017.
  18. ^"Collection of the Electronic Library".National Diet Library.Archived fromthe originalon October 13, 2005.RetrievedOctober 13,2005.
  19. ^"Kichō-sho Gazō Dētabēsu"Quý trọng thư họa tượng データベース[Rare book image database] (in Japanese). Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan "Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán [National Diet Library]. Archived fromthe originalon August 31, 2005.RetrievedSeptember 27,2005.
  20. ^"Kokkai Kaigiroku Kensaku Shisutemu"Quốc hội hội nghị lục kiểm tác システム[Parliamentary Minutes Search System] (in Japanese). Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan "Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán [National Diet Library].Archivedfrom the original on November 22, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 27,2005.
  21. ^"Teikoku Gikai Kaigiroku Kensaku Shisutemu"Đế quốc nghị hội hội nghị lục kiểm tác システム[Imperial Diet Minutes Search System] (in Japanese). Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan "Quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán [National Diet Library].Archivedfrom the original on April 2, 2007.RetrievedSeptember 27,2005.
  22. ^"2020-8-25 The Launch of Japan Search".National Diet Library.RetrievedNovember 20,2023.
  23. ^"JAPAN SEARCH".University of Tokyo Library System.RetrievedNovember 20,2023.
  24. ^"Report on Japan Search Activities in FY2022".Japan Search.RetrievedNovember 20,2023.
  25. ^"National Diet Library Dublin Core Metadata Description (DC-NDL)".National Diet Library.Archivedfrom the original on July 15, 2021.RetrievedApril 1,2022.
  26. ^"(National Diet Library) Linked Open Data (LOD)".National Diet Library.Archivedfrom the original on July 15, 2021.RetrievedApril 1,2022.

Sources

edit
  • This article is based on information obtained from the National Diet Library website. The section on the formation of the NDL under the U.S. Occupation forces relies heavily on Leslie Pincus, "Revolution in the Archives of Memory: The Founding of the National Diet Library in Occupied Japan" in Francis X. Blouin and William G. Rosenberg, eds.,Archives, Documentation, and Institutions of Social Memory: Essays from the Sawyer Seminar(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2006).
  • Kim, Chin (1969). "A New National Library: The National Diet Library of Japan".The Journal of Library History.University of Texas Press. 4 (3): 225–238.
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related toNational Diet Library.
Wikidatahas the properties:
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Diet_Library&oldid=1229377280"