HISTORY

Toyo Bunko is the oldest and largest library for the study of Asia in Japan. Internationally it is counted, along with the British Library, the Asian Section of the Bibliothéque Nationale in Paris, the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Harvard Yenching Library, as one of the five major libraries for Asian Studies. In an earlier age, the term Toyo (“Oriental”) was used to describe these libraries. The category “Oriental” included the regions that people from the Western world assumed were not part of the “West” and applied to all areas of study of the peoples, traditions, societies and the natural world in that non-Western world. The Toyo Bunko collection now includes a million volumes, including five items designated as National Treasures and seven as Important Cultural Properties. If we divide the books by language, 40% are Chinese, 30% are in Western languages, 20% are Japanese, and 10% are in other Asian languages, including Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Tibetan, Persian, Turkish, and Arabic. If we look at the geographical span of the materials, they include all of Asia including Japan (East Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia) as well as the Islamic areas of Northern Africa. In terms of disciplines, the collection covers a wide range of fields. As you can see from other explanations on this website, the collections have a long history, with close links over the last century between the library collections and research activities.

The Toyo Bunko Library has been rebuilt three times since the initial construction in 1924.

The first building was designed by Sakurai Kotaro, who was a student of the well-known British architect Josiah Condor and chief engineer for Mitsubishi Estate company. The building, which was completed in October 1924, was built on land donated by the Iwasaki family. Sakurai had been asked to design a building that would be “robust and neat”. Both the main building and the stacks for storage of books were constructed of reinforced concrete. The outer walls were faced with tile, lighter brown on the upper section, and a chocolate brown on the lower section. The walls of the offices were all painted in a single color. The architect Sakurai was also the architect of other Mitsubishi-related buildings, including the Iwasaki family Tangomachi villa (designed in 1917), the Marunouchi Building (1923), and the Seikado Bunko (1924).
In 1932 a new book storage building was added, and in 1969—marking the fifth anniversary of the arrival of the Morrison Collection—an additional building and a new storage section were added. A further rebuilding in 1983 was the result of financial difficulties which led to the sale of part of the property, leaving the new building and the special book storage. From 1969 to 1983, there was a volleyball court on the grounds which was surrounded by the original building, the original book storage building, as well as the new building, new book storage and special book storage areas which had been added on later. The volleyball court was a favorite relaxation space for staff members.
The current Toyo Bunko building was completed in 2011. The building was designed by the Mitsubishi Estate Company, taking as key themes “Books, Knowledge, and Asia”. The new Toyo Bunko was designed to provide for three key functions—Dissemination of Knowledge, Research, and Preservation of Materials. Care was taken to express these key elements in both the inner and outer designs of the building, and in the landscape design around the building.

Since its founding, Toyo Bunko has made use of the latest technology to achieve its aims of preserving and displaying its valuable cultural resources. The following, from the 15-year history of Toyo Bunko, describe some of the early uses of technology.