Toyo Bunko's library holdings containing historical sources on Asia, have been catalogued linguistically according to Asian (Chinese, Tibetan, Thai, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, etc.),Western and Japanese language materials.
At present the Library contains approximately 1,000,000 volumes making up a collection unsurpassed in the world in its extensive coverage of Asia.
There are many valuable and rare materials and collections, including five national treasures and seven important cultural properties designated by the Government.
In addition, there are 635 inscribed Chinese tortoise shell fragments, 3,000 gazetteers of China, 860 Chinese genealogies, 13,000 Tibetan and Mongolian sutras and a late fourteenth century copy of the Quran. Mention should also be given to the microfilm collection of documents related to Dunhuang and Turfan copied from all archives throughout the world.
The library's more important collections include:
The Morrison Collection: This collection was painstakingly amassed by George Ernest Morrison during his 20-year residency in Beijing. Contains approximately 24,000 volumes in Western languages dealing with China and its neighbors and includes about 1,000map/lithograph titles, about 7,200 pamphlets
, and over 120 periodicals. Of particular value are 54 editions of Marco Polo's Description of the World including a copy of the first Latin printing in 1485. The reader will also find 500 dictionaries of Chinese The Library dialects, approximately 300 titles published in the West on Russo-Japanese War, reports of survey expeditions to Central Asia, books on China written by the earliest Christian missionaries to travel there.
The Morrison II Collection: Contains materials related to Southeast Asia collected by Morrison's son Alistair and his wife, Hedda.
The Iwasaki Collection: Here the reader will find a large number of printed books and handwritten manuscripts from old Japan and China collected by IWASAKI Hisaya
, the founder of Toyo Bunko. The collection features such rare book types as pre-17th century hand-copied manuscripts (koshobon), publications put out by medieval Japanese Zen temples (gozanban), 17th century woodblock and copper type printings (kokatsujiban), and editions designed and crafted by the early Edo period Kyotobased artist at calligraphy, ceramics and lacquer Hon'ami Koetsu (Saga-bon). The collection is generally centered around Edo period literature and the original manuscripts of Edo and Meiji period scholars and literary figures. But in addition, it also contains over 200 copies of rare and well-preserved colored woodblock prints (Ukiyo-e) of Edo period.
East Asia
The MAEMA Kyosaku Collection of Korean classic books.
The
FUJITA Toyohachi Collection of Japanese and Chinese classic books
The NAGATA Yasukichi Collection of Vietnamese classic books
Correspondence between Lafcadio Hearn and B. H. Chamberlain.
Photographic reproductions of Philipp Franz von Siebold's works and documents.
The INOUE Junnosuke Collection of Japanese, Chinese and Western language books.
The ODAGIRI Masunosuke Collection of Japanese and Chinese Classic books.
The SHIDEHARA Taira Collection of Korean classic books.
The FUJII Naohisa Collection: Classic books related to the history of Japanese medicine collected by Fujii Naohisa.
The UMEHARA Collection: Source materials on the archaeology of Japan, Korea, Mongolia and Northeast China, and other Chinese, Japanese and Western language books painstakingly collected by Dr. UMEHARA Sueji.
The ENOKI Kazuo Collection: Japanese, Chinese and Western language books belonging to Enoki Kazuo
Books on modern Japan collected on the occasion of the centennial of the opening of the Japan to the West.
Books and source materials on modern Chinese history collected by the Modern China Research Committee.
India, Tibet
The KAWAGUCHI Ekai Collection of Tibetan Buddhist Scripture and other Tibetan language materials.
The TSUJI Naoshiro Collection of books on Indian languages, literature and religion.
Southeast Asia
The MATSUDA Yoshihisa Collection of Thai classic books.
The OGIWARA Collection: Burmese and Western language materials dealing with Burma.
The Velarde Collection of Philippine-related books collected by spanish missionary.
The YAMAMOTO Tatsuro Collection: Chinese, Japanese and Western language materials dealing with Southeast Asia.
Central Asia, Middle East
The IWAMI Collection: Persian materials belonging to IWAMI Takashi.
The MORI Masao Collection of sources on Inner Asia.
Microfilm Collection: Includes texts and documents unearthed from Dunhuang and Turfan and kept in archives throughout the world (British Library, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, National Library of China and Saint-Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of Russian Academy of Sciences), Vietnamese books held by the Ecole francaise d'Extreme-Orient in Paris, and the Jesuitas na Asia from the Biblioteca de Ajuda in Lisbon.
