National Diet Library

The National Diet Library (NDL) is the national library of Japan.

It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its primary mission is to support the members of the National Diet. The Diet is the legislative body that creates laws in Japan. Because of this role, the NDL is very similar to the Library of Congress in the United States. It serves as a massive repository for the nation's knowledge. It also collects copies of every publication produced within Japan. This ensures that the country's intellectual history is preserved for the future.

The library functions through a massive collection of diverse materials. It maintains an extensive selection of foreign language books to assist researchers. The NDL also manages eight major specialized collections. These include Science and Technology, which contains 530,000 books and 2 million microform titles. There is also a Maps collection with approximately 440,000 items. The Music collection holds 300,000 vinyl records and 200,000 compact disks. Other collections focus on laws, music, and the history of the postwar occupation.

To understand the NDL, one must look at its complex history. Before its current form, three separate libraries existed in Japan. These were the libraries of the House of Peers and the House of Representatives. Both were established in 1890 during the creation of the Imperial Diet. There was also the Imperial Library, which began in 1872. During the pre-war era, the Diet had limited power. The executive branch controlled most political documents. This prevented the people and the Diet from accessing vital information.

Significant changes occurred after Japan's defeat in World War II. U.S. occupation forces saw library reform as a way to help democratize Japan. In 1946, committees were formed to plan this new system. A historian named Hani Gorō led these reform efforts. He had been imprisoned during the war for his political beliefs. Hani envisioned the library as a "citadel of popular sovereignty." He wanted the library to support a peaceful revolution through information. The NDL officially opened in June 1948 at the former Akasaka Detached Palace. It began with an initial collection of 100,000 volumes.

The library grew rapidly through mergers and new construction. In 1949, the NDL merged with the National Library. This merger added one million volumes from the Ueno location. In 1961, the NDL moved to its current location in Nagatachō, Tokyo.

To manage its growing size, an Annex was completed in 1986. This allowed the library to hold 12 million books and periodicals. In 2002, the Kansai-kan opened in Kyoto Prefecture. This second major facility holds 6 million items.

Another branch, the International Library of Children's Literature, opened in Ueno in 2002. It contains about 400,000 items of children's literature from across the globe.

While the library was built for politicians, the public uses it most. In the fiscal year ending March 2004, the NDL received over 250,000 reference inquiries from the public. In contrast, it received only 32,000 research requests from the National Diet. This shows that the library is a vital resource for all citizens. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the library worked to manage access. It reopened in June 2020 with a lottery system to limit visitors. These restrictions were eventually lifted in June 2023.

Modern technology has connected the NDL to the entire world. The library provides several important online resources. The NDL Online Public Access Catalog, or NDL-OPAC, allows users to search the collection globally. It is available in both Japanese and English. The NDL Digital Collections also provide access to rare books and audiovisual materials. One major feature is the Digital Library from the Meiji Era. This project contains digital images of 60,000 books from that period. There is also a Rare Books Image Database. This database contains digital images of 37,000 illustrated books from before the Edo period. Finally, the library offers a searchable database of the minutes from the Imperial and National Diets.