[Main Library] Privacy Booth is available in the Learning Commons
Privacy Booth for one person is newly available in the Learning Commons!
Please use it for online meetings, online interviews, etc.
Starting date
18th February (Tue), 2025
eligible users
Only KU-members
Time limit
Within 3 hours
* Until 30 minutes before the closing time.
How to use
1) Reserve through KULINE Room Reservation system from 1 week in advance.
2) Come to the library counter. The staff will lend out the key.
3) The key must be returned 10 minutes before the end of use.
Notes
- Number of simultaneous reservations possible is one. If you reserve the Common Study Room or Media Theater, you can not reserve Privacy Booth.
When making multiple reservations, we will cancel any later bookings. - Reservations can be changed or cancelled by KULINE Room Reservation system.
- If the key is not received at least 20 minutes after the start time of use, the reservation will be cancelled.
(日本語) 【復旧しました】【メンテナンス】リポジトリ登録システムの一時休止について(2/18 12:00~数日)
Maintenance: JapanKnowledge (Mar. 8, 2025)
JapanKnowledge service will be suspended due to its system maintenamce during the following period.
We
appreciate your support and patience.
Schedule
- March 8, 2025 (Sat) 10:00 - 13:00 (Japan Time)
Suspended service
All JapanKnowledge Services (JapanKnowledge Lib, Select contents and JKBooks)
Database List "J"
https://www.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/erdb?c=erdb_alpha_j&lang=en
[E-Resources team, Kyoto University Main Library]
[Library Network] Job Information: Teaching Staff (Open Access, Open Science)
[Library Network] Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive: Suruga Date Documents (Early-modern) have been newly released
65 items from Suruga Date Documents (Early-Modern) held by the Kyoto University Museum have been newly released in Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive.
▼Suruga Date Documents (Early-Modern)
The Suruga Date, a family sharing the same ancestor as the famous Date Masamune of Northern Japan were a warrior (kokujin) family based in Suruga Province (currently known as Shizuoka Prefecture). They moved to Tsuyama domain in Mimasaka province (current day Okayama Prefecture) where they survived during the Early Modern era (1600-1868). In all, 121 documents survive in the Suruga Date collection, with the oldest dating from the fourteenth century, and the most recent dating from the late nineteenth century (Meiji era).
Documents from the Early Modern to the Meiji era are available now. The documents cover a wide range of topics, but at the heart of them are those relating to the dispute over the Date family name from 1690 to the following year.

Yūki Hideyasu shuinjō 結城秀康朱印状
Please also see the 56 medieval documents.
▼Suruga Date Documents (Medieval)
As of February 13, 2025, Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive provides 2,154,597 images of 25,582 titles.
[Main Library] Regarding the fire that occurred at Main Library on February 6th.
A fire broke out in the reading room on the 2nd floor of Main Library at 2 p.m. on February 6, 2025.
The cause of the fire was a lithium-ion battery. The battery shorted out, exploded and caught fire.
The fire alarm was sounded at 2:02, and the fire was extinguished 3 minutes later. After confirming safety, the library reopened.
No books were burned.
Thank you for the cooperation in firefighting efforts, activating the fire alarm, and evacuation.
Solved: [Library Network] Begell House e-journals cannot be downloaded
Solved. (2025/01/31)
Currently, “Too many downloads attempts...” is displayed when you try to download the e-journals of Begell House. We are investigating the cause of the problem, so please wait for a while until the problem is fixed.
Publishers of e-journals and e-books are prohibited from accessing all pages, not only the full text, but also the table of contents and abstracts, with excessive frequency, thus overloading the servers.
If excessive access or large downloads are detected, penalties such as blocking access to e-journals from the entire university will be imposed by publisher.
Please read the "[Library Network] Conditions of Use and Licensing Restrictions for E-Resources" announced on Dec. 2, 2024, and review the settings of your browser and reference management tool plug-ins.
[Kyoto University Library Network]
[Library Network] Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive: 7 items including “文机談” from Kikutei Collection digitized
7 items including “文机談” from Kikutei Collection held by the Main Library are now available in Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive.
Kikutei Collection is an assembly of manuscripts and books handed down through the Kikutei Family founded by Kanesue (1281-1339; 兼季), the forth son of Sanekane Saionji (1249-1322; 西園寺実兼). The Kikutei (Imadegawa) Family was designated one of the highest status court families called the Seiga (清華) family which members can be appointed as Daijō-daijin (太政大臣) and served as biwa (Japanese lute) players. The collection includes many records of the court rituals, documents on music and instruments, and diaries hand-written by nobles.
The collection deposited in 1921 and 1923 and additional documents and scrolls of portraits related to the Kikutei Family were donated to the Main Library, Kyoto University by the owner of the collection and were formally registered as the holdings of the library in January 2021.
Bunkidan (文机談) is a collection of musical stories centered around the biwa (Japanese lute), compiled during the Bun'ei period (1264-1275). The book vividly describes the schools and masters of the biwa, and is an important source for understanding the history of music from the Heian to Kamakura periods. The second volume contains the story of Kamo no Chōmei (鴨長明), who was fond of playing the biwa.
According to the legend of the Kikutei family, the manuscript is considered to be an autograph copy by the author, Bunkibō Ryūen (文机房隆圓). However, it is actually believed to be a transcription from the late Kamakura period, not long after the work’s completion. Among the nine known versions of Bunkidan, the book of the Kikutei Collection is the oldest. Five volumes in five booklets are extant, although some pages are missing.
The second through fifth volumes were written on the reverse side of letters. In the digitization process, we restored the damaged papers, disassembled the books, and digitized all documents written inside of the pages. By making these reverse-side documents publicly available for the first time, it is hoped that further examination will determine the date of transcription in the future.

“文机談” Left: Signature by Ryūen / Right: Beginning of the first volume
In addition, six other titles are also available, including Korefusa Kōki (惟房公記), the autograph diary of Madenokōji Korefusa (万里小路惟房; 1513-1573), a Sengoku period lord, and a floor plan of the Kikutei residence.

As of January 30, 2025, Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive provides 2,154,407 images of 25,517 titles.
| Record ID | Title | Author | Call No | Collection |
| RB00028140 | 文机談 | (僧)隆円著 | 菊||フ||12 | Kikutei Collection |
| RB00028331 | 白馬節会 | 菊||巻||82 | Kikutei Collection | |
| RB00028346 | 日次記 不足 | 藤原宣胤并寫 | 菊||巻||99 | Kikutei Collection |
| RB00028352 | 惟房公記 | 菊||巻||103 | Kikutei Collection | |
| RB00028364 | [不知記] | 菊||巻||114 | Kikutei Collection | |
| RB00028365 | [不知記] | 中山定親記カ | 菊||巻||115 | Kikutei Collection |
| RB00034905 | 邸宅指図 | 文書9-25 | Kikutei Collection |
[Library Network] Job Information: Specially Contracted Staff Member (Open Access)
Maintenance: Asahi Shimbun Cross-Search (Jan. 30, 2025)
The authentication system switchover of "Asahi Shimbun
Cross-Search" will take place during the following time. There will be no service outage, but the session of the service you are using will be disconnected during the switchover. Please note that you will need to log in again.
We appreciate your support and patience.
To access this database via the new authentication system, click here.
Date and Time:
Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, 18:00-19:30 (JST)

