Kyoto University Library Network

The Graduate School of Letters of Kyoto University and the Kyoto University Museum have been carrying out the restoration and digitization of an important cultural property Dainihonshi hensan kiroku held by the Graduate School of Letters since academic year 2017. One thousand five hundred six images of the restored volumes 6-10, 21-50 are now available in Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive.

▼Important Cultural Property - Dainihonshi hensan kiroku (G.S. Letters)
 

Dainihonshi hensan kiroku (大日本史編纂記録) is a collection of more than 6,000 letters (copies) exchanged between Shokokan (彰考館; Mito Domain’s office for history compilation) in Mito (currently in Ibaraki Prefecture) and Edo (currently Tokyo) and their Kyoto office regarding the compilation of Dainihonshi (*1) by Tokugawa Mitsukuni (徳川光圀; 1628-1701). A total of 42,810 people and organizations and 15,159 historical records and literature works are mentioned in the letters and the content covers a wide range of aspects of the time, such as history, literature, Confucianism and Japanese classical literature, as well as the publishing culture during the Genroku Period, which makes this rare material a first-class historical record.

The rare material, before being restored, consisted of 248 volumes of about 10,000 sheets (one sheet folded in half to form a pouch makes two pages) in the form of fukuro-toji yotsume-toji (袋綴四つ目綴装) with sheets of papers folded at the fore edge and sewn at the back edge at four points. However, the rebinding and restoration done to the material during the Edo period were not appropriate to secure its long-term preservation; they also made it impossible to read the majority of the volumes without damaging them, because the text near the back edge was sewn inside the spine. Therefore, a restoration project was launched in academic year 2018, with a plan to restore first 20 volumes funded by the Sumitomo Foundation. The Graduate School of Letters has also set up Kyoto University Fund for the restoration of its library collection and the Kyoto University Museum acquired the university's special budget for this project in 2018.

Each volume of Dainihonshi hensan kiroku is to be released on the Internet through Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive upon the completion of restoration and digitization processes. As of March 27, 2020, the Digital Archive provides 1,365,106 images of 17,638 titles.

A total of 289 items – 278 items from Nakanoin Collection and 11 items from Konoe Collection held by the Main Library – have been newly digitized and released. Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive provides 1,363,600 images of 17,638 titles as of March 19, 2020.
 

▼Nakanoin Collection

Nakanoin Collection was formerly owned by Count Michinori Nakanoin (1856-1925), from whom former President of Sumitomo Company Kichizaemon Sumitomo, who was related to the Nakanoin Family by marriage, purchased 1,041 books of the collection and donated them to Kyoto University Library in 1923. The count’s family tree goes back to Murakami-Genji and in particular, the 14th family head Michikatsu (1558-1610) and Michimura (1588-1653) contributed to the development of Japanese literature. Most items of this collection are handwritten by the family members themselves or copies by hand of such manuscripts, as well as books owned by the Nakai family. They include annotations to imperial-commissioned poem anthologies, Genji Monogatari and Ise Monogatari, diaries and memoranda on ceremonies and rituals in the Imperial court. These are valuable primary sources in the research of the situations in the Imperial court and ordinary people’s lives at the time.

中院通繋記 御元服雑記/享保三年（中院文庫）

▼Konoe Collection

The original Konoe Collection was formerly held by the Konoe Family, the leading family of the five regent houses. The Konoe Family had deposited books that had been passed down through the family with Kyoto University on several occasions since 1900. In 1938, however, in order to secure the preservation of this precious collection, a public interest incorporated foundation, Yomei Bunko was founded and the books in care of Kyoto University until then were returned to the Konoe Family and were then incorporated into Yomei Bunko. In this process, 3,150 volumes of 219 titles among the previously deposited books were donated to Kyoto University Main Library and became the library collection currently called Konoe Collection. The major part of the collection is Chinese classics including renowned “荘子鬳齋口義”, “欒城集” and "雲南通志", but it also includes old manuscript copies of Utsuho Monogatari, Ochikubo Monogatari and Okagami, as well as Kokatsuji-han (old type editions) created in Japan during the former half of the 17th century such as “医学入門”, “古今医鑑”.

文渕（近衛文庫）

The Main Library of Kyoto University takes part as a core university in the "Project to Build an International Collaborative Research Network for Pre-modern Japanese Texts (NIJL-NW project)" led by the National Institute of Japanese Literature, which supports the digitization of the 289 books released this time.

1848 items of “Asia depicted on Postcards” donated to the Main Library have been released.
 

▼Asia depicted on Postcards

“Asia depicted on Postcards” is a collection of postcards related to Asia that a group of researchers led by Prof. Toshihiko Kishi of the Department of Political and Economic Coexistence, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University (CEAS) have gathered since 2004. Among these, 1848 postcards and their digital images were donated to the Main Library.

Postcards include not only images but also characters and codes, and sometimes even sounds and moves (with movable parts) and thus have a characteristic of mixed media that stimulates the imagination of their viewers. On the other hand, images on postcards created, censored and sold in Imperial Japan also reflect the intention of their creators, distributors, printers and censorship agencies, which gives them great significance as historical records. This collection’s postcards cover a wide range of areas, such as Japan, China, China (Mongolia), China (Manchuria), Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, Southeast Asia, Soviet Union/Russia, Sakhalin, and the Pacific Ocean.

Old Parliament House, Bangkok (currently the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall)

Four rare materials held by the Graduate School of Letters, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics (YITP) and the Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University (CER) have been newly digitized and released. The digitization has been realized thanks to the support from donors to Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive Fund.

“李卓吾先生批點忠義水滸傳 10回 (存2回)” and “忠義水滸傳 100巻100回 (存98巻98回)” held by the Graduate School of Letters
[Water Margin (Chinese: 水滸傳; pinyin: Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn)]
These are the only copies that exist today other than the ones held by the National Library of China. Researchers presume that Takizawa Bakin, a Japanese writer of the early 19th century, read these exact copies.

“A text-book of physics. 5th ed., rev. / edited by A. Wilmer Duff (Blakiston, 1921)” held by YITP
Dr. Hideki Yukawa, a Nobel Laureate in Physics in 1949, used this textbook when he was a student at the then Third High School (Daisan Koto Gakko) and kept it by his side even after he became a researcher. The book has many notes and annotations by his hand in the margin.

“湖中産物圖證” Kochu sanbutsu zusho held by CER
This book is vital in the research of the history of biology in Japan, because it is presumed to be the first illustrated book of aquatic life in Lake Biwa. It includes all the species of carps and crucians, as well as aquatic life other than fish and shellfish, such as an otter. Its beautiful colors are still vivid.

Thirteen architectural plans during the Edo Period from Nakai Collection held by Kyoto University Main Library have been newly digitized and released in Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive. The Digital Archive provides 1,333,705 images of 14,372 titles as of January 27, 2020.

Nakai Collection consists of the plans of Nijo Castle, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Shimogamo Shrine and other shrines and temples, concerning documents and maps passed down through the Nakai Family, the Tokugawa Government's master carpenter family in Kyoto. The newly released data is part of Bakufu-no-bu (幕府之部; Tokugawa Government) relating to Kyoto Shoshidai (京都所司代; Shogun's senior representative monitoring the Imperial Court in Kyoto), Kyoto Shugoshoku (京都守護職; military commissioner of Kyoto) and other Tokugawa Government offices.

“Keiou ganushidoshi hachigatsu shugoshoku oyakutaku kamiyashiki dekigata ezu tadashi yonbukei (慶応元丑年八月 守護職御役宅上屋舗出来形絵図 但四分計)” is an architectural plan of the entire residence of Kyoto Shugoshoku and includes the layout of the buildings and rooms as well as the details of their fittings. This rare material tells us the situations at the end of the Edo Period. Kyoto Shugoshoku is Tokugawa Government’s position newly established in 1862 to maintain the security of Kyoto, to which Katamori Matsudaira (1836-1893), Lord of the Aizu Clan, was appointed. He first placed the headquarters at Konkai Komyo-ji (金戒光明寺) in Higashiyama, and then the construction of the residence was started in 1863 and completed in 1865. The premises border Shinmachi-dori (新町通) to the East, Nishinotoin-dori (西洞院通) to the West, Shimotachiuri-dori (下立売通) to the South and Shimochojamachi-dori (下長者町通) to the North. There were barracks for Clan soldiers along each border. Kyoto Shugoshoku was abolished by Osei Fukko no Daigorei (王政復古の大号令; the Decree for the Restoration of Imperial Rule) just about two months after Taisei Hokan (大政奉還; Restoration of Imperial Rule) in 1868.

Thirteen titles of rare materials held by Kyoto University Main Library, the Graduate School of Letters and the Graduate School of Science have been digitized and released in Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive. The Digital Archive provides 1,333,705 images of 14,372 titles as of January 27, 2020.

Kyoto University Library Network is digitizing and releasing rare material held by Main Library and other libraries on campuses every year as part of the "Open Access Promotion Project". The newly released images the original materials of which are held by Main Library and the Graduate School of Science are available for users to copy, adapt or redistribute in any medium without application or fee, if their originals' holding libraries are indicated. Please refer to "Guide for Content Reuse" for more details.

Atlas der Pflanzengeographie über alle theile der Erde Graduate School of Science

Kyoto University's rare materials are now searchable on WorldCat, the world's most comprehensive database of information about library collections delivered by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, Inc.).

[Search result of WorldCat Discovery]

Click [Access online] and you can see the search result of Kyoto University OPAC KULINE, which leads you to digital images in Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive.

Kyoto University Library Network is promoting the digitization of rare primary sources Kyoto University holds and their dissemination on the Internet so that the World can easily find them.

The Maintenance work was completed (Dec. 25, 2019 11:55) and the service has been restored.

Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive will suspend its service due to the system maintenance for about 2 hours from 10:00am, December 25, 2019.

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