[Kyoto Prefectural Library]
Okazaki is a major cultural zone in modern Kyoto, where museums and theaters are gathered. Okazaki was developed on the site of the 4th National Industrial Exhibition held by the government in 1895. The Kyoto Prefectural Library is one of the most atmospheric Western-style buildings in the area that reminds us of a bygone era. It is a familiar sight to those who live in Kyoto, but when one turns around, one is surprised at how luxurious it is that anyone can pick up a book and read it in such a building.
The predecessor of the Prefectural Library, “Shushoin,” was established by Kyoto Prefecture in 1873. Although the Ministry of Education opened the “Shushokan” in Tokyo in 1872, it was the first public library in Japan to open its doors to the public. The Shushoin was built in a place called Sanjo Higashinotoin, so it was very close to the Sanjo Showroom, but unfortunately, no building remains. Later, in 1898, the Kyoto Prefectural Library was opened on land leased in the Kyoto Gyoen. In 1909, the library moved to its current location and opened as the Kyoto Prefectural Kyoto Library with a collection of 50,000 volumes. The building was designed by Goichi Takeda (1872-1938). He was a master of modern Japanese architecture, known for his design of the National Diet Building, and also designed the Kyoto City Hall and the Kawaramachi Annex of Shimadzu Corporation (now Fortune Garden Kyoto), among others.
The director of the museum at the time of its opening in Okazaki was the fourth generation, Kichiro Yuasa (1858-1943). He was born in Annaka (now Gunma Prefecture), the same hometown as Jo Niijima (1843-1890), the founder of Doshisha University. When Niijima stopped by his hometown immediately after his return from America, Yuasa was among the dozens of people who were baptized and inspired by his words. He later entered Doshisha English School and studied under Niijima, becoming the first graduate of the theology department. Yuasa had helped his older brother establish a private library when he was in his teens, and after graduating from Doshisha, he went to the United States to study library science. As director of the library, he worked to improve the library system, which is now taken for granted, by introducing the decimal classification system, setting up a children's reading room, and implementing the off-site lending of books.
The library also functioned as an art museum when it first opened, holding exhibitions of works such as Yumeji Takehisa's solo exhibition (1907, Taisho 7) and Ryusei Kishida's solo exhibition (Taisho 9). Yuasa, who was also a rare literary talent versed in poetry and playing the heike biwa (Japanese lute), was active in art exhibitions, and it seems that the prefectural library's stance attracted a great deal of attention from all over Japan.
Eventually, the Meiji era saw the flowering of civilization and the Taisho democracy. It is not difficult to imagine that the existence of libraries must have had a considerable impact on people. The richness of the culture we enjoy today, in which anyone can find and read any book he or she wants to read, seems to be multiplied when we remember that it was built one by one by our predecessors, one by one, through their own efforts. The Kyoto Prefectural Library, which strongly led modern Kyoto, stands proudly with its history today.
Kyoto Prefectural Library
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Gc7okM9WM1CR8UiB8
Sanjo Showroom
https://www.shokunin.com/en/showroom/sanjo.html
References
https://www.doshisha.ac.jp/attach/page/OFFICIAL-PAGE-JA-395/141311/file/24PeopleBiblio.pdf
https://www.library.pref.kyoto.jp/about/history
https://www.library.pref.kyoto.jp/contents/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/yuasa.pdf
https://jp.shokunin.com/archives/52024017.html
