National Diet Library - Tokyo Main

The National Diet Library in Tokyo's Nagatacho government district is Japan's national library and the counterpart to the Library of Congress in Washington. It was founded in 1948 under American occupation as a parliamentary library, intended to support the rebuilding of democratic administration with reliable information. The present early-1960s building stands next to the Diet itself and holds more than twelve million volumes, including a legal-deposit copy of every publication issued in Japan since 1948. The library's director holds the rank of a senior civil servant, signalling its political weight. Visitors aged eighteen and over can use the main reading room free of charge after registering with photo ID, with no membership required, and can search the online catalogues. A large second branch operates in Kyoto. Rotating exhibits on the ground floor cover Japanese printing history, manga and rare maps.