Kyoto Institute, Library and Archives

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Reading Corner, Lounge and digital images of To-ji Hyakugo Monjo (National Treasure) and other documents are open to the public

Learn Kyoto’s history from a mountain of documents

Having stood as a library that specializes in collecting, preserving and making public material related to Kyoto in areas such as illustrated books, old manuscripts, administration documents, photographic material and modern literature for more than 50 years, this institute underwent redevelopment, to open in the spring of 2017 under a new guise that now also functions as an interaction hotspot for new culture and studies. On top of the 800,000 or so manuscripts, including ancient documents, administrative documents and photographs, that have long been in possession of the library, the institute can now make available for perusal some 200,000 manuscripts and 2,000 academic journals belonging to the libraries affiliated to Kyoto Prefectural University and Kyoto prefectural University of Medicine. Moreover, in the display room, planned exhibitions and other regular exhibitions showing valuable works, front-lined by documents like To-ji Hyakugo Monjo (Hyakugo documents from To-ji Temple, National Treasure), are attracting a buzz among fans of such materials.
The 1st floor is home to a lounge that serves as an interaction space hosting mini lectures every Thursday afternoon. Also, the institute’s website incorporates an archive on memories of Kyoto as a capital and a webpage for To-ji Hyakugo Monjo to serve the educational needs of local citizens. In this way, the institute puts to use its vast collection of documents to act as a beacon beaming out knowledge on Kyoto.