l. History
The establishment of the Central Library
of the Tenrikyo Church was planned in April
1925, when Shozen Nakayama was appointed
the second Shinbashira, the head of the Tenrikyo
Church. The libraries of several schools
and offices belonging to Church Headquarters
were combined with the Nakayama family's
private library, which the second Shinbashira
inherited from his father, the first Shinbashira.
Thus, in the autumn of 1926, the library
was opened on the 3rd floor of the newly
established Tenri Foreign Language School,
with holdings of 26,000 volumes, 5,000 of
which were Western.
Two years later, in the autumn of 1928, the
enthronement of the late Emperor Hirohito
was held in Kyoto, and in commemoration of
that event the construction of a separate
library building was begun. The new building
was dedicated on October 18, 1930.
At the suggestion of the late Professor Masaharu
Anesaki, the second director of Tokyo University
Library and teacher of the Shinbashira, who
studied at Tokyo University, the building
was planned according to a blueprint given
to Tokyo University by Minnesota University.
This provided for independent research rooms
to be built around the central library's
book stacks. This style of library construction
was fashionable at the time.
The Foreign Language School, to which the
library first belonged, was originally a
facility for the education of overseas missionaries,
and accordingly, its acquisitions covered
mainly the fields of religious studies and
languages, the latter ranging from English,
French, German, Dutch, and Russian to Korean,
Chinese, Cantonese, Malay, and Mongolian,
corresponding to the various departments
of the school.
The library also housed research materials
for the use of those who were preparing to
conduct missionary activities. This study
was carried out in the research rooms by
selected faculty members of the school. At
the same time, the library was opened to
readers in general and served as a public
library, housing a collection covering very
wide fields. Thus, the library facilities
were, from the start, of a four-fold nature:
(1)central library of Tenrikyo (2)school
library, (3)research library, and(4)public
library. This tradition has been preserved
to the present, although in 1947, soon after
the war, the Tenri Foreign Language School
became Tenri University, due to the New Education
Act, inevitably causing an enormous change
and development in the character of the library.
It may also be said that, after the war,
a more international trend became evident
in the library. In prewar days, the library
was already publishing the English tabloid
TENRIKYO, which included German and French
articles for the promotion of friendly relations
with universities and libraries abroad. Relations
were also established with several universities
and these were greatly expanded after the
war.
In light of this international trend in the
library, the second Shinbashira made seven
world missionary trips between 1952 and 1963.
The books and periodicals which he procured
abroad are listed in a special catalogue.
His trips naturally resulted in promoting
to a great extent the international character
of the library. The world trip of the third
Chief Librarian Tominaga in 1952 was also
especially effective in establishing friendly
relations with various universities and libraries
in Europe and the United States.
The name of the library has been widely known
for a long time in Japan, and the library
had the honor of receiving an imperial visit
of Emperor Hirohito in 1951. Moreover, international
conferences have often been held at the library,
the largest of which was the 12th World Conference
of the History of Religions, held in 1960.
When the library building was first constructed
in 1930 with a capacity of 200,000 volumes,
the books on the shelves in the stack rooms
seemed rather scanty, to the regret of the
library staff who guided guests through the
building. The number of acquisitions steadily
increased until it finally exceeded the capacity
of the stacks. Finally, an extension of the
building was completed in June, 1963, providing
a floor space of 10,722ucapable of accommodating
1,250,000 volumes, making it the second largest
singe library in Japan at that time. Seats
in the general reading room were also increased
from 200 to 400. To avoid mixing plastic
desks with the older desks, walnut desks
were ordered at a cost of $1,000 apiece.
Among the new rooms is the cataloguing room,
40m x 25m, large enough to accommodate four
tennis courts. Not only the shelves but the
roofs and windows are carefully designed
to protect the books against the unusually
damp climate of Japan. The rare book repository
is lined with panels of Japanese cypress,
this being the only counterpart to the newly
built Shosoin Repository in Nara, in which
our books are safely deposited.
As the central library of the Tenrikyo Church
Headquarters, the library, in prewar days,
had branch libraries in Tokyo and other cities,
and also arranged traveling libraries for
the general public. After the war, however,
these services were left to the local communities.
Affiliated libraries were established at
the Tenrikyo Mission Headquarters in Honolulu,
Los Angeles, and Bauru, Brazil. The name
Hinomoto Library was given to each of these
facilities and they provided academic as
well as popular publications to encourage
Japanese studies in these countries. These
three libraries are frequented by Western
students and scholars specializing in Japanese
studies.
In addition, several local churches have
libraries and archives in their own towns.
Under the influence of the Shinbashira, Tenrikyo
churches as a whole may be said to be deeply
concerned with books and library activities.
2. Books
The present number of books, including manuscripts
and documents, is about 1,830,000, roughly
two-thirds of which are Japanese, Korean
and Chinese books, and one-third Western,
including Arabic and African books.
As a public library the collection covers
almost every field of the arts and sciences,
including mathematics and philosophy. As
a university library, however, more emphasis
is placed upon the fields of religion, language,
history, geography, literature, and Chinese
and Korean studies, not to mention the collection
of old and rare books of the East and West.
There is an extensive collection of reference
books in a variety of fields, including dictionaries
and especially encyclopedias. Also worthy
of mention is the department of serials which
contains many ethnological and archaeological
materials covering the Far and Near East.
The collection of rare books comprises 17,000
items, about 90 of which are designated as
national treasures or important cultural
properties by the Ministry of Education.
The most important are the Jesuit Mission
printings of Japan, Kirishitan-ban, including Contemptus Mundi of 1610, an important cultural property.
Thirty-one titles from these printings are
known in various libraries throughout the
world, nine of which are in Tenri. They constitute
not only rare monuments of early eventful
years of Japanese Christianity, but also
afford the earliest examples of Japanese
printing. Fifty-five incunabula including
a fine edition of Aesop's Vita et Fabulae are also remarkable examples or early printing.
Rare Chinese items include such editions
from the Sung period as Liu-men-te Wen-chi iซฒพถWj, a national treasure and Mao-shi Yao-i iัv`j, an important cultural property.
The collection or rare Japanese books is
exceptional. Most of them are manuscripts,
including the 14th century manuscript Wamyo-shoiaผดj, a dictionary of Japanese common and proper names, originally
compiled by Minamoto no Shitagau in the 10th century. The best example
may be the original manuscript of the Meigetsu-kiiพLj, the diary of Fujiwara no
Teika, famed courtier poet and politician
of the 12-13th century. Both are designated
as important cultural properties. Among the
literature of the Edo period, there is the
original edition of Basho's Kai-ooiiLจูะj, dated 1782, and Bakin Nikkiinี๚Lj, Bakin's diary, and Saikaku's Jichu-Hyaku-in Emaki iฉSCGชj, "Pictorial Scroll of One Hundred Haiku Poems, Illustrated
and Annotated by the Author Himself."
Also of interest are autographed letters
and drafts by European and Japanese literati
from the last century, including those of
Goethe, Siebold, and Hearn.
Besides these written and printed items,
there are many wood blocks of joruri libretto,
amounting to 15,000 plates of about 350 titles,
Motoori Norinaga's Teisei Kokun Kojikii๙ณรPรLj, "Ancient Meaning of the Kojiki, Revised,"
170 plates, and about 2,000 plates from the 17th century used for the works
of the Kogido Schooliร`ฐj of Ito Jinsai iษกmึj and
his family. There are also about 50,000 pieces of movable wooden type from
the middle Edo period and some movable copper types from Korea.
Last but not least, there is a very rare
collection of 41 European celestial and terrestrial
globes, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.
3. Special Libraries
Since its foundation, almost three hundred
private libraries (bunko) have been acquired
by the library. Some of them have been kept
in their original forms.
(A) Wataya Collection iศฎถษj:
This is a collection of renga and haikai books. Originally a private library of the Nakayama household, it was
presented to the library by the second Shinbashira in January 1939. Later
the following private libraries of a similar kind were acquired: Katsumine
Shinpu Collection i๕Wถษj, Kawanishi Waro Collection i์ผaIถษj,
Kitada Shisui Collection ikc
ถษj, and also those of the late Drs.
Fujii Shiei iกไej and Ishida Motosue iฮcณGj. Now they
amount to over 30,000 volumes. (cf. Wataya Bunko Renga Haikai-sho Mokuroku iศฎถษAฬoๆ~ฺ^j 2 vols., Tenri, 1953, 1986)
(B) Kogido Collection iร`ฐj:
All items herein, including printed and hand-written
books in both Chinese and Japanese, drafts
and letters, various documents and such objets
d'art as pictures and calligraphy, totaling
about 7,000 items, were formerly possessed
by the family school known as Kogido, founded
by Ito Jinsai and inherited by his family
in Horikawa, Kyoto. (cf. Kogido Bunko Mokurokuiร`ฐถษฺ^j, Tenri, l955)
(C) Yoshida Collection igcถษj:
Most of these books were formerly possessed
by the Yoshida household, head of a leading
sect of Shinto in Kyoto, in the Tokugawa
era. ca. 7,000 titles. (cf. Yoshida Bunko Shinto-sho Mokurokuigcถษ_นฺ^j, Tenri, 1965)
(D) Kinsei Monjo Collection i฿ขถj:
This library was collected by the late Yasui
Yoshitaro and consists mainly of modern documents
and records pertaining to the regional history
and local geography of Yamato Province, presently
Nara Prefecture, totaling over 200,000 items.
(cf. Kinsei Monjo Mokurokui฿ขถฺ^j, 3 vols., Tenri, 1972-1995)