The history of formation of the Japanese collection in the National Library of Russia

The article introduces the history of the formation of the Japanese collection in the National Library of Russia. Materials in Japanese are available in various departments of the library; the article focuses on the largest collection of materials in Japanese, namely the Japanese collection of the Department of Asian and African Countries Literature (DAACL). An attempt is made to briefly present two topics: firstly, the history of the Japanese collection and the department, and secondly, the history and sources of the acquisition and formation of the Japanese fund. Therefore, the article is divided into two sections. In both sections, the history of the DAACL and the topic of international book exchange in the library are closely interconnected with the main topic of the article, the formation of the Japanese collection. The author also emphasizes the difficulties, negative factors and challenges faced by the fund and the library, not to underestimate the role of the Japanese collection of NLR, but to show what solutions were found throughout its history.