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

The Japanese Collection of the National Library of Russia (NLR) is represented in various departments. Hardly anyone will ever be able to unify and catalogue all the Japanese materials in the library. There are Japanese materials in the Print Department, Manuscripts Department, Rare Books Department, Maps Department and even in the main Russian book collection. However, most of the Japanese literature is held in a Japanese fund of the Department of Asian and African Countries Literature (DAAСL).

Today, the Department fund contains 1,246,784 storage items 1: 226 000 books, 365 000 magazines and about 600 thousand newspaper issues, 1 thousand printed music sheets, 101 cartographic items, and over 2 thousand others (small material and non-traditional carriers such as data storage devices). Oriental book funds formed from the first years of the library, even before the construction of the building for the Imperial Public Library 2 (IPL) was completed; in its 1808–1812 reports, there were already references to books in oriental languages. Therefore, in 1810, the public library contained 175 items of uncatalogued volumes in oriental languages, in 1814 – 668 items: these were books in Sanskrit, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish. It can hardly be assumed that there was Japanese literature in the library during this period.

However, already in 1814 (the year of the opening of the IPL) Mikhail Matveyevich Buldakov (Russian merchant and traveler, organizer of several round-the-world expeditions, 1766–1830) presented the library with 4 books and 3 charters (manuscripts) in Japanese 3. In the 19th century, the library already had about two-three hundred books in Japanese, which will all be catalogued later – in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was only in the 1930s when the Japanese collection began to form as a separate fund, and the department itself appeared only in 1952. The article is devoted to the history of the department, the history and sources of acquisition of the DAAСL and of the Japanese fund in particular. If in the 19th century donated gifts were the only source of acquisition, then in the 20th–21st centuries the author can now talk about systemic acquisition.

The Brief History of the Department of Asian and African Countries Literature

In 1841, all literature in oriental languages was transferred to one of the departments called the Department of Oriental Languages and Theology (later the Department of Oriental Books, the Department of Oriental Writers). Geopolitical interests of Russia from the middle of the 19th century have caused increased attention to eastern countries. There was an attempt to replenish the fund by purchasing foreign publications. Though the main source of literature still remained the obligatory embassy of publications printed in Russia and donations by Russian orientalists, Japanese library visitors or the Japanese Embassy in Saint-Petersburg. For example, in 1894, the IPL received several books 4 from intelligence officer and lieutenant of the Japanese service, Hagino Suekichi which included the “Collected Poems of the Tang Dynasty in China with commentary” printed in 1784 [Tanen Tozaki, 1784]. This is perhaps the oldest book in the DAACL fund. The library also received books as a gift from Buldakov (1814), Dr. Kagami (1894) 5 of the Japanese embassy (1862, 1895) 6. Therefore, acquisitions of the 19th century remained the obligatory copies of publications printed in Russia and donations, and can be characterized as regular, but not systemic.

By 1910 the fund consisted of 54.8 thousand volumes in oriental languages. Unfortunately, the author cannot find out the exact number of Japanese books at this time. It seems to be supposed at about 100. When Japanese books were inventoried in 1934–38, there were 267 books published in the 19th century, 33 without a year of publication, and about 300 published between 1900 and 1910. The author supposes 100–150 books were added to the fund after the expropriation of private collections in the 1920s–1930s. Now it is possible to determine them only by ex-libris. For example, a lot of books connected with Christianity (about 70) obviously were not presented as “a gift” to the library because they had the seal of the Synod Library. However, the author has not seen any documents confirming this. This assumption is based on the fact of how the library and the Department received the former imperial collection “Orientalia” from the Hermitage (a few, but books in Japanese were also in this collection). And books with notes from the Synod Library were also received by way of a single book collection at the same time.

Moreover, such a specific acquisition of the Department would require the presence of a huge number of full-time specialists to process incoming publications and its description. Initially, books in all oriental languages were supposed to be processed by one specialist librarian. Obviously, this was impossible, and the library tried to attract enthusiasts from the small number of concurrent orientalists available in St. Petersburg to take part in the inventory and cataloguing of oriental literature. Well-known and reputed orientalists such as H. D. Fren, I. F. Gotvald, N. Ya. Bichurin (Father Iakinf), B. A. Dorn, K. A. Kossovich, A. Ya. Garkavi worked with the eastern funds of the library [Sotrudniki Rossiyskoy, 1995–2013]. The entire collection was divided into two parts: Asiatica and Hebraica, without division by language. The Department did not have its own reading room, and the supply of literature remained irregular.

Since 1924, when orientalist N. Ya. Marr became the Chief Librarian – the head of the library, increased attention was paid to literature in oriental languages, book exchange and subscription to foreign books and periodicals. At this time, the periodical “Oriental Collection” was established. In 1930, since the number of books in the languages of the peoples of the USSR increased noticeably, the Department was transformed into the Department of Nationalities, in which there were publications presented in the languages of the peoples of the foreign East (Asia). The department established language groupings – Far Eastern, Iranian-Turkish, Jewish and a group of oriental literature. Of course, in this period there was some Japanese literature too.

The fund of periodicals requires separate research and remains outside the framework of the current study. However, regarding the books, the author can confidently say that between 01.25.1938 and 12.12.1957, 3721 books 7 were inventoried and catalogued. The main sources of incoming books were firstly books published in the USSR, and secondly, gifts. In comparison with many other oriental collections of other libraries, this was quite a large collection. However, among gifted books, the fund continued to receive some rare books and even old texts such as “Selected songs for Koto, 1812” [So: kyoku, 1812]. There was only one problem: the library did not choose the books that its readers needed, and instead hoped for a good choice of the donator.

Finally, in 1952, the Department of Nationalities was divided into two – the Department of Literature of the Peoples of the USSR and the Department of Literature of the Foreign East. According to Department regulations, this was a specialized complex department, which carries out acquisition, organization and storage of funds, service of readers, scientific and bibliographic work. Initially, the staff consisted of three employees, and the head of the Department of Literature of the Foreign East became well-known orientalist, researcher of Chinese and Japanese philosophy B. Ya. Radul-Za-tulovsky. By the mid-1950s the Commission of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian SFSR recognized that “the Department is gradually becoming one of the centres not only for reading but also for the study of oriental literatures 8”. The fund itself more than tripled in the 1950s.

After being separated, it was first called the Department of the Foreign East. Since August 1963, the Department was headed by sinologist T. A. Vaganova. As a result of her suggestion in order to “more precisely geographically indicate from which countries the department receives literature 9” in 1964, the present official name of the department appeared: the Department of Literature in the Languages [of Peoples] of Asian and African Countries or the Department of Asian and African Countries Literature (DAACL) or the more commonly used name – the Asian and African Department.

During a period of more than forty years from the end of the 1950s, up to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, thanks to the development of the international book exchange (IBE) of the library, the Department was actively recruited because of this already systematic source of literature, and specialists could select literature according to the needs of readers. In this period its fund grew to one million storage units. Readers of oriental literature were mainly students and lecturers of Leningrad State University, scientists and foreigners living in Leningrad. In 1963, the number of visits was 11,133, the number of issued items was 85,285. Until the early 1970s these indicators remained practically stable with small differences. To attract readers, the Department made lists of new acquisitions of Japanese scientific and technical literature and then sent it out to Leningrad’s research institutes and enterprises. Moreover, to attract common citizens it compiled and published lists of available fiction works in the most sought-after languages.

By 1963, the Department stored literature in 126 languages and had 11 specialists on its staff. Nevertheless, a part of the fund in rare oriental languages remained uncatalogued due to the lack of specialists. The library lacked funds to attract freelance workers, and unfortunately, the problem was aggravated because the payment for work with Oriental languages was low (the prices for operations with literature in Oriental languages was significantly understated) and the specialists did not seek to work in the library. Some assistance with the work was provided by student-trainees of the Oriental Department of Leningrad University.

The acquisition directly depended on the political situation. In different periods, books received from individual countries and regions almost stopped, then resumed, and so on. The lack of sufficient foreign exchange funds for the purchase of literature also had a negative effect. In the mid-1960s the supply of new literature from Arab and African countries, Iran, Vietnam decreased, and since 1968, the book exchange with China, North Korea, Israel, and India has significantly decreased. The growth of funds during this period occurred mainly due to the acquisition of literature from orientalists and through old bookstores. Since the early 1970s, the supply of Japanese, Indian and Arabic literature through inter-library loans (ILL) and microfilming has improved.

In the 1960s the number of requests for ILL sharply increased: if in 1963 there were 200 requests received throughout the year, since 1966 there have been 200 requests per month. The overwhelming majority of them fell on the Japanese fund, and, if in the first years, requests for humanitarian literature prevailed, then in subsequent years, this changed to scientific, technical and medical topics. In addition to requests from individuals, there were many requests from institutions.

Located in a building on Fontanka Emb., 36 (the former Catherine Institute building), the Department experienced all the difficulties that were associated with the operation of this building. When it was admitted, the building was in an emergency state, classed as dangerous in October 1972 and was closed to readers, however, it was deemed relatively safe for staff who were preparing the funds for relocation and continued to work on premises [Shilov, Moricheva, 2008, pp. 279– 300]. The readers’ service was temporarily moved to the scientific halls of the Main Building on Ostrovsky Square, 1–3, where the publications were delivered. In 1973, the Executive Committee of the Leningrad City Council allocated a room in building 49 on Liteiny Av. Unfortunately, until the end of 1975, the DAACL had no opportunity to move to the 3rd–4th floors of the building. Finally, in October 1976, a reading room with 28 seats was also opened.

In the period from 1972 to 1977, indicators of attendance and delivery of literature decreased by over 2 times. At the same time, the composition of readers changed – besides students and scientists of the humanitarian profile, there also appeared representatives of scientific and technical specialties as demand shifted more towards medical and technical literature and periodicals. Unfortunately, in the 1990s, there were problems with the delivery of new publications in oriental languages, and the attendance sharply decreased. And in the 2000s, with the development of the Internet, and the availability of many modern publications in electronic form, the reader's behavioral model also changed remotely: the modern periodicals, medical and technical literature that were in demand in the 1980s, again gave way to fiction and humanitarian literature.

Already in the 1980s, there was not enough space for storing publications, and the fund was reorganized and “cleaned up” (duplicates were removed). In 2010–2012, in order to free up additional space, the entire magazine fund of the department was moved to the Fontanka Emb., 36 building. And in 2016–2017 it had to move again to the New Building on Moskovsky Prospekt 165/2. Finally, after a long break, on 3rd September 2018, the Asian and African Department was reopened and was once again available to readers.

Nevertheless, some part of the fund (magazines, newspapers) is still in the moving process and it is hoped that when the activities related to the relocation of the department are fully completed, it will continue to develop and expand, responding promptly to changing conditions and the needs of its readers. However, it is already actively involved in exhibitions and international activities: “Window on Korea” was opened in 2019 (14.10.2019, a reading room with several thousand books in Korean for public access), participation in exhibitions like “The Fascination of Things: Traditional Arts and Crafts of Japan” (08.01.2018), made its own projects, some even as large as “Multicolor of languages and cultures” (25.10.2018), “Russian-Arab dialogue” (13.02.2018), “Christianity in the East” (14.01.2019) as well as small exhibitions. For example, the Japanese fund exhibited “Campo – oriental medicine”, “Japanese diplomacy in international relations”, “Classics of Japanese literature” and others. The Department took part in the “Biblionight” project (20.04.2019) offering visitors a guided tour of the “Theaters of the East” where Japan was widely represented.

The main indicators of the Department's activities – attendance and book distribution – indicate a significant decrease in their volume compared to the first half of the 1960s. If in 1963–1964 the number of readers reached 9–10 thousand people per year, in the late 1980s – early 90s attendance decreased to 4–6 thousand, and in 2010–2019 was only about 1 thousand people. The issue of literature in 1963 was 16 thousand units, in the late 1980s – early 1990s grew to 40–50 thousand units, but by 2012 it had decreased to 7 thousand. At the same time, with the introduction of computer technologies, the DAACL began and successfully continues to create an electronic catalogue of its collection; the library’s website regularly hosts virtual exhibitions aimed at popularizing the fund.

The History of Sources of Acquisition of the Fund and the International Book-Exchange

Today most of the Japanese Collection held in the Japanese fund of the Asia and Africa Department counts over 19 thousand books and the range of newspapers and magazines in Japanese is about 2 thousand titles (or hundreds of thousands of items). This is due not only to what kind of material in Japanese is kept in the library, but to the history of acquisition. Until the beginning of the 20th century, there were several hundred materials in Japanese, and no one even intended to create a separate collection for this. That is why, considering the issue of the formation of the Japanese collection, in the first place (first section) the issue of the appearance of DAACL and the Japanese collection as a separate part was highlighted. The oldest books in this collection were published in the 18th century and entered the library in the 19th century, but they were catalogued later – in the middle of the 20th century.

Therefore, the questions about the formation of the Japanese collection and the history of the department where the main part of this collection is kept are closely interrelated. The author tried to determine when the first materials in Japanese were delivered to the NLR. However, it became obvious almost immediately that if in the 19th century the library received editions, now it is impossible to determine at what time. The author can confidently say and name some books that were already in the library at the end of the 19th century: “Educational Singing Examination Dictionary” [Educational Singing, 1848], “Senryudo album” [Takizawa Kiyoshi, 1879] and so on. The reason for this problem is not the lack of documents in the archives, but the impossibility at that time to catalogue such books. The Chinese, Korean and Japanese books were not separated and were finally properly processed. The Japanese literature included in the collection was finally processed, inventoried, and catalogued in December of 1934–1938. The author cannot identify the first book in Japanese, however it is possible to indicate the approximate time when the library first received documents in Japanese. In 1814, Buldakov had already donated 4 books and 3 charters in Japanese to the library.

However, for a long time, the Japanese collection of the library accumulated haphazardly and irregularly. Mainly based on individual purchases or gifts by orientalists, the Japanese government and the Russian Orthodox Church Mission in Japan, founded by Archimandrite Nikolai of Japan (Kasatkin Ivan Dmitrievich, 1836–1912). Although the need for systematic acquisition of foreign collections for the library was recognized as early as the 19th century, this was achieved only in the 20th century, when the IBE became the most important source of acquisition, including acquisitions for the Japanese fund.

The first fact of irregular book-exchange links of the library with foreign organizations was established already in the 1830s – 1840s. A peculiarity of the development of world culture throughout the 19th century was the growth of international cultural exchange. Despite the fact that the IPL librarians talked about possible ways to increase funds, the majority, and the director himself, spoke about the benefits of establishing such connections and exchanging duplicates for books that are missing in the library or selling them – the initiative in establishing regular book exchanges came mainly from Western Europe and America.

In 1851, the library was approached on behalf of the USA government by A. Vattermar, a French actor who had worked vigorously during these years to create an IBE. In the spring of 1853, the library received a similar offer from the French Academy of Sciences, and in February 1854 from the Brazilian National Library. However, despite all obvious benefits of the IBE, the library was in no hurry to implement the decision to establish it and did not show any interest. The passivity was dictated by the wary attitude of the authorities. When Korf, in a conversation with Nicholas I, put forward the idea of exchanging publications with the Paris National Library, the em- peror, annoyed, asked “Who will read them [Russian editions] there? Are our own – traitors and fugitives?” [Istoriya Gosudarstvennoy, 1963, pp. 55–56]. It is possible that such a reaction from the authorities prompted the library not only to refuse independent steps but also to respond with evasive consent to the proposals that came to it from abroad. Only in 1856, after the death of Nicholas I (1855), the IPL again started talking about it and entered into exchanges with the Vienna Academy of Sciences, the British Museum, the Royal Library in Stockholm, the University Library in Athens, the public libraries of Venice, Dresden, Stuttgart, Lvov, as well as with government organizations of the USA and then France. In 1863, the library invited 183 scientific institutions and societies in Europe, Asia and America to begin a regular exchange of publications. By 1913, universities, scientific institutions and societies, including Japan, regularly sent in their publications. During the First World War, the IPL also maintained contacts with some countries. “In 1914–1916 episodic parcels with books came from libraries, scientific and government institutions in the USA, France, England… Japan…” [Ibid., pp. 137–139, 198]. Beginning in the 1920s, following the trends of the era and the growing interest in the development of technology and the achievements of progress, the library paid the closest attention to establish a systematic exchange of scientific publications. Among the Japanese partners, the IBE was especially active with Kyoto.

In this article, the author is primarily interested in Japanese partners and can draw a conclusion that episodic book exchanges with Japan began in the 1910s and became regular in 1929. Since 1926, agreements appeared with the USA, Germany, France, and since 1929 – with Japan, Italy, Cuba and 31 others foreign storage facilities. Since the late 1950s, a new stage of development of the IBE began and the library actively expanded its ties. It was a period of rapid prosperity that lasted over forty years until the 1990s. The number of library partners in 73 countries of the world was approaching 2000 in the early 1960s, and by the mid-1980s this number increased to 2500.

The library actively strengthened ties with the countries of Asia and Africa too. In the early 1980s in Japan, there were more than 300 book exchange organizations. The main partners in Japan during this period were the National Diet Library, Hitotsubashi University, Kyoto University, Utsunomiya University, Tenri University, International Institute for Buddhist Studies, Institute of Slavic Studies [Pryanishnikova, 2012, p. 529].

When describing the book exchange with Japanese organizations during this period, one should note not only stability, strict adherence to deadlines and obligations, but also the impressive volume – about 300 books per year. In 1982, the maximum number of books for the entire period of the book exchange received from Japan was 490, the range of magazines during this period was about 360 titles per year. These were mainly scientific publications on various topics. The library paid serious attention to the improvement of the IBE, its profiling and balance, the expediency of spending of financial resources, as well as the promotion of Russian literature abroad. The SPL actively received applications from Japanese libraries and institutions for domestic publications – up to 370 applications per year. It should be noted that in the 20th century, publications from eastern countries – Japan, China, India, Korea, Egypt and Iran entered the public library funds only through the IBE and as a gift from organizations or individuals [Philippov, 2015, p. 52].

By the early 1990s, the library had well-established relations with 110 countries in the world. The number of partners was more than 2.5 thousand, but by 2005 this number had halved. More than 40 years from the late 1950s to the mid-1990s – the IBE was the main source of acquisition. In 1986, 75 % of all foreign books were received from this source. In 1992, the share of journals purchased through the IBE was 90 % of the total volume of foreign journals received.

Due to economic reasons and a long period of irregular financing, a recession began in the early 1990s, reaching a peak in 1998 – the deepest crisis associated with the default and devaluation of the ruble. The NLR was forced to significantly reduce the subscription to Russian periodicals for foreign partners, and in 1998 it did not even have the funds to ship books. The crisis was so serious that the library still cannot reach the same numbers of previous years. The 1990s became the most difficult period in the history of the NLR.

The consequence of the crisis in Russia was the lack of publications in the main European languages, which Japanese partners ordered from the library. The following factors had a negative impact on the IBE: the range of books of domestic publications, which was aimed towards commercial products, was of little use for the IBE, the difficulty of acquiring small-circulation, provincial publications, and high postage rates for sending publications abroad. Negative factors sharply limited the possibilities of the IBE, including with Japan, due to the high cost of sending publications to this region.

The scale of the IBE with Japan significantly decreased. By 2000, the NLR had only 92 partners, the volume of books received was less than 50 units, and the range of magazines was reduced to 250 titles. During this hard time, publications that were repeatedly donated by the Japanese Consulate in St. Petersburg gained particular importance. Thus, in 1999, 99 books on Japanese art and culture were received, while in 2000 this number dropped down to 38. In 2003, the Japan Foundation donated 68 editions chosen by the DAACL specialists. It is also worth mentioning the contribution of the famous Japanese Slavonic scholar Itokawa Koichi in obtaining Japanese books by the library.

Conclusion

In the 2000s, the IBE began to gradually recover. Now the NLR exchanges publications with more than 540 organizations in 65 countries of the world [Rossiyskaya natsional'naya, 2014, p. 47]. Among the Japanese partners, the main ones remain: the National Diet Library, Toyo bunko, universities of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, the Japan Library Association, and various scientific societies like the Botanical Society of Japan, the Mathematical Society of Japan, Meteorological Society of Japan. However, it was not possible to restore the previous volume of book editions received from Japan, and the exchange is carried out mainly by periodicals. The number of applications received from Japanese organizations for certain Russian publications also sharply decreased. So, for example, in 2003 there were only 3 applications.

Based on the information provided by the International Exchange Section, the exchange with Japanese organizations remains stable, and the Japanese partners are expressing great interest. However, this is mainly the exchange of periodicals. In 2019, the library received 77 books (71 from the National Diet Library), 189 titles of magazines (932 issues), 42 issues of 12 continuing editions and 6 CDs. The overwhelming majority of organizations send their materials for free. About one third of their total number are scientific societies and associations that send publications on technology, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, physics, meteorology, and agriculture. One third are university libraries, the most notable of which are Kyoto, Tenri, Hitotsubashi, Kansai and Kokugakuin. Universities send their works on the humanities, natural and technical sciences: philology, social sciences, law, chemistry and biological sciences, mathematics, economics, medicine. Sixty editions come from organizations that rarely enter into exchanges. Basically, these publications are professional and technical: on various industries, nuclear physics, information technology and communications, medicine, education. Among the organizations that donate their publications are Tohoku University Medical Library, National Museum of Ethnology, Society of Economic Science, Japanese Association for the Study of Russian Language and Literature, Japan Society of Clinical Oncology, Japanese Society for Clinical Molecular Morphology.

The acquisition of periodicals is practically fully due to the IBE activity (as at 2019, all except 2 journals received as gifts are acquired through the IBE). Even the general book collection acquisitions are highly dependent on the IBE. In 2019 the fund received 143 books, where 77 were received by the IBE, 43 – compulsory copies of all books on Japanese published in Russia, and 23 were gifted. Thus, we can conclude that the IBE in the 21st century has become the main source of acquisition of the Japanese fund (53.8 % of the book fund and 99.8 % of periodicals). Moreover, in comparison with the 19th–20th centuries, now the library itself chooses the necessary books. Specialists receive lists three times per year (about 2000 titles in each one) and can choose exactly those publications that are lacking in the fund and in which readers will be interested in.

In conclusion, the author can confidently say that if in the 19th century the Japanese fund was accumulated only by way of donations (in an unsystematic and random way), at the beginning of the 20th century, along with the remaining main source of acquisition – donations of orientalists, private libraries, the Japanese Government and literature expropriated by the Soviet government, regular international book-exchange connections appeared (especially periodicals), which since the 1960s have become a systematic and main source of replenishment for the Japanese fund. Now, despite the fact that volumes have decreased (in 1990 due to economic reasons, since 2014 due to geopolitical reasons), the IBE has become the main source of acquisition (about 70 %) and the library no longer relies on the choice of literature donators, but chooses the necessary titles from several thousand publications.

Main abbreviations for the indication of archival funds

ОАД РНБ – DAD NLR – Department of Archival Documents of the National Library of Russia, ф. – фонд (fond / fund), оп. – опись (opis’ / list), д. – дело (delo / file), л. – лист (list / sheet), ед. хр. – единица хранения (yedinitsa khraneniya / storage item), об. – оборот (oborot / back-cover)

Takizawa Kiyoshi. Senryu:do: ga fu [ 瀧澤 清 潜龍 堂 画譜 ] Takizawa Kiyoshi. Senryudo album (Hidden Dragon), Tokyo, [s.n.], 1879, 48 p. OLSAA-Jap 3-33 (in Jap.)

Tanen Tozaki. Senchu: to shi sen [ 淡 園 戸 崎 . 箋 註 唐詩 選 ] Collected Poems of Poets from Tang China with Explanations, Tokyo, [s.n.], 1784, 66 p. OLSAA-Jap 3-12/1 (in Chin. and Jap.)

Такидзава Киёси . Сэнрю:до: га фу [ 瀧澤清潜龍堂画譜 ] Альбом Сэнрю:до: (Скрытый дракон). Токио: [Б.и.], 1879. 48 c. ОЛСАА-япон 3-33 (на яп. яз.)

Танъэн Тодзаки . Сэнтю: то:си сэн [ 淡園戸崎 。 箋註唐詩選 ] Собрание стихотворений поэтов Китая эпохи Тан с объяснениями. Токио: [Б.и.], 1784. 66 с. ОЛСАА-япон 3-12/1 (на кит. и яп. яз.)