The building of the International Library of Children's Literature (ILCL) was opened in 1906 as the Imperial Library. As a typical example of Western, Renaissance-style architecture built in the Meji era, it has been designated as a metropolitan historic building by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the completion of its construction, the ILCL is holding a centennial commemorative event.

History of the building

 In February 1896, at a plenary session of the House of Peers of the 9th Imperial Diet, a "Proposal for constructing an Imperial Library" was introduced. The following year, in 1897, based on the promulgation of the "Regulations for the Imperial Library Administration," a national library of Japan was founded.

Nine years later, in 1906, a Western-style mansion with three floors above ground and one floor below was completed at Ueno Park, Tokyo. The building was constructed by gathering together the finest of Japanese technology, but it was far short of the original design, a square-shaped brick building with an inner court, the total area amounting to 3,636 square meters. The remaining part was expected to be added in the future.

In 1929, the second-phase construction was finished. In 1952, the stacks were expanded but the original plan was not realized.

The figure below is the schematic plan of the whole. The part surrounded by the black border the original construction. The cross-hatched section was the added in 1929.

After the war, from 1949 to 1999, the building was used as the Ueno Library, branch of the National Diet Library.

Entering the Heisei era, to meet the social demand for the need of a specialised national library of children's literature, the ILCL was fully opened in 2002, after renovation.

On renovating, "preservation" and "ensurement of security" was emphasized. Renovation and preservation of the interiors, such as decorative plaster, lighting fixture, and fittings were paid attention, and also to meet the present quake-resistance standards, seismic isolation for retrofitting was adopted, a first for a masonry construction building in Japan to prepare the building for big earthquakes.

To provide a space where children and researchers feel comfortable and secure, as well as up-to-date functions to meet the demands of the information society, the added facilities have been kept to a necessary minimum not to damage the historic value of the building, such as stairs, elevators, cafeteria, and technical units for information system, air-conditioning and disaster prevention.

Commemorative event

 For the centennial commemorative event, the National Diet Library will hold an exhibition. The exhibition presents the history, beginning with the Imperial Library and continuing through the Ueno Library and on to the ILCL. A comparison of the old and new reading rooms and the technical aspects of the renovated building will also be introduced by panels. The exhibition will be held at the ILCL and the Tokyo Main Library.