National Diet Library

The NDL's international reference service is available to overseas institutions of Japanese studies and individuals who study subjects related to Japan. Requests for the reference service are accepted and answered by e-mail, postal mail or fax.

A resident of Japan requiring a reference service is advised first to consult a nearby public library or a university library. If answers cannot be found at the local library, you can ask them to send your reference to the NDL. The NDL does not accept online requests from residents of Japan.

(Note: Requests must be made in English or in Japanese.)

The NDL's reference service is confined to the following five areas all related to Japan:

1. Search for specific items in the NDL collections
2. Search for location of items held in other institutions
3. Providing bibliographic data for specific documents (e.g., title, author, date/place of publication, volume no., publisher, relevant page numbers)
4. Referring to documents for a specific topic
5. Referring to other institutions treating the specific subject

The NDL does not offer its reference service in the following areas:

1. Answering questions that require guesswork, conjecture or judgment by the NDL staff (e.g. predicting the future)
2. Recommending "good" books and intermediating in book transactions
3. Appraising old books, writings, works of art, including their market prices
4. Interpreting, commenting on, translating or summarizing books and articles
5. Conducting research for school assignments, reports, graduation theses and finding answers to quizzes
6. Conducting research that may infringe on individual privacy
7. Providing private counseling, legal advice, medical advice and the like
8. Compiling a systematic bibliography on a specific subject
9. Conducting research on behalf of specific individuals and organizations
10. Searching for an article or photograph for which there is no adequate means of search

Preliminary Search by Requesters

You can search most of the NDL collection through the NDL website.

• Online Catalogs

Request for Reference Service

To make a request for the NDL reference service, the following types of information must be provided.
Prospective overseas requesters are advised to enter information in a reference request form according to the instructions below. The staff of the local library or research organization are asked to interview the requester thoroughly before filling in the form.
Please note that we may register your request or inquiry and our reply in the Collaborative Reference Database. It will be edited so that you cannot be identified as the requester.
(Note: Requests must be made in English or in Japanese.)

• Reference Request Form
  

Library

Name of the library or research organization that you belong to

Requester (required)

Requester's full name (in case of a library or an institution of Japanese studies, full name of the person assigned)

E-mail address for replies (required)

E-mail address to which replies will be sent by the NDL (in case of a library or an institution of Japanese studies, its business e-mail address)

E-mail address for replies (required)

For verification, re-enter the e-mail address given above.

Telephone (required)

Full phone number starting with the country code

Fax

In some cases, the NDL may fax you reference documents along with a reply by e-mail. Indicate the full fax number starting with the country code.

Postal code/Address (required)

As the NDL may mail you reference documents along with a reply by e-mail, please enter your full postal address.

Country (required)

Country where the requester resides

Type of reference requested

Check the appropriate box.

Specifics of reference requested (required)

Describe in the blank space the subject(s) or the name of the document(s) in question and all the other information you have relating to the inquiry.

Specifics of reference requested (required)

Describe in the blank space the subject(s) or the name of the document(s) in question and all the other information you have relating to the inquiry.

Intended purpose of the document(s) in question

Check the appropriate box. Please note, however, that this does not automatically forward your request for
international photoduplication service.

Source of Verification/Reference(required)

Identify the documents you have already searched. To save us from making the same searches, you are advised to indicate what you have searched, e.g.: NDL-OPAC, NACSIS-Webcat, encyclopedias, Who's Who, including their publishers and year of publication.

Results from other libraries and the names of those libraries

If you have already made a request to other institutions of Japanese studies, please fill in the name of those libraries/organizations and the search results obtained.

Documents attached

Check the appropriate box. Do not include documents/reference in the attached document.

Sending Your Request or Inquiry

Please send your request or inquiry to the address below:

E-mail:

The NDL reference service available through the request form on this website is intended for overseas organizations and individuals engaged in research on Japan. (Note: Requests must be made in English or in Japanese.)

• Reference Request Form

Fax :

+81-3-3580-3559

Post:

Reference Section, Service Planning Division, Reader Services and Collections Department, National Diet Library, 1-10-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8924, Japan