Mita Bungaku Library

2019/03/28

The "Mita Bungaku Library" is a special collection held by the Mita Media Center (Keio University Library). Since before the war, the library has held works by Takitaro Minakami, a novelist and businessman from Keio University, as well as the former collection of books, manuscripts, and personal effects of Kyoka Izumi, who was closely associated with "Mita Bungaku." To this, the complete works and various materials of Mantaro Kubota, who was a novelist and haiku poet, were donated.

In addition to the books, the posthumous copyrights of Mantaro Kubota were donated to the Juku, and the "Mantaro Kubota Memorial Fund Committee" was established in 1963. Its projects included the organization, storage, and public display of materials. Saku Sato, a member of that committee and the Director of the Keio University Library at the time, proposed the establishment of the "Mita Bungaku Library," which was launched in August 1966. At that time, materials were purchased with a grant of 1 million yen from the memorial fund.

At the same time, the republication of "Mita Bungaku" increased momentum to revitalize modern Japanese literary research within Keio. Twenty-six people associated with "Mita Bungaku," including Junzaburo Nishiwaki, became promoters. They decided on a first-phase goal to collect the works, letters, and manuscripts of 42 deceased writers associated with the Juku and four members of the Japan Art Academy at the time, as well as Mita's coterie magazines and pre-war publications of writers active at the time. When a call for cooperation was made to those involved, a large number of first editions, manuscripts, and letters began to be donated.

In 2010, the "100th Anniversary Exhibition of the Founding of Mita Bungaku" was held to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Keio University. On this occasion, the Mita Media Center decided to create the "Mita Bungaku Library Catalog." Since the catalog was first issued in 1969, donations from people involved in literature at Mita (Keio University) had increased. Therefore, regarding the target individuals for collection, which had become ambiguous, 106 literary figures (deceased) from Keio University involved with "Mita Bungaku" were designated as "Mita Literary Figures." It was decided to include only the first editions and manuscripts of those writers in the "Mita Bungaku Library" collection, and the donated materials were reorganized.

Unlike regular library holdings, materials in the "Mita Bungaku Library" are handled in a state of "original binding preservation" (kept in the state they were published, without call number labels, and with book covers and belly bands left as they are). Because only first editions are collected, it is also a valuable collection of book design in that one can see the elaborate bookmaking and binding of the time of publication. Because the purpose is preservation, they are not available for general viewing, but as materials that convey the relationship between Keio University and modern Japanese literature, we hope to continue making them public through opportunities such as exhibitions inside and outside the university.

(Ryoko Sugiyama, Manager, Mita Media Center)