Integrated Database Search for Metropolitan Museums

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo’s Art Library has digitized and made available sketchbooks, diaries, and other handwritten materials from the artist Masamu Yanase (1900-1945), letters from art figures and handwritten diaries and manuscripts from the former collection of Susumu Watanabe (1900-1961), and sketchbooks from the former collection of the printmaker Kanenori Suwa (1897-1932).

Since its establishment in 1961, the Music Library located on the 4th floor of the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan has been collecting, preserving, and sharing with the public materials related to opera, ballet, classical music, traditional Japanese music, and folk music, as well as program leaflets of performances dating back to the early days of the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. It is possible to search for books, magazines, scores, CDs, and video materials from the approximately 130,000 items in the collection.

The Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Archive (Search Site) is a database of information on performances at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan since its opening in April 1961. In addition to the name and date of the performance, searches can also be made for the title of the piece, performer, etc., making the information useful as a historical resource for music culture.

The Edo-Tokyo Museum Library houses approximately 200,000 items, including books, magazines, and microfilms, as well as exhibition catalogs, research reports, bulletins, and historical series published by the museum on the history and culture of Edo-Tokyo. The library also actively collects catalogs and bulletins from other museums and galleries, as well as books on the history of Tokyo’s municipalities and cultural properties.

The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum Library is a library dedicated to materials related to photography and visual imaging. The museum collects and makes available to the public a wide range of Japanese and international materials related to photography, including a strong collection of photography books as well as exhibition catalogs and books and magazines related to criticism, and the history of photography and moving images.

As a specialized art library, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo collects, preserves and makes available to the public approximately 270,000 books, exhibition catalogs, and art magazines related to modern and contemporary art from Japan and abroad. Video materials such as DVDs and various databases can be viewed in the media booth in the reading room. The library also has Children’s Art Library with a collection of art books for children.

The library at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum provides access to art books, exhibition catalogs, and art magazines. The collection also holds educational materials including self-guides (explanatory leaflets) produced by museums, as well as materials related to exhibitions of works by the general public (such as catalogs of art and calligraphy, and publications and collections of works). Archival materials related to the history of the museum are also stored here.

This system enables cross-search of the collections of art libraries that are part of ALC (The Art Library Consortium). The four libraries at metropolitan cultural facilities listed above can be searched through this system.