News on International Cooperation

This section summarizes news on international cooperation such as international conferences attended by National Diet Library staff, and National Diet Library's international exchange activities.

• 2024
• 2023
• 2022

Please see the Web Archiving Project (WARP) for news before 2021.

• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010
• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006
• 2005
• 2004
• 2003

H.E. Mr. Vo Van Thuong, President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, visited the NDL.

The 39th Mutual Visit Program between the National Library of China (NLC) and the NDL was held in Beijing. Headed by Mr. ITO Yoshitaka (Director General, Kansai-kan), a delegation of five NDL employees visited the NLC and gave three different presentations on three different subjects, each followed by a discussion session. For more information on the Mutual Visit Program, see Exchange Activities with Foreign Libraries.

The International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications (DCMI 2023) was held in Daegu, Republic of Korea and online. Ms. HIRATA Noriko (Assistant Director, Digital Information Distribution Division, Digital Information Department) attended online and Ms. MURAO Yuko (Digital Information Distribution Division, Digital Information Department) participated in the conference on site and made a presentation entitled "Guidelines for Metadata Distribution in Japan: Improving Interoperability of Metadata to Digital Resources"(Presentation file: [PDF: 699KB]).

The 29th meeting of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries in Asia and Oceania (CDNLAO) was held in Doha, Qatar and online. The subject of this year's conference was "Collect and Engage: National Libraries and Their Collections." Mr. TAKEUCHI Hideki (Director General, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department) and Mr. OSAKO Takeshi (Assistant Director, Acquisitions Administration and Bibliographic Control Division, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department) participated in the conference on site. For information on the CDNLAO, see Links: International library organizations related with the National Diet Library.

H.E. Mr. Korkut GÜNGEN, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Turkey to Japan, visited the NDL and donated books on Turkey.

2023 Overseas Korean Studies Librarian Workshop was held in Seoul, Korea. Mr. KAWAMURA Masumi (Asian Resources Division, Kansai-kan) participated in the workshop.

The 48th ISSN Centre Directors’ Meeting was held in Brussels, Belgium. Ms. MITOBE Yumi (Director, Serials and Non-book Materials Division, Acquisitions and Bibliography Department) attended the meeting.

The 60th National Library Contest Exhibition in Jeju, Korea. Mr. KAWAMURA Masumi (Asian Resources Division, Kansai-kan) joined the event.

The delegation of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam headed by Ms. Doan Quynh Dung, Deputy Director of the Library Department, visited the NDL.

The 12th International Seminar for Parliamentary Research Services hosted by the National Assembly Research Service (NARS) was held in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Mr. HIROSE Nobuki (Director, Research Cooperation Office, Research and Legislative Reference Bureau) joined the seminar.

A lecture entitled National Libraries in the Digital Era―focusing on the strategies of the National Library of the Netherlands was held in the Tokyo Main Library of the National Diet Library (NDL). Dr. Lily KNIBBELER, Director General of the National Library of the Netherlands (KB), and Ms. Elsbeth KWANT, Strategic Advisor at the KB, took the rostrum to present their lectures. Joining Dr. Knibbeler and Ms. Kwant during the subsequent panel discussion were Professor TAKEUCHI Hiroya, Vice President and Professor of Library and Information Science at Chiba University, who acted as facilitator, and Mr. OBA Toshiyasu, Director General of the Digital Information Department at the NDL. The program and lecture materials are available on the Events page. For an outline of the lecture, see NDL Newsletter No.254. The lecture video has been made available on our official YouTube channel.

The European Parliamentary Technology Assessment (EPTA) 2023 Conference was held in Barcelona, Spain. Ms. AZUMA Hiroko (Director, Science and Technology Research Office, Education, Culture, Science and Technology Division, Research and Legislative Reference Bureau) attended the conference.

The 41st Annual Course of the International Association of Law Libraries (IALL) was held in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. UEHARA Yukiko (Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division, Research and Legislative Reference Bureau) attended the course.

The 19th International Conference on Digital Preservation (iPRES 2023) was held in Champaign, U.S.A. and online. Mr. YODA Norihisa (Digital Library Division, Kansai-kan) attended on site and Mr. ONUMA Tahee (Assistant Director, Digital Information Planning Division, Digital Information Department) attended online.

The 33rd Conference of the European Association of Japanese Resource Specialists (EAJRS) was held in Leuven, Belgium and online. Mr. OGAWA Naru (Service Planning Division, Reader Services and Collections Department) and Ms. SATO Naoe (Assistant Director, Digital Information Planning Division, Digital Information Department) attended the conference on site. Mr. Ogawa made a presentation entitled "New Digital Exhibitions at the National Diet Library: Utilizing Public Domain Materials" (Presentation file: [PDF: 1.99MB]) . Four other NDL employees attended the conference online. For information on the EAJRS, please see Links: International library organizations related with the National Diet Library.

The World Library and Information Congress 2023—the 88th International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) General Conference and Assembly—was held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and online. The subject of this year's conference was "Let’s work together, let’s library." Participating in the conference on site from Japan was a delegation of eight NDL employees headed by NDL Director General Mr. YOSHINAGA Motonobu, who also participated in the annual meeting of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) held on August 22. Ms. NAGANO Yuko (Assistant Director, Resources and Information Division, International Library of Children's Literature) made a presentation entitled “Warm voices for babies—from nursery songs to stories.” Nine other NDL employees attended the IFLA conference online. For more information about the IFLA or CDNL, please see Links: International library organizations related with the National Diet Library.

The 23rd Mutual Visit Program between the National Library of Korea (NLK) and the NDL was held when Mr. LEE Soomyoung (Director General, Knowledge and Information Operations Department), Dr. CHOI Yoonkyung (Deputy Director, Metadata & Sustainable Access Division), and Mr. LEE Yoon-Soo (Conservator, Preservation and Research Center) of the NLK visited Japan. The report of this program is available in NDL Newsletter No. 253, October 2023. For more information on the Mutual Visit Program, see Exchange Activities with Foreign Libraries.

Dr. ULZIISAIKHAN Luvsandorj, Secretary General of the State Great Hural of Mongolia, visited the NDL.

Dr. Park Sang-Chul, chief of the National Assembly Research Service in Republic of Korea, visited the NDL.

International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) General Assembly and Web Archiving Conference was held in Hilversum, The Netherlands. Mr. SHIMURA Tsutomu (Digital Library Division, Kansai-kan) attended the conference.

A webinar entitled "The Role of Libraries in Implementing Inclusive Information Society – Centered on the National Library for the Disabled" was given by Mr. Jang BoSeong of the Material Development Department of the National Library for the Disabled, Republic of Korea. The program and lecture materials for this webinar are available on the Events page. For an outline of the webinar report, see NDL Newsletter No.251.

Tools of the Trade Conference: The Way Forward, the annual meetings of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), the Council on East Asian Libraries (CEAL), and the meeting of the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC) were held in Boston and Cambridge, USA.

Mr. HYUGA Tomoaki, assistant director of the Branch Libraries and Cooperation Division in the Administrative Department, Ms. FUKUYAMA Juri of the Modern Japanese Political Documents Division in the Reader Services and Collections Department, and Mr. ONUMA Tahee, assistant director of the Digital Information Planning Division in the Digital Information Department, attended the conferences.

And Ms. OGAWA Kanako of the Branch Libraries and Cooperation Division in the Administrative Department and other three employees attended the online annual meeting of the AAS from February 17 to 18.

In the Tools of the Trade Conference, Mr. ONUMA made the following three presentations.
Vision 2021-2025: The “Digital Shift” at the National Diet Library, Japan (PDF: 299KB)
New Features of Digital Services at the NDL (PDF: 1.83MB)
NDL Ngram Viewer and Next Digital Library (PDF: 466KB)

For information on the CEAL and NCC, see Links: International library organizations related with the National Diet Library.

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair was held in Bologna, Italy. Mr. TSUBOI Nobuki of the Planning and Cooperation Division at the International Library of Children's Literature attended the conference.

Mr. Chongyul Yi, director-general for Region-based Culture Policy, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), Republic of Korea, visited the NDL.

An online meeting of Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) was held. The subject of this conference was New National Libraries: Co-Designing services for Citizens. NDL Director General YOSHINAGA Motonobu participated in the conference. For more information about the CDNL, please see Links: International library organizations related with the National Diet Library.