Introduction to the Special Collections

Main Library

1. Abe Collection Displayed at the third permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Jiro Abe ( 1883 - 1959 ), who was a professor in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University. After graduation from a philosophy department of Tokyo Imperial University, he held up idealism and personalism in his work on aesthetics and ethics. His most famous work Santaro's Diary ( In Japanese: Santaro no Nikki ) described the introspection of an intelligent youth, and it gained him a wide audience, most of whom were students of higher school under prewar system. Abe was known as a chief editor of Shinshicho, and also as a leading highly cultivated person of the Taisho period, along with Tetsuro Watsuji, Yoshishige Abe, Toyotaka Komiya and others, those of who were Natsume Soseki's pupils.

"Feeling significance of participating in the new faculty's foundation", Abe arrived in his new post at the Faculty of Law and Literature, and made efforts on the management and the administration of university. As the first professor of a chair of aesthetics, he, laying stress on Goethe, lectured on Dante, Kant, Nietzsche, etc. On the other hand, when Abe took an opportunity to travel abroad, he felt the necessity to carry out research on Japanese culture. Thus he established Basho Society in 1926 with Komiya. In there, he spent his time learning "Renku" ( linked verses ) with his colleagues Yoshio Yamada, Tsunetsugu Muraoka, Yoshie Okazaki and Masao Ota (Mokutaro Kinoshita), and, they also made studies of Saikaku, Sogi, and the ballads in Records of Ancient Matters and Chronicles of Japan. It is said that through the lost war, his desire had reached to the resolution "to construct the new cultural country without relying on its arms and capital strength".

Abe became the dean of the Faculty of Law and Literature in July 1941, but resigned from the post in March 1942 owing to illness. After his retirement in 1945, preparations like the purchase of books began from 1949, and at long last in 1954, "Abe's Institute for Japanese Culture" was established at Komegafukuro, Sendai City. Abe died in 1959, and with all the institutions presented to Tohoku University in 1963, the Faculty of Arts and Letters Research Institute for Japanese Culture has started and received 5,190 books. Furthermore, the institute has expanded and then absorbed into The center for Northeast Asian Studies, so they were transferred to Tohoku University Library in 1998.

Commentaries on the materials

2. Ishizu Collection Displayed at the third permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Teruji Ishizu (1903 - 1972), who was a professor in the Faculty of Arts and Letters at Tohoku University (department of religion) and also the eleventh President of Tohoku University. Ishizu studied widely, from Buddhist ideas to Western ideas such as Kierkegaard and Feuerbach. He got a doctorate for "A Study of Religious Basis"(In Japanese: Shukyo no konkyo ni kansuru kenkyu). The role he took in a learned society was an important one, as he had worked as the president of Japanese Association for Religious Studies. Within the university, Ishizu was consecutively the dean of students, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, and the President. However, after he had retired from his post as the President in 1965 owing to the problem of campus removal, he left Tohoku University on reaching retiring age in 1966 and became a professor at Keio University.

70 - 80 percent of the collection is consisted of philosophical or religious books. The collection holds many series and complete works such as The Complete Book of Great Japan's Buddhism (In Japanese: Dainippon Bukkyou Zensho), An Anthology of Buddhism (In Japanese: Bukkyou Taikei), and The Taisho New Complete Tripitaka (In Japanese: Taisho Shinshu Daizoukyo). Books on philosophy, sociology and cultural anthropology-the stay of the Ishizu Religious Philosophy-are laid out at the center, while books on psychology and psychiatry are arranged distinctively on the bookshelves. It is also noteworthy that the books have a large number of notes written in.

There are many presentation copies from some famous scholars of every field. This fact reminds us of professor Ishizu, a leading figure in the Religious Society. At the same time, they show afresh a extent of the Ishizu Religious Philosophy. Moreover, even when these books are separated from Ishizu himself, they give us a clue to the research history-the topics concerned and the courses of study in those days in a field of religious philosophy.

In 1979, the arrangement of books was completed and they were open to the public.

Commentaries on the materials

3. Ito Collection Displayed at the fourth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Nobuo Ito (1908 - 1987), who was a professor in the Faculty of Arts and Letters at Tohoku University. He was born in Sendai, went to Second Higher School, and after that, he graduated from the Faculty of Law and Literature of Tohoku Imperial University. He was consecutively a lecturer at the same university, a professor at Second Higher School, and a professor in the College of General Education at Tohoku University under the new educational system in Post-WWⅡ. When a chair of archaeology was newly established, he moved to the Faculty of Arts and Letters, and there he served two terms as the dean of the faculty. After his retirement in 1971, he worked as a professor at Tohoku Dental University and also as a professor at Tohoku Gakuin University-he continued his educational and research activity consistently in Tohoku area.

He is a descendant of the Ito family, a clan of Sendai domain. Shichijuro-Shigetaka Ito, who appeared in Date Riot [a riot developed into bloodshed in 1671, between the chief retainers of the Date domain], is one of his relatives. He produced many achievements not only in archaeology, which was his specialty, but also in history of Sendai and Tohoku area, from ancient to modern times. Likewise, he made an great effort to protect the cultural treasures, and trained disciples. We can imagine his activities from the collection, many of which consists of archaeology, basic documents of historical research, and reports of investigations on excavations at various places. The collection also holds some materials which practically depicts his personal life.

Tohoku University Library received them from his relatives in 1987.

Commentaries on the materials

4. Umehara Collection Displayed at the fourth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Sueji Umehara (1890 - 1983), who was an honorary professor at Kyoto University. He was a world authority on East Asian bronze ware, and produced achievements in studies of dotaku (a bell-shaped bronze vessel of the Yayoi period, supposed to have been for ceremonial use) and ancient burial mounds in Japan. When he set out to abroad to study, he had been given informal assurances of employment in the newly established Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku University. However, there had been a change in the situation during his stay. He resulted in coming back to Kyoto, not Sendai, when he returned to Japan. Considering the circumstances above, he made an offer to present a part of his book collection to Tohoku University when he retired from Tenri University (the university he worked for after his retirement from Kyoto University) in 1964-that is how this collection has been established.

The collection mainly consists of Western books on archaeology and museology. Because Umehara's request was to equip his books all together in the Archaeology Study Room, they were separated form other books and set up as a special collection.

Tohoku University Library had been receiving the collection from 1964 to 65, and in 1973, "Umehara Collection catalog"( In Japanese ) was completed.

Commentaries on the materials

5. Orui Collection Displayed at the fifth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Noburu Orui (1884, Tokyo - 1975, Kugenuma), who was a professor in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University (1924 - 1944) and a member of the Japan Academy. He went to First Higher School, and graduated from the department of history at Tokyo Imperial University in 1906. After that, he entered a post graduate course at the same university, and was awarded the degree (Doctor of Arts) from Tokyo Imperial University in 1915. He went to France and Germany to study from 1920 to 1921, while he was a lecturer at the College of Arts and Letters, Tokyo Imperial University. He was promoted to an associate professor during his stay in abroad, then came back to Japan in 1923 after staying in Italy for another one and a half year. In 1924, he was appointed a professor in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University, which was still at its initial stage. Thus he arrived at Sendai, and lectured on the European medieval history at the Faculty of Law and Literature. It is noteworthy that there were only three people received degree from Tokyo Imperial University in 1915: Noburu Orui in literature, Sakuzo Yoshino in law, and Matsusaburo Fujiwara in mathematics.

Orui started from the historical study on castles. After he arrived at the new post of the Faculty of Law and Literature, Tohoku Imperial University, he energetically got on with the research on Italian Renaissance, and accomplished the so-called "Orui's Study of Cultural History". His efforts resulted in his main works, such as A Culture of the Western Middle Ages (In Japanese: Seiyo chusei no bunka) 1925 published by Fuzambo, and A Study of the Renaissance Culture (In Japanese: Runesansu bunka no kenkyu) 1938 published by Sanseido in Japanese. Orui lectured an introduction to history as a pioneer of modern and empirical history in Japan. Orui's book which gave an outline of Western history (A New Lecture on Western History (In Japanese: Seiyo-shi shin-ko), published by Fuzambo, 1934), was written from a standpoint of overall cultural history, and went through several editions. The publication of The Study of European and American History (In Japanese: Seiyo-shi kenkyu) (published by Fuzambo, 1932)-the first professional research magazine of Western history in Japan-is owed to Orui, He trained many disciples of outstanding talent through professional researches. In his later days, he deepened the study of cultural characteristics between "the West and the East" by comparing the cultures of Renaissance with Momoyama period (The Spring of Momoyama (In Japanese: Momo-yama no haru), published by Fuzambo in Japanese, 1969).

This collection holds many books which are related with Raphael, Dante, and Machiavelli-the three pillars of Orui's studying subjects. There are also some valuable old editions (incunabula) within this collection, which were published in Rome and Venice before 1500. It also includes classical works of Burckhardt and Ranke, those to which Orui devoted when he made an outline of his own standpoint at synthesis of both empirical proof and cultural history. All Orui's book collection is possessed by many different research institutions, and in 1962, Tohoku University Library received 946 Western books and 7 Japanese books through the mediation of Maruzen's branch office.

Commentaries on the materials

6. Kano Collection Displayed at the fifth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Kokichi Kano (1865 - 1942), a doctor of literature, who came from Oodate City, Akita Prefecture. He was consecutively the principal of First Higher School (1898 - 1906), and the President of a liberal arts college, Kyoto Imperial University (1906 - 1908). He is also well-known for dig up hidden talents: Tadao Shizuki, a scholar of the Edo period; Shoueki Ando, a philosopher; and Toshiaki Honda, an enlightened administrator.

Kano's book collection was brought to Tohoku University with efforts of Masataro Sawayanagi (1865 - 1927), Kano's close friend and the first President of Tohoku Imperial University. On that occasion, Kano handed them over on conditions that all of them should be kept together and that they should be at Tohoku University forever. Some more materials that had been collected by Kano afrterwards were added to them, four times up to March 1943, either by additional purchase and donation-now, it is a large collection consisted of about 108,000 books. It contains materials mainly composed of Japanese and Chinese classics, and it covers a variety of fields, as is sometimes called as "an encyclopaedia of classics" or "a treasure house of Edo studies". The two pieces of national treasure-Records of the Grand Historian of China vol.10, Chronicle of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty / Shi-ji Xiao-Wen-benji di-shi / 「史訁E孝文本紀 第十、E(transcribed in 1073) and A Collection of the history of Japan vol.25 / Ruijyu-Koku-shi, vol.25 / 「類聚国史 巻第二十五、E (transcribed in the last stage of Heian period) are included in this collection. The greater number of this university's specified valuable books are the ones of Kano Collection.

Japanese thread stitch bound books were put forward to convert into microfilm from 1991, and in 1993, it became available for users to see 55,000 books, including valuable books.

Commentaries on the materials

7. Kinoshita Collection Displayed at the fifth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Akira Kinoshita (1903 - 82), who was a professor of Tohoku University (the former department of economics) and also the dean of the department. Kinoshita carried out research mainly on agricultural economy of Tohoku area. He became a member of the Science Council of Japan in 1966, and also worked in various fields: as directors of the Agricultural Economy Society and of Japanese Urban Society, and as a special member of the Agricultural Economy Institute in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. In 1981, he got the 71st Japan Academy prize for his work The Structure of Nago System and Its Collapse ( In Japanese ).

The collection holds basic materials and research materials on special economics first of all, agricultural policy, agricultural economy, agricultural reformation, land administration, economy in mountain villages, etc. There are also some research papers and investigation materials on tenant farming systems, nago (farmers in a subordinate position to masters during the Middle Ages and the modern times) systems, and agriculture in Tohoku area.

In 1983, the late Shunsaku Kanno, who was a professor (the former College of General Education), offered his good offices to present the collections from Kinoshita's bereaved family to Tohoku University Library; and in 1986, the arrangement of books was completed.

Commentaries on the materials

8. Kushida Collection Displayed at the sixth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Tamizo Kushida (1885 - 1934), who was a representative Marxist. Kushida came from Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, and learned Marxism from Hajime Kawakami while he was a student at Kyoto Imperial University. He was consecutively a journalist at Osaka Asahi Shimbun publishing company, a professor at Doshisha University and a lecturer in the Faculty of Economics at the Tokyo Imperial University. Then he became a member of The Ohara Institute for Social Research (Hosei University), and was busily engaged in purchasing Marxist books during his stay in Europe as a student. After his return to Japan in 1922, he energetically presented his research, but broke down with subarachnoid hemorrhage while writing a paper, and died at the age of 49.

The book collection contains records of Japanese and foreign sciences, social problems and labour problems; among these, Misere de la philosophie (the first edition published in 1847) is an exceedingly valuable piece of material, which was Marx's own book with many corrections and notes written by Marx himself. After the death of Marx, it is told that through Engels the book became German Social Democratic Party's possession, then was given to Kushida. Furthermore, there are some copies of Das Kapital (The Capital), including the first edition in German, the ones which have ownership stamps of German Social Democratic Party and of Böhm-Bawerk.

After Kushida's death, it was decided to purchase his book collection through the good offices of Kozo Uno, an associate professor at that time in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University. The purchases were divided into four and were received by the main library separately from 1935 to 1937. In the times of militarism, people got arrested only for possessing a document of Socialism; however, because of the library staff's prudent care, the books were safely protected. In 1981, "Kushida Collection Catalog"( In Japanese ) was completed, and now you can see the whole picture of it.

Commentaries on the materials

9. Kono Collection Displayed at the sixth permanent exhibition

Yoichi Kono (1896 - 1984) came to the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University as an associate professor in 1927. He taught French literature, then a classical language, and after that the history of ancient and medieval western philosophy (he became a professor from 1946). Besides taking an active part as a great advisor of Iwanami Books after his retirement in 1950, he himself introduced some books of ancient and modern by his excellent translation-it is said that the advisor's office was like a refined saloon with many pupils and acquaintances who were attracted to his academic standing and his character. Yoichi Kono Collection consists of their books. Kono, the great scholar of literature, philosophy and classical language, gave lectures on Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Cicero, Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz etc at the university; but also had a great knowledge of many contemporary Western and Eastern languages, and was a magnate in an academic discipline who possessed great refinement of Japanese and Chinese classics as well. In spite of his prestige, Kono's life is known for his gentleness, honesty and kindness, that many specialists in French literature and Greek / Latin classics received his considerable favour-Jiro Hara (the translator of Montagne) of French literature and Yoshio Watanabe of philosophy (both the honorary professors of this university) were his favourite pupils. The great scholar, who did not adhere to the collection of rare books, often gave them to other people because he had an outstanding memory and generosity.

After Kono's death, the book collection was given from his family to Tohoku University Library in 1985.

Commentaries on the materials

10. Kojima Collection Displayed at the seventh permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Kikuo Kojima (1887 - 1950), who was an art historian of Taisho and Showa period. He studied under Yasuji Otsuka and his name was entered in a literary coterie magazine, Shirakaba. Kojima taught the history of Western art from February 1923 to March 1937 as an associate professor in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University. Then he went to Tokyo Imperial University, where he died of a disease in July 1950, while he still held office.

This collection consists entirely of Western books. Most of them are art books, which include plenty of documents especially about Leonard da Vinci. Furthermore, there are some more books of philosophy, literature and history.

After Kojima's death, his book collection was transferred to the library in 1956, through the good offices of Kiyoshi Murata (a professor of art history in the Faculty of Art and Letters at Tohoku University in succession to Kojima at that time), and Yoichi Kono (a professor of philosophy).

Commentaries on the materials

11. Sunaga Collection Displayed at the seventh permanent exhibition

This was the book collection owned by Shigemitsu Sunaga (1907 - 1976), who was a professor in the institute of agriculture at Tohoku University. He was an authority on agricultural technology research from the field of agricultural economics. He based his study on an investigation into the agriculture of Tohoku area, and from the standpoint of agricultural economics, he worked energetically on his research in Japanese landlordism. Sunaga was taught by Kozo Uno, started his study from economics, and then made his way to the field of agricultural technology. This agricultural technology theory became his lifework, which made him a rare and unique being in our country. The contents of the book collection is mainly economics and industry, and there are also social sciences, legal systems, Japanese history and technology; but the fact that 40 percent of the collection are occupied by investigation reports and data of agriculture / agricultural administration conferences indicates his eager attitude as a scholar towards field work. These books were received in 1977, and their arrangement was completed in March 1979.

References: "Receiving Sunaga collection" (Kiboko 2(2), 1977)
"An arrangement report of Sunaga collection" (Kiboko 4(1), 1979)
Shigemitsu Sunaga, "A long narrow path for the research of agricultural economics"
(Bulletin of the Institute for Agricultural Research, Tohoku University (published in Japanese) 23(1), 1971)

Shigemitsu Sunaga, Japanese Agricultural Technology Theory
(published by Ochanomizu Books in Japanese, 1977)
.

Commentaries on the materials

12. Soseki Collection Displayed at the 2003 exhibition project "Intellectuals of Meiji and Taisho period-Soseki's Acquaintances"

This book collection was owned by a great writer Soseki Natsume (1867 - 1916), which consist of 3,068 volumes. Most of the books are related to English literature, and have Soseki's own notes written in. There are also more materials such as Soseki's diaries, notebooks, exam questions, and some pieces of manuscripts and rough drafts. The entire number of books are by no means many for a scholar. However, notes and underlines can be found in 30 percent of the whole collection. It is said that Soseki did not show liking for antiques, but collected the books that he wanted to read. His collection cannot be said to have a lot of valuable or rare books in worldly terms; but it is one of the characteristics of Soseki collection that most of those books are the ones which he actually read or attempted to read-that is the reason why they attract scholars' attention.

Soseki's books were transferred to Tohoku University Library, and it was done through Toyotaka Komiya's (1884 - 1966) good offices, who was the Director at that time and also one of Soseki's favourite pupils. These valuable materials for Soseki research escaped the fires of war by this transfer; because Waseda Minami Street, where Soseki-Sanbo was located, was burned up in the air raid of 10th March 1945.

Soseki collection was kept next to his former teacher Koeber's collection at first, with the chief librarian Komiya's idea, but now every book is kept in valuable stack room owing to the removal of the library. Incidentally, the majority of the surrounding valuable books which were designated by the university are the former book collection of his best friend, Kokichi Kano. In 1971, Soseki Collection Catalog was drawn up. Furthermore, with the opening of Sendai Literature Museum, we microfilmed the books in cooperation with Sendai City, and it was completed at the end of fiscal 1997.

Natsume Soseki Library

13. Takayanagi Collection Displayed at the eighth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Shinzo Takayanagi (1902 - 1990). He was a professor at Tohoku University, who was in the service of the dean of the College of General Education and the dean of the Faculty of Law; and he was also a member of the Japan Academy. Takayanagi came from Kanazawa: Ishikawa Prefecture, and studied under Professor Kaoru Nakada at Tokyo Imperial University. Soon after he had graduated from there in 1925, he was employed as an assistant at Tohoku Imperial University, took office as an associate professor in 1927, and then became the first professor of the chair of Japanese traditional law in the Faculty of Law and Literature in 1941. After the Second World War, he worked hard for the restructuring of the College of General Education as the dean of the college from 1951 to 1956. His specialty was the history of the legal system in Japan, and he left many excellent studies, especially in the fields of the family law in Meiji period and the criminal law in Edo period. He was also one of the editors of A Compilation of Ofuregaki (decrees from the shogunate and the feudal lords), complete in 5 volumes (Iwanami Books, 1934 - 1937). This collection reflects his work above, and it includes about 1,400 modern ancient manuscripts besides 3,818 books. The library received them in 1994 and their arrangement was completed in 1996, but it is still continuing for the part of ancient manuscripts.

Commentaries on the materials

14. Nakano Collection Displayed at the eighth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Tadashi Nakano (1912 - 1985). He graduated from economics department in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University in 1940, and became the dean of the Faculty of Economics at Hosei University and the President of Nagano College of Economics. Nakano studied economic theory and classical economics from the standpoint of Marxian Economics. Especially his chief writing The Value-Form Theory (published by Nihon Hyoronsha in Japanese, 1958) has the reputation as a masterpiece: in the book, he attempted to explain the theoretical structure of the value morphology in Marx's Das Kapital (The Capital), on the basis of Aristotelian logic of "Coming-to-be", and Hegel's dialectic. Moreover, in his later years, he tried to grow out of Marxian Economics by adopting modern economics. The result of his efforts were put together in The Collected writings of Tadashi Nakano complete in 5 volumes (published by Nihon Hyoron-sha in Japanese, 1987). The collection mainly consists of books on philosophy and economics. The library received them in 1988 from Nakano's relatives after his death. It was done through the good offices of Horimoto, a professor in the Faculty of Economics who had studied under Nakano in his postgraduate school days. On that occasion, because Nakano a chief translator of The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo published by Yushodo Books, its worker Shigeo Wada took charge of arranging the books.

Commentaries on the materials

15. Nakamura Collection Displayed at the ninth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Kichiji Nakamura (1905 - 1986), who worked as a professor in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University and as a professor and also the dean of the Faculty of Economics at Tohoku University. Nakamura came from Nagano Prefecture, graduated from Tokyo Imperial University, and then worked in the Historiographical Institute at the same university. In 1933, he arrived in his new post as an associate professor at Tohoku Imperial University, and taught economic history. He became a professor in 1941, and until his retirement in 1968, he made efforts not only in education and research, but also in the works as a councilor of the university, the director of the library, the chief editor of the commemorative chronicles for Tohoku University's 50th anniversary, and a member of the Science Council of Japan. His specialty was the economic history and the social history of Japan: his highly empirical research results still keep their reputation. It was led through his fact-finding survey with a team in the villages of Kemuyama in Iwate Prefecture and Imai in Nagano Prefecture. There are 44 editorial works and more than 80 pieces of theses. The collection mainly consists of materials on the economic history and the social history of Japan, and its constituents reflect almost all of his research areas. The basic materials and the research materials on the economic and social history of Japan are widely collected, but the ones about peasants, peasants' uprisings, and communities attract attention in particular.

Tohoku University Library received the collection in 1988.

Commentaries on the materials

16. Bansui Collection Displayed at the ninth permanent exhibition

The book collection was owned by Bansui Doi (1871 - 1952), who was a literary man and also an educator in Sendai. Bansui went to Second Higher School and proceeded to Tokyo Imperial University where he learned English literature. He came back to Second Higher School as a professor in his 30th year, and after that he never left Sendai all his life. When he was 29, while in Tokyo, he published a collection of poems Tenchi-ujo, and became a leading figure of the new-style poetry movement, who ranked with Toson Shimazaki. He continued to compose poetry until his seventh collection Kamikaze (published in 1937), and along with that, he gained reputation for the translation of Homer's works.

Bansui lost 80 percent of his books in the Sendai air raid of 1945. Bansui Collection consists of the books remained unburned and the ones purchased afterwards. The collection of books covers many fields such as English literature, Chinese classical literature, Buddhism and Western thought. It holds some books which have red marks, notes and ownership stamps inside; and it also includes some letters from Soseki and Einstein.

The library purchased the collection from his relatives in 1965.

Reference: Satoshi Sonehara, "Bansui Collection" (Tohoku University Koho (PR Magazine). 172 (1996).

Commentaries on the materials

17. Matsumoto Collection Displayed at the tenth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Kinju Matsumoto (1904 - 1984). He was a professor in the Faculty of Education and held the chair of developmental psychology from the time of the faculty's foundation, and also made efforts to improve the relevant system as the second dean of the Faculty of Education.

Matsumoto was born in Tochigi Prefecture in 1904, and graduated from the psychology department in the Faculty of Arts and Letters at Tokyo Imperial University in 1930. After that, he, as a part-time employee at The Japanese Psychological Association and also as a member of the Institute for Child Study at Japan Women University, worked hard on editing "Psychology Study"( In Japanese ) and improving the research basis of the institute. He studied under Mantaro Kido in his student days, and when the Child Study Society was to be organized under the leadership of Kido in 1936, he took part in it with young psychologists Kanji Hatano, Arata Yoda, and Masashi Masaki. In 1937, he, as a central member of the Educational Science Society's language section, pursued his psychological study on children's language development. Matsumoto became a professor at Fourth Higher School in 1940, and in 1949 the first professor of psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Letters at Kanazawa University. He eagerly taught and studied psychology there, and during his service at the university, he founded Hokuriku Psychological Association.

Matsumoto arrived at his post as the first professor of developmental psychology at Tohoku University in 1951. Until his retirement in 1968, he made efforts to improve the system of the faculty while he taught and studied educational psychology and developmental psychology. He also devoted himself on the development and establishment of democratic education: concerning historical and current problems such as university autonomy and the Central Education Council, he put forward many papers from the viewpoint of protecting the new education. Furthermore, he paid attention to the psychological problems of children and youths, those of who were classified as the weak people in the society, and tried hard to advance the study to solve them. Matsumoto was the first scholar who brought a connection between Japanese and Russian academic worlds of educational psychology-he was the founder of the Research Association of Psychology in the Soviet Union-and was also a founder who set up a "fund for general meeting" in the Japanese Association of Educational Psychology, for the sake of educational psychology in Japan. As it is clear from above that Matsumoto had outstanding ideas and power of action.

The collection mainly consists of specialist works on the fields of education, psychology and sociology; but there are also many books on educational system, university, youths, and history of women. We can see over again his method of study: he always tried to pursue "the way that a democratic education should be".

Commentaries on the materials

References: Takeshi Komagome, "Kinju Matsumoto" (A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Japanese Social Movement History (published in Japanese) vol.4, 1997), Osamu Kanda, "On the Retirement of Prof. Kinju Matsumoto" (Bungaku-bu ronso; The journal of the Department of Literature, Rissho University. (published in Japanese) 58 (1977)), Tohoku University Library Possession: Matsumoto Collection Catalog (published in Japanese (1992)).

18. Miyata Collection Displayed at the thirteenth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Mitsuo Miyata (1928 - ), who taught politics and political history in the Faculty of Law at Tohoku University. He came from Kochi Prefecture and graduated from Third Higher School and the Faculty of Law at Tokyo University. He became an associate professor at Tohoku University in 1956 and a professor from 1963; he engaged in education and research until he retired in 1992. In the university, he was consecutively a councilor and the dean of the Faculty of Law. During that time, Miyata contributed to the development of the academic world with his studies on politics and the history of Western political ideas: he won the Japan Academy prize for his book The Mental Structure of West Germany (published in Japanese) in 1969, and Sakuzo Yoshino prize for his paper "The Thought and Action in Modern Democracy" (written in Japanese) in 1971. The collection reflects the research activity of Miyata, and materials are collected under the three pillars: German political ideas (Kant, Romanticism, Nazism, etc), Christian political ideas (Barth, Bonhoeffer, etc), and Peace studies.

The collection includes valuable books from the viewpoint of research history, such as Barth's Der Römerbrief (The Epistle to the Romans) the first edition (1919) and the second edition (1922), the original 1934 text of Barmen Declaration. In addition to these, it has some more distinctive materials of nations and religions: the resolutions and reports of the anti-Nazism church struggles, the typed copies of sermons for resistance and letters written in prison, and some original materials of neo-Nazism newspapers and pamphlets. It is also worthwhile to mention that the substantial collection of German history textbooks.

Since 1997, the collection is continuously donated to the library: the receiving and arranging of the books are still going on.

19. Yajima Collection Displayed at the tenth permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Genryo Yajima (1903 - 2001). He worked at Tohoku University Library for 34 years, from 1932 to 1965, and studied bibliography and library science as an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts and Letters from 1965 to 1967. The collection mainly consists of the books on Chinese philosophy, Chinese classical literature and bibliography. It is also characteristic of this collection that it holds many "reference materials", most of which have Yajima as their author and editor. Moreover, it attracts attention for a large number of thread stitch bound books, mainly lithographed ones from early years of late Qing and Republican China. People sometimes call it "mini-Kano Collection", for it has collections of antiquarian book catalogs, tourist maps, picture postcards, labels of matchboxes, etc. Yajima's unique position within the library and academic worlds can be seen from the number of books and separate volumes he was offered by scholars from inside and outside the university.

"It is impossible to think other place besides the library for keeping my collection" was Yajima's will, and according to this, every collection-from his favourite books like dictionaries to a hanging scroll in his study-was donated to the library in the autumn of 1980, and the arrangement was completed in 1981.

Commentaries on the materials

20. Yanase Collection Displayed at the eleventh permanent exhibition

This book collection was owned by Yoshimoto Yanase (1905 - 1985). He held the chair of administrative law in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University, and also worked as the dean of the Faculty of Law, a councilor and a member of the Japan Academy.

Yanase was born in Wakayama Prefecture in 1905, went to the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University, and then worked as an assistant there. He came to Tohoku Imperial University in 1933 as an associate professor in the Faculty of Law and Literature, and from 1941 he became a professor: he engaged in education and research until his retirement in 1969. During that time, he also worked for Japan Public Law Association as a director, and the Legislative Council as its member of administrative suit section.

His specialty was administrative law, and a characteristic of its academic approach was in the point that it clearly distinguished between reality / ideal, theory / practice, recognition / value judgment, respectively. The core of Yanase's study was occupied by "legal positivism" and "logicism".

The collection contains not only legislative materials on administrative law, but also ones ranging over literature, art, thought, philosophy, politics and history-they help to support the fact that he is a man of erudition and retentive memory. Moreover, the collection holds literary books on Japanese and Chinese classics, and he seems to have been particularly interested in the biographies of politicians and other individuals.

This collection was received into the library in 1985.

Commentaries on the materials

21. Wasan (native mathematics of Japan) Collection Japanese Arithmetic Collection Displayed at the twelveth permanent exhibition

This is a large collection which holds a total of 18,335 books. It consists of 14,470 books / materials of Japanese arithmetic owned and collected by Tsuruichi Hayashi (1873 - 1935, a professor in the Faculty of Science at Tohoku Imperial University and the first chief librarian) and Matsusaburo Fujiwara (1881 - 1946, a colleague of Hayashi when an arithmetic course was established); 2,667 books owned by Norifumi Okamoto (1847 - 1931, a member of the Imperial Academy); and others.

Tsuruich Hayashi was the leading person among Japanese arithmetic study of those days, but was also a successor to the Seki school of Japanese arithmetic. Therefore, the collection contains a licence of that as well. When the materials on Japanese arithmetic from Kano Collection were put together with this collection, it accounts for two thirds of the entire materials on Japanese arithmetic in the country. This is the greatest reason why Tohoku University became one of the largest centre of Japanese arithmetic research.

As to the characteristics of this collection, it holds many originals and manuscripts of provincial arithmeticians while it covers most of the major printed books; and it contains many materials on astronomy, calendar calculation and measurement besides Japanese arithmetic. Shigeyoshi Mouri's Warizan-sho (1622), and his disciple Tomoaki Imamura's Jugai-roku (1636) are the particularly valuable books within the collection. A stock which holds all descriptions of Jinkoki can be said to be the highest level in quality and quantity.

For a long time, this collection was in the custody of mathematics department in the Faculty of Science; but in 1968, it was transferred to the Research Institute for Japanese Culture in the Faculty of Arts and Letters; and then in 1979, it was received into Tohoku University Library.

22. Wada Collection Displayed at the eleventh permanent exhibition

This collection of Western books was owned by Saichiro Wada (1894 - 1944), who was a professor in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University. Wada was born in 1894 in a wealthy family of Osaka. After he had graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Tokyo Imperial University, he was appointed professor when the Faculty of Law and Literature of Tohoku Imperial University was established in 1922. He held the first chair of economics for 20 years, and in January 1944, he died of illness while he still held office. His lecture dealt with the theories of objective value and subjective value based on Marx's Das Kapital and Marshall's Principles of Economics, and he devoted himself to the study of crisis theory and crisis history.

The collection holds the books on the whole field of economics, not to mention Wada's specialty. It includes many valuable books those of which are the first editions: Petty's Political Arithmetick, John Locke's Several Papers Relating to Money, Interest and Trade & c, Ricardo's On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Karl Marx's Zur Kritik der Politischen ökonomie and Kritik des Gothaer Programms, Engel's Herrn Eugen Dührings Umwälzung der Wissenschaft (Anti-Dühring), etc. The collection was exceedingly beneficial to the younger students, and it greatly contributed to the studies of economic history and Marxism in Japan.

Because the books were delivered to the library in March 1945, in wartime, the ones on socialism could not be registered and were left separately from the others until 1948. The collection consists of 2,670 Western books, and other 682 Japanese books which are also Wada's collection are arranged in the book stacks together with general books.

Commentaries on the materials

23. Koeber Collection Displayed at the fourteenth permanent exhibition

This collection consists of 1,999 books which was owned by Raphael von Koeber (1848 - 1923), who lectured on Western philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University from 1893 to 1914. Koeber was born an Russian of German descent. After he had graduated from Moscow consevatory, he went to Germany to study philosophy and literature. He was treated with kindness by Hartmann, and through the recommendation of him, Koeber left for his new post as a lecturer of philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University. He gave lectures on Western philosophy, aesthetics, Greek, Latin, German literature, etc. His disciples include Kitaro Nishida and many other philosophers. It is widely known that Soseki Natsume wrote about Koeber "a professor of noblest character" in his book Teacher Koeber (In Japanese: Koeber Sensei), and that he always loved and respected Koeber.

The collection mainly consists of Greek and Latin classics, and it also has philosophy and literature related books.

The collection was purchased through the good offeices of Masaru Kubo. He was a professor of philosophy in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University, and studied under Koeber then translated Koeber's collection of essays afterwards.

Commentaries on the materials

24. Seckel Collection

This collection consists of 7,380 books which was owned by Emil Seckel. He formerly was a professor at Berlin University and was an authority on Roman law.

The collection holds for the main part the literatures on Roman law and canon law: Basilicorum libri, / The Basilican Code of Law "the greatest philological project of the nineteenth century", completed after twenty years' efforts by Karl Wilhelm Ernst Heimbach (1803 - 1865) from Germany; the complete works of De Sassoferrato Bartolo (1314 - 1357) from Italy, who was a representative of the post-commentary school; etc. There are some valuable materials that are donated to Prof. Seckel from the Vatican.

Seckel seemed to have left a message to his wife that his book collection should be donated either to a national library in Germany or to the best universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Yale, etc; however, Tohoku University Library received it in 1926, through the good offices of Takeo Kuryu (a professor of legal history in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University) and others, those of who studied under Prof. Seckel. About 10,000 Pamphlets had already been classified and arranged and were in the midst of bookbinding, but regrettably, they were burnt down in an air raid of 1945.

25. Stein Collection

This collection consists of 6,810 books, which were owned by Friedrich Stein (1859 - 1923), who was a scholar of the Civil Procedure and the Criminal Law in Germany and also a professor at Leipzig University. It includes books, magazines and pamphlets, which are related to the overall law: the Civil Law, the Commercial Law, the Civil Procedure, the Bankruptcy Law, etc. The collection was received in 1926.

26. Wundt Collection

This book collection was owned by Wilhelm Wundt (1832 - 1920), who was a celebrated psychologist. After he had taken a degree of Doctor of Medicine from Heidelberg University, he became a professor of philosophy at Leipzig University and there established a famous experimental psychology laboratory, and he had also worked as the President at the same university.

It is said that this collection holds 60 percent of all his books that he collected through his life. It includes materials of many fields, mainly psychology and philosophy related ones. The first editions of Kant, Leibniz and Spinoza are treated as rare books. Many essays in separate volumes will give us some precious clues in understanding the society of scientists and philosophers at that time.

After Wundt's death, the collection was put on sale from Lorentz Books in Germany. Leipzig University, Yale University and Harvard University indicated their intention to purchase it; but Tohoku Imperial University obtained it by efforts of Tanenari Chiba (an associate professor at Kyoto Imperial University and later the first professor of psychology department at Tohoku Imperial University) who was in Germany at that time to study, and by kind measures of Prof. Kriegel who was Wundt's best disciple. In 1926, the library purchased and received it with donations from Saito Hoonkai.

27. Wurfel Collection

This book collection was owned by Georg Wurfel (1880 - 1936), who taught Germany at Second Higher School for nearly 30 years. Wurfel was born in Zerbst, and learned theology and philosophy at Tübingen、Berlin, Halle and Marburg Universities. In 1905, he was appointed to a work in a theological school in Koishikawa, Tokyo, as a missionary of the society for German evangelism (Vereinigte Evangelische. Mission), and next year he came to Japan for the first time. He taught Germany at Waseda University and some other places, and then in 1908, he arrived at his post in Second Higher School, where he was known for his strict and dedicated teaching. When there were mistakes-even trivial ones-in students' answer papers, Wurfel would always command them "Fünfmal (five times)", and they needed to do the rewriting five times for each mistake until it was corrected completely. On the other hand, he had a strong patriotism, and he loved deeply the nature of Sendai, his second home. At 8:20 on January 18, 1936, he suddenly collapsed during his usual lecture, and passed away of heart attack.

28. Zietelmann Collection

This collection consists of 8,280 books owned by Ernst Zitelmann (1852 - 1923). He was a professor at Bonn University, an authority on private international law, and also the person who drafted the Civil Law Act of Germany. It includes the complete works of Jacques Cujas (Cujacius) (1522 - 1590), who was a French legal scholar.

After the death of the professor, his wife was just about to make a clearance of the collection through Gustav Fock (bookstore and publishing company in Leipzig), when Bunjiro Ishida, a professor of the Civil Law Act in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University who was during the stay in Germany to study, negotiated with her and the collection was transferred to Tohoku University Library. It was received in 1924. At the time, it contained over 5,000 booklets, but they were burnt down during their arrangement, with the pamphlets in Seckel Collection in a war damage in 1945.

29. Tibetan Tripitaka ( some Tibetan sutras )

This collection consists of 6,652 materials which Tokan Tada (1890 - 1967) collected in Tibet. He was a lecturer in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University and was a Tibet scholar who raked with Ekai Kawaguchi. Tada was born in the Buddhist temple of the Jodo-Shin (True Pure Land) sect. in Akita City. While studying in Kyoto, he was told to take care of the Tibetan students by Kozui Otani, the head of a Buddhist sect. at Nishihongan temple; and this gave an opportunity for him to be treated with kindness by the Dalai Lama XIII, and he climbed over the Himalayas bare footed by himself to study Buddhism in Lasa for 10 years. He received the first Geshe(Tibetan doctoral degree) as a foreigner and returned to Japan with a great many cannons and the likes. Through the good offices of Hakuju Ui (the first professor of Indian studies in the Faculty of Law and Literature) and by the support of Saito Hoonkai, 4,569 copies of "sde dge edition Tibetan Tripitaka" and 2,083 copies of "Tibetan compilation of Buddhist literature" were received by the library in 1923 and in 1929 respectively.

Sde dge Tibetan Tripitaka is one of the four major existing Tripitakas together with snar thang, Beijing, and Co-ne and it was published from 1729 till 1744 in the northeast region of Tibet. Tripitaka consists of bka' 'gyur (Kanjur) and bstan 'gyur (Tanjur). Sde dge bka' 'gyur in particular is well-known for its precise textual collation and clear printing. The engraving block of sde dge is said to have been lost in the riot of Chu-Zo (Central Tibet) in 1932, so the Tripitaka in this library is one of the rare complete editions in the world.

The catalogs of Tripitaka and Tibetan compilation of Buddhist literature were published in 1934 and 1953 respectively, and by this achievement, Tokan Tada and other three people won the Japan Academy Prize in 1955.

30. The Akita Archive

The Akita family prospered at Tsugaru Tosaminato, Mutsu Province in Kamakura period, later moved to Akita, Dewa Province and became a warlord, and then in the modern period became the lords at the fief of Shishido in Hitachi Province, which yields 50,000 koku of rice and at the fief of Miharu in Mutsu Province of 55,000 koku. The Akita archive had come down in this family. The greater part of its ancient manuscripts are the ones written after the modern period. It consists of draft poems and portraits, that show the private life of the feudal lord's family; and naisho (unofficial letters that were given out by shoguns), laws and regulations, and memorandums, that show the public side of it. The collection also includes classical books, pictures and vessels. Among these items, there are a genealogical table which shows an oral tradition of a unique self-understanding as a descendant of Sadato Abeno, and bows which are told to be a trace of the fact that the Akita family was a feudal lord of Ezo.

In the summer of 1939, the majority of the archive that were handed down in the Akita viscount was deposited in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Tohoku Imperial University. The Faculty of Law and Literature at that time had the department of investigation on Ouu (Tohoku Provinces) historical materials, which studied the overall northern history from Tohoku region to Hokkaido, Karafuto and Chishima Islands. The Akita archive was the best of historical materials that had been collected for comprehensive research studies. Later, the swords among the deposited items were returned to Akita Prefectural Museum with its opening, and the archives were purchased by Tohoku University and became national property. They were transferred to Tohoku University Library from 1955, and "The Akita Archive Catalog ( In Japanese )" was made in 2001.

31. Documents of the Haruyama family

Haruyama documents are handed down in the Kichisaburo Haruyama family who lived in Ono Village, Kunohe County, Iwate Prefecture. The Haruyama family is said to be a relative of the Osaki clan, an immediate vassal of the shogun in the Kamakura period, and that the family moved to the southern domain to return to the farm, because the Osaki clan was ruined at the beginning of modern period. The main Haruyama family (the Bunshiro family) later expanded his family businesses in commerce and mine. The documents Tohoku University holds at present are the ones that were handed down in Kisaburo's family line (the Kichisaburo family), who was adopted into the main family during the Ansei era (1772 - 81) then later set up a branch family.

The Kisaburo family engaged in commercial and financial businesses as well, and was in the services of the manager of Ono mine and of the headman of Ono Village-the family expanded its power until gaining the permission to use a surname and wear swords. In Meiji period, the family increased its property with the sake-brewing industry for the main part, and also with commercial and agriculture and forestry businesses. Thus the family had grown to be a large-scale landowner of mountains and forests (it owned 1,884 ha. of land in 1879). It attracts attention to a rare example that the feudal system continued until recent times: the family employed 30 to 70 nagos (slave farmers who got place to live from the landlords and offered labour to them) and received working land rent and compulsory labour until a postwar agricultural land reform.

In Tohoku University, the study of nago system was undertaken by Akira Kinoshita, a professor in the Faculty of Law and Literature (later in the Faculty of Economics), and also Shunsaku Sugano (a professor in the College of General Education) and Takashi Shimada (a professor in the Faculty of Economics) joined him. Kinoshita negotiated with the Haruyama family, and by a subsidy for science research from the Ministry of Education, the Faculty of Economics bought the documents for 50,000 yen in 1951. Later, in 1990, they were transferred to the library, and the microfilming work at their home Ono Village was also undertaken. By 1997, "The Documents of Haruyama Family Catalog ( In Japanese )" was completed and a utilization system of microfilms became ready.

32. Hirayama Collection

This collection consists of 1,255 materials on wasan, or Japanese mathematics, collected by Akira Hirayama (1904?1998), a former professor of the Mathematical Institute of Tohoku University.

Born in Narita, Chiba, Hirayama studied at Narita Middle School and the former Daini High School. At the Tohoku Imperial University Mathematical Institute, he studied under Tsuruichi Hayashi and Matsuzaburo Fujiwara who were leading professors of wasan history. Hirayama wrote a thesis on wasan history for his graduation research project. After graduation, he remained at the university to continue his studies on wasan before being hired as a lecturer at the Mathematical Institute of Tohoku Imperial University at a time when the institute was planning to recruit researchers for the "Wasan Research Institute." (This "Wasan Research Institute" never came into existence.)

Hirayama continued to play a leading role in the studies of wasan after World War II and published a number of papers and books on wasan even after his retirement in 1968.

The Hirayama Collection is unique in the way that it includes more Chinese and Korean calendrical calculations such as Tianwen dacheng Guankui jiyao, Ji-he yuan-ben, and jiushulue compared to other general wasan books. It is because Hirayama had access to numerous wasan history?related materials that the two former professors (Hayashi and Fujiwara) had accumulated for the institute and therefore did not have to collect general basic wasan materials by himself. The shift in the object of his research to Japanese and Chinese calendrical calculations history after the war could also be part of the reason for his focus.

Hirayama’s collection was donated to the Tohoku University Library in August 2006 by his family after his death and the Library completed cataloguing the extensive collection in 2008.

33. Kanaya Collection

This was a collection owned by Osamu Kanaya (1920?2006) who was a professor emeritus at Tohoku University. Kanaya (formerly Takeda) was born in Mie Prefecture. He entered the Department of Chinese Philosophy, School of Law and Literature of Tohoku Imperial University under the recommendation of Juntaro Ishihama who was the founder of the Oriental Studies program at Kansai University. He studied under Prof. Yoshio Takeuchi, who was a leading authority on Chinese classical text studies (a Person of Cultural Merits and a member of the Japan Academy), and graduated after extensive study of philology based on criticism of the Chinese classic texts. Kanaya worked part-time as an assistant at Tohoku Imperial University School of Law and Literature and as an instructor at the former Hirosaki High School before he began teaching at Tohoku University School of Law and Literature as an instructor and assistant professor. He became a professor of the Faculty of Arts and Letters in 1962. He held various posts including Dean of Faculty / Graduate School of Arts and Letters, Director of the Japanese Cultural Studies Institute of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, and Chief Librarian and trustee of the Tohoku University. After his retirement from Tohoku University in 1983, Kanaya served as a professor and Dean of the Faculty of Letters, Department of East Asian Cultures of Otemon Gakuin University.

Kanaya is known as an authority on ancient Chinese philosophy and unraveled how Confucianism and legalism were passed down to the Qin and Han dynasties. He introduced a number of Chinese classics by publishing his translation and annotation of Analects and Mencius and also trained a number of students. Kanaya was elected to be a member of the Japan Academy in 2002 for succeeding and developing work by Dr. Yoshio Takeuchi and playing a leading role in the field of Chinese classical philosophy studies. While he was at Tohoku University, Kanaya served as a member of the Science Council of Japan, an instructor for the International Council for Science in China and Taiwan, a part-time instructor at public and private universities in Japan, the President of the Sinological Society of Tohoku, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sinological Society of Japan, and contributed significantly to domestic and international academic fields.

This collection was made public in November 2008 after the Library received Kanaya’s collection from his family and completed cataloguing it in February 2008. It consists of early Japanese and Chinese books and general books on Chinese thought and the philosophical field that formed the foundation for philological studies to explain the missing portion of the history of thought throughout the warring states in the Qin and Han dynasties period.

There are a total of 5,252 books including 2,636 early Japanese and Chinese books (366 works) and 2,616 general books ( Chinese, Japanese, and foreign ). Most of his old collection (general books, reprints of complete works of literature and art and academic journal articles, and personal diaries and journals) is kept at the Osamu Kanaya Memorial Museum (provisional name) in Iga, Mie as of 2008 (which is not open to the public). This includes his own writings that are also in our collection.

Catalog of the Kanaya Collection ( PDF, 2,967KB )

35. Historical records of the Saito Yonosuke Family (Maeyachi, Kanan-cho, Monou-gun, Miyagi)

This is a collection of historical records of the Saito family based in Maeyachi, Kanan-cho, Monou-gun (current Ishinomaki) in Miyagi. They were the second largest landlord family in Japan after the Honma family in Sakata before World War II. The collection was donated by the owner of the records after the repeated earthquakes that hit northern Miyagi in July 2003.

Yonosuke was the childhood name of a legitimate child of the Saito family who was named Zenjiemon or Zenemon when he became the head of the family. The collection covers from the late Edo period through the agrarian reforms after the war. Most of the records are from the time after the 9th generation Saito Zenemon who flourished during the Meiji and Taisho periods. He was methodical when it came to organizing documents and stored and organized a large volume of books, notes, letters, postcards, and telegrams for his family business. Successors maintained his fastidious habits after his death and left detailed historical accounts that revealed the process of how the family became a large landlord in modern days. The collection contains documents on investment in particular, in a number of industries including land, railway, mines, fishing grounds, and banks. It is considered to be a potential resource for demonstrating how Japanese capitalism developed.

The Saito family is also known as the founders of the Saito Hoonkai that was established to promote academic studies and has given a large amount of grants to Tohoku Imperial University. The grant given to Prof. Hidetsugu Yagi's team, which is famous for its Yagi Antenna, led to the establishment of the current Research Institute of Electrical Communications. The grants supported the development of a number of research institutes including the Institute for Materials Research. The family also contributed to the humanities studies by funding the purchase of personal collections from the West including the Wundt and Zietelmann Collections, as well as the acquisition of a Tibetan Tengyur that is currently in the Tohoku University Library.

The online catalog of the historical records of the Yonosuke Saito family ( Maeyachi, Kanan-cho, Monou-gun, Miyagi )

Medical Library

1. Trendelenburg & Krayer's Collection of Scientific Papers

This collection consists of the separate volumes of treatises on the fields of pharmacology and physiology, those of which were presented to the professors Trendelenburg and Krayer. Professor Trendelenburg (Paul Trendelenburg 1884 - 1931) was a world authority on physiological and pharmacological mechanism of hormone, such as adrenalin secretion from the adrenal gland, and he was famous as a pharmacological professor at Freiburg University and Berlin University. Professor Krayer (Otto Krayer 1899 - 1982) was one of his students. He escaped from the persecution of the Nazis and went over to the United States. There he held a position in Harvard University, but on the other hand, he, taking over his former teacher's will, continued to collect separate volumes of treatises. As a result, a valuable collection was gathered together that could pursue the development of pharmacology and physiology from the end of 19th century till 1960s. Inside the separate volumes, there are some autographic dedications and signatures written by the famous scientists like Novel prize winners; and they include the ones of Yasutaro Satake and other people concerned in the Faculty of Medicine at Tohoku University. It can be said that this collection holds interesting materials that are not limited to the studies of medical history.

When Koroku Hashimoto, a professor of pharmacology at Tohoku University at that time, visited Harvard University in 1956, he was donated the collection from Prof. Krayer and then it was kept in the medical library.

2. Daisuke Aoki Collection

This collection consists of the materials gathered by Daisuke Aoki (1901 - 1967), who was the founder and the first head of Miyagi Prefectural Institute of Public Health. He went to Second Higher School, graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Tohoku Imperial University, and took an active part in prevention of epidemics at Miyagi Prefecture sanitary section. During that time, he attended the lecture given by Yu Fujikawa, a professor at Kyoto Imperial University who visited Sendai in 1935, and Aoki became interested in medical history. He formed Tohoku Imperial University Medical History Association, and got along with investigation and research on medical history in Tohoku region. His methods-the empirical and measuring analysis with some hints from the family register of deaths kept in temples, and the data collection from the field work-had led to the results of works in his later years such as Iwate's starvation analyzed from a family register of deaths ( In Japanese ).

In the collection, there are the books of a Dutch scholar whose home was Sendai, those of which were given to Aoki by Shozo Suzuki, a local historian of Sendai, whom he adored. It also holds various other things: some materials and related manuscripts that were used for the editing of the commemoration chronicles for the Faculty of Medicine's 50th anniversary, some original historical materials of protective charms, etc.

Through the good offices of Shoichi Yamagata, an honorary professor, and Hidenori Tamate, the president of the Sendai Centre for Medical History, the collection was contributed to the medical library from Aoki's wife Ura in 1975. In 1985, by the work of Prof. Daisuke Aoki's honoring society, A Manuscript of Daisuke Aoki Collection Catalog ( In Japanese ) was drawn up.

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