East Asia Disability Studies Forum (EADSF) 2023　Oct 27th, 28th(Fri, Sat) 2023, at E-room Center, Korea

The initiatives of “delivering information to each person” at the rise of Braille Library Establish Movement in Japan; The historical significance of the practices by Niigata prefectural library and the braille library of the association of the blind Niigata
 
Graduate School of Core Ethics and Frontier Sciences, Ritsumeikan University
Kurikawa Osamu
 
◆ Introduction
Japan enacted the Reading Barrier-Free Act to facilitate the creation of accessible reading environments for the visually impaired and others in 2019. This legislation mandates that public libraries and other institutions offer accessible books. Remarkably, a century earlier, pioneering efforts were not initiated in urban centers like Tokyo but in rural Niigata. This panel sheds light on the initiatives undertaken by the prefectural library and the Braille Library of the Association of the Blind Niigata, a regional city in Japan, to ensure information access for the visually impaired. It also explores the historical significance of the relationship between these two libraries.
 
◆ Two Libraries in Niigata : Practice of Japan’s Pioneering Information Guaranteed
1) Traveling collection of the Niigata Prefectural Library and reading room for the blind
Starting in 1915, when the Niigata Prefectural Library was in the preparatory stage of its establishment, a traveling collection consisting of 4,000 books distributed across 41 boxes was introduced. This initiative aimed to make books readily accessible to the residents of the prefecture. In 1919, the library officially opened its doors to the public. Significantly, during the same year, the library also initiated the provision of a diverse range of books in Braille and established a dedicated reading room for the blind. This marked the path-breaking of what is considered the first service for individuals with disabilities at a prefectural library in Japan. These projects were led by Yamanaka Kikori, the director of the library. Yamanaka had also served as the principal of Niigata School for the Blind and Mute since 1917 by request.
 
2) Braille Traveling Library and Braille Library: The Association of Blind Niigata
The Association of Blind Niigata was established by visually impaired educators from five schools for the blind and mute within Niigata Prefecture in 1920. This association went on to create a Braille traveling library, distributing it to five locations where schools for the blind and mute were situated.
The Braille library in Kashiwazaki, overseen by Anezaki Sojuro, a visually impaired teacher at the Chuetsu School for the Blind and Mute, was famously known as the "Anezaki Library." It gained distinction as the first library in Japan to introduce a mail-in lending system to accommodate users who faced challenges visiting the library in person. Consequently, its user base extended not only throughout the prefecture but also across the entire nation. In 1926, the Association of Blind Niigata consolidated its five braille traveling libraries in Kashiwazaki into a braille library headed by Anezaki. The braille library in Niigata was the first of the "three major libraries in Japan" during that era and was renowned as the "No.1" Braille library in the country.
 
◆ Consideration
The presentation will delve into the pioneering practices of the two libraries in Niigata and their historical significance, exploring the relationship between these two aspects. 
 
1) Personalized Information Access: The Traveling Library
Following in the footsteps of predecessor, who served as the librarian at the Miyagi Prefectural Library, Yamanaka, the director of the Niigata Prefectural Library, has been advocating for reading and expanding the reach of a traveling library within the prefecture. Despite the library building being under construction, the library did not simply wait for users to visit. Instead, they did “delivering information to each person.” The concept of the traveling library was shared during meetings of the Council of Schools for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Niigata Prefecture, where Yamanaka also participated. This exchange of ideas is believed to have played a significant role in the creation of the traveling Braille library operated by The Association of Blind Niigata.
 
2)Intimate Connection: Disability and Library
Despite his passion for bringing books to "each person", Yamanaka also did not set up a reading room for the blind at the Miyagi Prefectural Library. Upon his arrival in Niigata, Yamanaka initiated the development of a traveling library. However, in 1917, when he assumed the presidency of the Niigata School for the Blind and Mute, he came to a realization. He recognized that although he had vowed to "deliver to each person," he had unintentionally omitted the visually impaired from this commitment. Consequently, he took action by establishing a dedicated reading room for the blind within the newly constructed prefectural library and bolstered the Braille collection. Even in today's era when the concept of "a society for all" is championed, individuals with disabilities are frequently left out of the definition of "all." To achieve a society that is barrier-free for reading, it remains crucial for libraries and individuals with disabilities to engage closely, much like the exemplary practices of the Niigata Prefectural Library from a century ago have demonstrated.
 
3) Transforming Disadvantageous Conditions: A Mail Delivery System for Rural Areas, Scattered Populations, and persons with disabilities.
 
Both the Anezaki Library in Kashiwazaki, a medium-sized town in Niigata Prefecture, and the Braille Library operated by the Niigata Association for the Blind, have evolved to become renowned as the best in the country. This acclaim is attributed to Anezaki's innovative implementation of a mail delivery system for lending Braille books, along with their dedicated efforts to ensure that books are delivered directly to each user, both within and outside the prefecture. For individuals with visual impairments, who are dispersed across sparsely populated rural towns with limited transportation options, library services that necessitate physical access to a library present multiple obstacles to usage.
It is precisely due to these unfavorable conditions that the shortcomings of the traditional approach became evident, necessitating its transformation as a pressing concern.
 
◆  Conclusion
One aspect of guaranteeing access to information for people with disabilities is the provision of information in a readable medium (guarantee of readability), and the enhancement of accessible books (Braille, audio, text data, etc.) has been a challenge. On the other hand, the practices of the two libraries in Niigata illustrate that delivering information in a manner that is accessible and usable by every individual (ensuring approachability) is equally crucial. In the pursuit of ensuring access to information, it is vital, from both practical and scholarly viewpoints, to encompass both readability and approachability as two complementary perspectives.