The Toshiba Library for Japanese Legal Research, located on the second floor of the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library, houses over 32,000 volumes, and maintains one of the most comprehensive Japanese law collections outside of Japan. It holds approximately 16,600 monographic titles, and 537 serial titles including 293 current subscriptions. The Library subscribes to two online legal databases of legislative materials, indexes to cases and periodical articles, and full-text cases covering the period from the end of the 19th century to the present. It houses the private collections of two former Supreme Court Justices, Justice Jiro Tanaka and Justice Itsuo Sonobe, as well as the private collection of Professor Koichi Kikuta, an emeritus professor of Meiji University in Tokyo. The Library is particularly strong in corporation law, securities and finance law, administrative law and criminal law.
Currently, about 98% of the collection can be searched on Pegasus, the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library’s online catalog. Among the titles in Pegasus, about 40% of the monographs and serials are located in the open stack areas, and the remaining 60% are in storage or in the closed stack area. The two databases, D1-Law.com and LexisNexis Japan, can be accessed either via Pegasus or the Electronic Resource Page of the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library. The bibliographical records in Pegasus are also included in the international online catalog, OCLC WorldCat.
The main reference desk of the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library answers questions regarding the Japanese law collection (Tel: 212-854-3743). If further assistance is needed, questions may be submitted to the curator by e-mail (toshibalib@law.columbia.edu), by telephone (212-854-4193), or in person at the curator’s office, Room 216C.
Researchers who wish to come to the Toshiba Library may submit their requests by e-mail (toshibalib@law.columbia.edu) or by telephone (212-854-4193).
The Toshiba Library for Japanese Legal Research
At The Arthur W. Diamond Law Library, 2nd floor
435 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10027
(corner of 116th St. & Amsterdam Ave.)
** Subway: #1 (red) line to 116th St. (Columbia University) stop **
Resources of the Toshiba Library as well as all other collections of the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library are available to any researchers through the Law Library's Document Delivery Service. Requests may be made by telephone (212-854-7851 or 800-332-4529), fax (212-854-1359) or by e-mail (docdel@law.columbia.edu).
Most monographs in the open stack area of the Toshiba Library can be borrowed from the Interlibrary Loan Department of the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library via the OCLC interlibrary loan system. Depending on the type of material, the Interlibrary Loan Department also provides photo copies. It charges a fee for loans and copies except to SHARES and NELLCO member libraries. Further questions regarding interlibrary loan should be addressed to the borrower’s local library.
In 1982, the Arthur W. Diamond Law Library at Columbia Law School received a private law collection donated by the family of the late Justice Jiro Tanaka, who served as Supreme Court Justice of Japan between 1964 and 1973. Building on this collection, which was considered the finest private law collection in Japan, the Diamond Law Library began the development of a comprehensive Japanese law collection in 1984 to support research and teaching at the Center for Japanese Legal Studies at Columbia Law School. In 1986 and 1987, monographs and serials on Japanese law housed in the C.V. Starr East Asian Library were transferred to the Diamond Law Library, allowing the integration of Columbia's legal materials and the Tanaka Collection. In 1991, the Law Library created a permanent position of Japanese law curator with an endowment from the Toshiba Corporation in Tokyo, and named the collection the Toshiba Library for Japanese Legal Research.
In 1998 and 2003, the Toshiba Library received approximately 1500 volumes of private collections from a former Supreme Court justice, Justice Itsuo Sonobe, and Emeritus Professor Koichi Kikuta of Meiji University, further strengthening the Library's subject areas in administrative law, constitutional law, criminal law and criminology. In 2004, with the support of Nagashima, Ohno & Tsunematsu, it acquired approximately 800 volumes of important case reporters, journals and statistical materials. Also with the support of Linklaters and Nagashima, Ohno & Tsumematsu in Tokyo, the Library has been providing Daiichi Hoki's online database services since 1995. Numerous publications are donated each year by the Supreme Court of Japan, the Ministry of Justice, and other Japanese institutions and individuals.
When the gift was presented by the family of the late Justice Tanaka in 1982, it included over 3,300 monographic titles and 11,000 serial issues. The gift collection covered all legal subjects, but was exceptionally strong in administrative law and constitutional law. At present, only a small part of the gift is in the open stack area. The rest, including materials with considerable historical value, such as a complete set of Kenpo Chosakai material, Meiji Constitution material edited by Hirobumi Ito, and treatises by Nobushige Hozumi, Shigeto Hozumi, and Tatsukichi Minobe, are housed in a closed stack area in the School of International and Public Affairs building. These materials may be viewed only in the Library.
