About
History
Library, Faculty of Agriculture (predecessor of University Library for Agricultural and Life Sciences) was built under the auspices of the Rockefeller Foundation and opened in 1965. This was part of a plan to improve the University of Tokyo Library System that was underway at the time and based on advice from the experience of advanced libraries in the U.S., it aimed to create a modern, user-centered agricultural library by concentrating books and journals that had previously been dispersed among various departments and courses.
Under this concept, the library has played an important role as an educational and research facility for faculty and students both inside and outside Faculty of Agriculture. Based on these achievements, the library was designated as a National Center for Overseas Periodicals in agricultural areas by the The Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) in 1977, and as a national joint-use facility that systematically collects foreign journals in agricultural and biological sciences and provides them to researchers at universities and research institutions nationwide, the library responds to numerous requests from inside and outside the university for the supply of literature.
| Year | Month | |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Feb. | Applied to the University Librarian for the construction of the library of the Faculty of Agriculture |
| 1958 | Oct. | Requested assistance from the Rockefeller Foundation for the library construction |
| 1965 | May | Opening of the Library, Faculty of Agriculture |
| 1977 | Sept. | Designated as a Center for Foreign Journals in Agricultural Areas (later renamed National Center for Overseas Periodicals) |
| 1980 | May | Held events (lectures, receptions) to commemorate the 15th anniversary of opening |
| 1994 | Nov. | Annex construction completed |
| 2000 | Mar. | Exhibition of library materials held to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Agriculture (27th – 31st). |
| 2001 | Jan. | Renamed to University Library for Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| 2006 | Sept. | Main Library is closed due to low seismic resistance |
| 2008 | Oct. | Seismic retrofitting of the Main Building began |
| 2009 | Jul. | Main building reopened after renovation |
| 2015 | May | 50th anniversary |
Librarian
| Name | Department | Term of Office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FURUSHIMA Toshio | Oct. 1964-Mar. 1968 | 1st-2nd | |
| 2 | ARUGA Hisao | Apr. 1968-Mar. 1970 | 3rd | |
| 3 | NAKAMURA Michinori | Apr. 1970-Mar. 1974 | 4th-5th | |
| 4 | OGATA Hiroyuki | Apr. 1974-Mar. 1976 | 6th | |
| 5 | KURATA Satoru | Apr. 1976-Mar. 1978 | 7th | |
| 6 | EGUSA Shuzo | Apr. 1978-Mar. 1980 | 8th | |
| 7 | SHIRAI Kiyotsune | Apr. 1980-Mar. 1982 | 9th | |
| 8 | TAMURA Gakuzo | Apr. 1982-Mar. 1984 | 10th | |
| 9 | MATSUMOTO Yoshiharu | Apr. 1984-Mar. 1986 | 11th | |
| 10 | YANO Toshimasa | Apr. 1986-Mar. 1988 | 12th | |
| 11 | ISHIZU Atushi | Apr. 1988-Mar. 1990 | 13th | |
| 12 | NAGUMO Hidejiro | Apr. 1990-Mar. 1991 | 14th | |
| 13 | KITANI Osamu | Apr. 1991-Mar. 1993 | 14th-15th | |
| 14 | MUROFUSHI Noboru | Apr. 1993-Mar. 1995 | 15th-16th | |
| 15 | OKUMA Motoaki | Department of Biomaterials Sciences | Apr. 1995-Mar. 1997 | 16th-17th |
| 16 | TANAKA Manabu | Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics | Apr. 1997-Mar. 1999 | 17th-18th |
| 17 | KAMINOGAWA Shuichi | Department of Applied Biological Chemistry | Apr. 1999-Mar. 2003 | 18th-20th |
| 18 | IWAMOTO Noriaki | Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics | Apr. 2003-Mar. 2005 | 20th-21st |
| 19 | NAGASAWA Hiromichi | Department of Applied Biological Chemistry | Apr. 2005-Mar. 2009 | 21st-23rd |
| 20 | HOMMA Masayoshi | Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics | Apr. 2009-Mar. 2013 | 23rd-25th |
| 21 | SHIMIZU Kentaro | Department of Biotechnology | Apr. 2013-Mar. 2017 | 25th-27th |
| 22 | MATSUMOTO Takenori | Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics | Apr. 2017-Mar. 2021 | 27th-29th |
| 23 | TAKAYAMA Seiji | Department of Applied Biological Chemistry | Apr. 2021-Mar. 2023 | 29th-30th |
| 24 | UCHIDA Koji | Department of Applied Biological Chemistry | Apr. 2023- | 30th- |
Rules
Rules and Regulations of University Library for Agricultural and Life Sciences (Revised: Jan. 21, 2021) (in Japanese) (PDF)
Rules for the Use of the University Library for Agricultural and Life Sciences, the University of Tokyo (Revised: Sep. 19, 2024) (PDF)