Kyoto City Museum Search

Unraveling Kyoto history through important ancient documents

This library is aimed at preserving and utilizing materials related to the history of Kyoto. It has taken over valuable donated and entrusted materials, such as historical documents, from its predecessor—the Kyoto Historiographical Institute. While serving as an academic research and investigation facility, the library currently boasts a collection of approximately 200,000 historical documents and folklore materials, including important cultural properties. Throughout the year, the exhibition room on the first floor displays exhibitions curated on various themes. The exhibits include many historical documents, drawings, artworks, and crafts with the aim of giving visitors a vivid picture of how Kyoto has changed over its long history. On the second floor is a reading room, where you can browse copies of history books and historical documents and ask library researchers general questions about the history of Kyoto. Furthermore, given that an increasing number of people are becoming interested in and curious about history, the library offers history lectures related to the exhibits, seminars on interpreting historical documents tailored to different levels of attendees, and family history classes aimed primarily at elementary school students and their families. Viewing the city of Kyoto itself as a “museum of history,” the library has also launched the website “Field Museum,” where a search engine for historical information is available.