Report on Lectures to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the National Archives of Japan and the International Archives Day

On Thursday, June 9th, 2011, the National Archives of Japan (NAJ) organized lectures in Tokyo to celebrate its 40th anniversary and the International Archives Day.

Such lectures to celebrate the International Archives Day have been held in Japan since 2008, in response to a request from the International Council on Archives (ICA). Created with the support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on June 9th, 1948, ICA designated June 9th “the International Archives Day” to celebrate its 60th anniversary in November 2007, and called for its member states to hold domestic commemorative events of their own. Moreover, NAJ is celebrating its 40th anniversary in July 2011. Thus, a lecture meeting to collectively celebrate the two anniversaries was planned.

Approximately 120 participants attended the meeting from archival institutions both national and local, the Cabinet Office, members of the Archives Institutions Association (AIA), etc.

At the beginning, Masaya Takayama, President of NAJ, expressed sympathy to those who had been suffering from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11th, and promised NAJ's advice and support in order to restore damaged materials. Then, he explained the brief background to hold the meeting and what NAJ had done in its history of 40 years. Additionally, he said, ”Considering the 40th anniversary of NAJ and enforcement of the Public Records and Archives Management Act in April, on this milestone occasion, I would expect active discussions concerning the way records management should be and the shape of archives' future in Japan, beyond the barriers between national and local administrative levels; current and non-current documents; and public and private sectors.” And “I am assured that the 4th International Archives Day would leave its clear mark on the history of archives in Japan.”

Then, a testimonial was presented to Tadaaki Matsuoka of Nikkei Inc. from President Takayama representing AIA, in reward for his longtime coverage of public records management in newspapers.

Next followed two commemorative lectures: “In Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the National Archives of Japan” by Dr. Tetsuya Ohama, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tsukuba; and “In Enforcement of the Public Records and Archives Management Act” by Katsuya Uga, Professor of the Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, the University of Tokyo.

After the lectures, there was an active discussion between the two lecturers and the participants, chaired by Hideo Yamazaki, Senior Vice President of NAJ.

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