National Archives of Japan

The Independent Administrative Institution National Archives of Japan preserve Japanese government documents and historical records and make them available to the public. Although Japan's reverence for its unique history and art is well documented and illustrated by collections of art and documents, there is almost no archivist tradition. Before the creation of the National Archives, there was a scarcity of available public documents which preserve "grey-area" records, such as internal sources to show a process which informs the formation of a specific policy or the proceedings of various committee meetings.In accordance with the National Archives Law No.79, the core function of preserving "government documents and records of importance as historical materials" includes all material relating to decision-making on…