[Ambassador] Visit to the Japan Book Collection
2022/9/5
On August 29, Ambassador Shimokawa visited the “1920s Japan's Book Donation” in company of Rector of the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Professor Vincent Blondel and Rector of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Professor Luc Sels. Japan donated these books to the University of Louvain as part of its support to rebuild the University Library, which was destroyed in August 1914 in the World War I.
In a joint campaign by UCLouvain and KU Leuven, the enormous potential of this donation is now being further developed around various projects. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the donation, KU Leuven and UCLouvain are organizing a special exhibition entitled “Japan’s Book Donation to the University of Louvain: Japanese Cultural Identity and Modernity in the 1920s”, which is to be held from October 28th 2022 to January 15th 2023 at the University Library of KU Leuven.
With more than 3,000 titles in nearly 14,000 volumes, this Japanese book collection from 1920s constitutes an invaluable cultural heritage that conveys the pre-modern culture of Japan. This collection is also an important symbol of the friendly relations between Japan and Belgium established from that time onward. We hope many of you would pay a visit when you have time.
The Embassy of Japan will continue to provide support in various ways to the 1920s Japan's Book Donation”.
Ambassador Shimokawa’s tweet: https://twitter.com/ambshimokawa/status/1564351403702861827
The “1920s Japanese book donation” is available online here: https://dial.uclouvain.be/digitization/fr/search/repository/sm_collection%3A%22Collection%20japonaise%22
Pictures by Aurore Delsoir
In a joint campaign by UCLouvain and KU Leuven, the enormous potential of this donation is now being further developed around various projects. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the donation, KU Leuven and UCLouvain are organizing a special exhibition entitled “Japan’s Book Donation to the University of Louvain: Japanese Cultural Identity and Modernity in the 1920s”, which is to be held from October 28th 2022 to January 15th 2023 at the University Library of KU Leuven.
With more than 3,000 titles in nearly 14,000 volumes, this Japanese book collection from 1920s constitutes an invaluable cultural heritage that conveys the pre-modern culture of Japan. This collection is also an important symbol of the friendly relations between Japan and Belgium established from that time onward. We hope many of you would pay a visit when you have time.
The Embassy of Japan will continue to provide support in various ways to the 1920s Japan's Book Donation”.
Ambassador Shimokawa’s tweet: https://twitter.com/ambshimokawa/status/1564351403702861827
The “1920s Japanese book donation” is available online here: https://dial.uclouvain.be/digitization/fr/search/repository/sm_collection%3A%22Collection%20japonaise%22
Pictures by Aurore Delsoir