KU Leuven: New exhibition puts Japanese book treasure in the spotlight

In the coming weeks you can visit Japan’s Book Donation to the University of Louvain – Japanese Cultural Identity and Modernity in the 1920s in the Leuven University Library . This new exhibition, a collaboration between KU Leuven and UCLouvain, highlights the precious book collection that Japan donated to the university a hundred years ago in the aftermath of the First World War and the destruction of the library. At the same time, the universities are also launching the Japan Mirai Fund, a fundraising campaign for the benefit of this historic collection.

The fire of the Leuven University Library in 1914 led to worldwide outrage. In addition to the funds for a new building, many countries, schools and universities also collected money and books to refill the library. Exactly one hundred years ago, in October 1922, a National Committee was formed in Japan and in 1924 the first shipment of historical Japanese books arrived in Leuven. The donation was finally completed in 1926.

Almost a hundred years later, the Japanese book collection – around 3,200 titles, almost 14,000 volumes – is the centerpiece of a new exhibition: Japan’s Book Donation to the University of Louvain – Japanese Cultural Identity and Modernity in the 1920s . “This collection is one of the most important cultural legacies that KU Leuven and UCLouvain share,” says Hilde Van Kiel, director of KU Leuven Libraries. “Thanks to this exhibition – a close collaboration between the two sister universities – the general public can become acquainted with this exceptional, but little-known part of the university’s heritage.”