The Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library
1st Floor
There are 91 seats for readers, of which 13 seats are individual reading spaces, and 13 seats where personal laptop computers can be used.
General Information and Reference Counter
If you are unable to find the materials you are looking for, do not hesitate to ask for help at this counter.
Book Counter
The Book Counter is where you pick up materials from the closed stacks. Please bring materials back to the Book Counter when returning them.
Photocopies can be made of materials from the Central Library’s collections to the extent allowed by the Copyright Law.
Business Information Corner
A wide range of information resources, such as company profile directories, information about various industries, marketing information materials, CD-ROM, and online databases are available here.
Law-related Information Corner
Materials and online databases related to the law, regulations, and court cases are available here.
Health and Medical-related Information Corner
Materials related to health matters, disease and illness, and medicines are available here. A collection of patient’s journals for more than 230 types of illness and disease are available here. (All of the patient’s journals in the collection are written in Japanese.)
Cities and Tokyo-related Information Corner
In addition to materials related to Tokyo, a wide range of materials related to cities in Japan and overseas are available here.
Six seats with personal computers with the Internet connection are available in Central Hall
A request must be submitted to use the Library’s personal computers. Once permission is received, a person is allowed to use the computer for 30 minutes. If there is no other person waiting to use the computer, an extension may be granted. However, the Library computers may not be used to send, receive, or read webmail. It is also not possible to print out screen images of web pages.
Newspaper Reading Corner
Newspapers for the last three months, including the current month, as well as reduced-size editions of newspapers are available here. In addition, there are also newspapers published in other countries as well as foreign-language newspapers published in Japan. Older issues of newspapers are kept in the closed stacks.
2nd Floor
There are 204 seats for readers, of which 10 seats are individual reading spaces, and 40 seats where personal laptop computers can be used.
Materials are available in the social sciences and natural sciences (including informatics, politics, economics, statistics, sociology, education, natural sciences, engineering, agriculture, forestry, commerce, transportation, and communication).
3rd Floor
There are 304 seats for readers, of which 8 seats are individual reading spaces, and 96 seats where personal laptop computers can be used.
Wheelchair-accessible toilets and ostomate toilets
Materials are available in the humanities (including library science, philosophy, history, geography, manners and customs, folk customs, ethnology, the arts, sports, languages, and literature). In addition, catalogs of exhibits at art museums can be found in the Fine Arts Information Corner. Information regarding exhibits being held at nearby art museums is provided by promotional leaflets that are placed in the Library.
Materials written in Chinese and in Korean
Chinese and Korean books in all fields are available here. To search Chinese andKorea books, you can also use the NACSIS Webcat system in addition to the Library catalog OPAC.
Special room providing services for visually impaired
4th Floor
There are 144 seats for readers. Wireless LAN can be accessed from all of the seats. Wireless LAN can be accessed from all of the seats. The Library does not, however, lend out personal computers.
Group Reading Room A total of 24 seats
This space enables a group of people to study together in one room, while making use of materials from the Library. Even someone from outside the group of people can study in this room, provided there are empty seats available.
Gallery
There is an exhibit room for displaying rare and unusual collections of materials housed in the Library. The theme of the exhibits is changed several times a year. ck this link to go to the Gallery page (explanations are in Japanese only)
5th Floor
There are 76 seats for readers. The seats for readers on the 5th floor provide a quiet place for users to read materials from the Library’s collections, or carry out research. To maintain this atmosphere, the use of devices, such as personal laptop computers or calculators, is not permitted at the seats for readers on the 5th floor.
Special Collections Room 24 seats Opening hours 10:00a.m.-5:30p.m.
This room contains collections of rare materials (including books with Japanese-style binding, drawings, and multi-colored woodblock prints) dating from the Edo Period (1603-1868) to the late Meiji Period (1868-1912). In order to preserve the original documents and materials, reproductions of the originals are provided for viewing when reproductions are available.
Digitization of rare materials is being carried out, with updates posted on the Library’s website as the materials become available.
the database of images of the rare materials (explanations are in Japanese only)
Audio-Visual Materials Room 10 seats Opening hours 1:00p.m.-5:30p.m Saturday,Sunday,Holiday 10:00a.m-5:30p.m
This room contains collections of audio and visual materials on such media as CD and DVD, which are used primarily for investigation and research. The materials cover such fields as history, traditional craftsmanship, natural phenomena, and dialects. The materials in the collections are narrated almost exclusively in Japanese. The room provides booths for viewing or listening to the materials. The audio-visual materials are not available for loan. The availability of materials can be checked by conducting a search at the Library’s website.
catalog
Cafeteria
A place where a light meal can be enjoyed while relaxing with a view of the park’s greenery. Next to the cafeteria are seats set up for the exclusive use of those who have brought their own food and beverages.