The Hōsa Library (蓬左文庫) is a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

located on the compound of the '' Ōzone Shimoyashiki'' in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, central

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

History

Tokugawa Yoshinao, the first lord of the

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rated ...

, established it as an official archive. It was transferred from the

Tokugawa family The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

to Nagoya City in 1950. Presently the library has about 110,000 items including classic literature. In 1978 it became a branch of the

Nagoya City Museum The is a museum of the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The Nagoya City Museum was established in 1977. Its collection includes archaeological materials, fine art, crafts, documents, books and folk materials including samurai armor a ...

. The library cooperates closely with the neighbouring

Tokugawa Art Museum The is a private art museum, located on the former '' Ōzone Shimoyashiki'' compound in Nagoya, central Japan. Its collection contains more than 12,000 items, including swords, armor, Noh costumes and masks, lacquer furniture, Chinese and Japan ...

and the

Tokugawa Garden The Tokugawa Garden (徳川園 Tokugawa-en) is a Japanese garden in the city of Nagoya, central Japan. It is located next to the Tokugawa Art Museum. History In the early Edo period (1603-1867), Tokugawa Mitsutomo (1625-1700), the second lo ...

External links

Homepage of the Hōsa Library
Libraries in Nagoya Owari Tokugawa family {{japan-struct-stub