英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun
New national archives should help visitors learn real aspects of history
国立公文書館　生の歴史に触れられる施設に

Public records and archives that pass down Japan’s history are precious treasures belonging to the people. It is an important duty of the government to upgrade the National Archives of Japan in Tokyo, which collects and preserves such assets.
　日本の歩みを伝える公文書は、国民の貴重な財産である。それを収集・保管する東京の国立公文書館を充実させることは政府の大切な責務だ。

A panel of experts set by the Cabinet Office has compiled a basic concept to construct a new building to house the national archives. On the basis of the plan, a subcommittee of the House of Representatives Rules and Administration Committee will start the process of selecting the construction site. We hope the selection should be made quickly.
　内閣府の有識者会議が、新たな国立公文書館の基本構想をまとめた。これを受け、衆院議院運営委員会の小委員会が建設地の選定を始める。早期決定を望みたい。

Listed as proposed sites are a plot of land where the Parliamentary Museum is located near the Diet Building, and a parking lot used by buses for visitors to the Diet.
　候補地に挙がったのは、国会近くの憲政記念館を含む一角と、国会参観者用のバス駐車場だ。

Of the two, what is considered as a reliable option is to demolish the aging Parliamentary Museum and construct a new facility to house the national archives together with the museum. The biggest factor in the site becoming a likely candidate is that it can secure ample floor space.
　このうち、老朽化した憲政記念館を解体し、新築する施設に国立公文書館を同居させる案が有力視されている。十分な面積を確保できることが最大の要因だ。

The main office of the National Archives of Japan, located in the Kitanomaru Koen area of Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, is cramped, with a total floor space of 11,550 square meters. The existing national archives’ storage space, when combined with its annex building in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, is expected to reach full capacity by fiscal 2019.
　北の丸公園にある現在の公文書館本館は、１万１５５０平方メートルと手狭だ。本館と茨城県つくば市の分館を合わせた収納スペースは２０１９年度にも満杯となる。

Should the construction of the new national archives be delayed, the government will be forced to study the possibility of temporarily renting shelf space from the private sector. Will it not lead to concern over the management of public documents and archives?
　新公文書館の建設が遅れれば、民間の書庫を一時的に借りることを検討せざるを得ない。そうなると、公文書の管理体制などに不安が生じるのではないか。

The existing national archives compare extremely poorly to those of the United States and European countries in both hardware and software. The total bookshelf length, when the two national archives are combined, is only 72 kilometers. This is far short of the United States, which has a total length of 1,400 kilometers, and Britain, which totals 200 kilometers.
　欧米諸国と比べて、現在の公文書館がハード、ソフトの両面で著しく見劣りすることは否めない。館内の書架は総延長７２キロ・メートルで、米国の１４００キロ、英国の２００キロなどに遠く及ばない。

Foster archivists

Taking these points into consideration, the basic concept has recommended that the new national archives have floor space of 40,000 to 50,000 square meters.
　こうした点を踏まえ、基本構想は、新公文書館の広さについて、４万〜５万平方メートル程度が望ましいと提言した。

It is also important that the basic concept has called for securing exhibition space where the temperature and humidity can be rigorously controlled.
温度や湿度の管理を徹底した展示スペースの確保を求めたのも、重要なポイントだ。

At the current national archives, the original texts of valuable public records and archives such as the Constitution of Japan are usually displayed only in the form of replicas. If the original items were displayed constantly, they could suffer damage due to poorly controlled air-conditioning and other functions.
　現在の公文書館では、日本国憲法など貴重な公文書の原本については通常、レプリカの展示にとどまる。原本を常時展示すると、不十分な空調などにより、傷みが生じる恐れがあるためだ。

If visitors were able to view the original public records anytime they visited, opportunities for them to come into contact with important phases of history would increase markedly.
　生の公文書がいつでも見られるようになれば、歴史の重要な局面に触れる機会が格段に増える。

It is also desirable to introduce an official qualification system, as proposed in the basic plan, to foster archivists, experts specializing in the management of public records and archives.
　アーキビストと呼ばれる文書管理の専門家を育成するため、基本構想が公的資格制度の導入を求めた点も、実現に移したい。

The national archives will become more interesting to people if improvements are made in having staff plan riveting exhibitions by utilizing their expertise and catering appropriately to requests from visitors.
　専門知識を生かして、興味深い展示を企画する。来館者から寄せられる要望に、的確に応える。こうしたスタッフの配置を充実させれば、公文書館が国民にとって、より身近な存在になるだろう。

Digitalizing documents at the new national archives and building a search-and-access system linked with related facilities in local communities would also help enhance the convenience of users.
　文書をデジタル化し、地方の関連施設などと結ぶ検索・閲覧システムを構築することも、利用者の利便性向上につながる。

Under the tight fiscal situation, however, it would be difficult to expand the functions of the national archives immediately. The government should steadily advance plans that respect the principles of the basic concept.
　厳しい財政状況の中、公文書館の機能を一足飛びに拡充させるのは困難だ。基本構想の理念を尊重した施策を着実に進めたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 4, 2016)