rightscom
Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies
Part2:Country studies
Japan
Library and user group data
Incidence of visual impairment
There is no accepted number for the proportion of the total population affected by visual impairment.
Since the elderly account for the majority of visually impaired people, it is expected that the distribution matches that of the elderly people but not that of the general population. As a result, the percentage of visually impaired people in the provinces is higher than that in the big cities.
It can be seen from the basic data section that Japan is a particularly acute example of the phenomenon of an ageing society.
Incidence of print impairment
Until recently, it was debated whether, for example, dyslexia exists in Japan at anything like the same level of incidence as in English speaking countries. Recent research suggests that although the syllabic kana system of writing does tend to present fewer difficulties than western alphabets, when children come to learn kanji characters, the incidence is similar, comprising between 5 and 10% of the population [http://www.dyslexia-parent.com/z118.html. The Japan Library Association is trying to make people more aware of print disability.
Public libraries
There are 3,060 public libraries.(2006) The total population of Japan is 127.055m(2006), which means there are about 41521people per library. The number of public libraries has been growing. They are concentrated in urban areas.
The total number of libraries includes 62 prefectural libraries, 2,381 city libraries, and 617 town libraries (2006). The total number of books borrowed each year is 618 million. Therefore, on average, 4.87 books are borrowed by each Japanese person. This has risen from 2.5 in 1996. However, 28.3 % of towns have no public library.
Public libraries are very under-funded. The budget has been decreasing considerably, especially in recent years. The outsourcing of library services to the private sector has been promoted under the government’s initiative, which is not desirable for libraries, but has already been or is going to be implemented in some libraries. Historically, librarians were not considered as professionals but simply general public employees. Cuts in funding have occurred at the same time as there is a need to transform libraries to fit the digital environment.
| fiscal year |
number of libraries |
budget for materials |
per each library |
Total staff |
professional librarians |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 1,898 | 2,640,745 | 1,391 | 13,255 | 6,754 |
| 1991 | 1,955 | 2,927,318 | 1,497 | 13,631 | 6,964 |
| 1992 | 2,011 | 3,129,312 | 1,556 | 14,200 | 7,265 |
| 1993 | 2,091 | 3,381,606 | 1,617 | 14,699 | 7,517 |
| 1994 | 2,180 | 3,393,226 | 1,557 | 15,152 | 7,728 |
| 1995 | 2,270 | 3,497,602 | 1,541 | 15,000 | 7,733 |
| 1996 | 2,336 | 3,594,158 | 1,539 | 15,172 | 7,745 |
| 1997 | 2,423 | 3,625,861 | 1,496 | 15,359 | 7,858 |
| 1998 | 2,499 | 3,648,930 | 1,460 | 15,429 | 7,894 |
| 1999 | 2,560 | 3,676,344 | 1,436 | 15,356 | 7,800 |
| 2000 | 2,613 | 3,615,654 | 1,384 | 15,175 | 7,592 |
| 2001 | 2,655 | 3,535,152 | 1,332 | 15,228 | 7,518 |
| 2002 | 2,686 | 3,491,479 | 1,300 | 15,181 | 7,426 |
| 2003 | 2,735 | 3,348,285 | 1,224 | 14,829 | 7,275 |
| 2004 | 2,803 | 3,327,680 | 1,187 | 14,572 | 7,176 |
| 2005 | 2,931 | 3,211,166 | 1,096 | 14,206 | 7,042 |
| 2006 | 3,062 | 3,135,476 | 1,024 | 13,987 | 6,988 |
Source:Japan Library Association
Services have nominally been expanded but in some cases the quality of services has deteriorated. There is concern that the number of staff and the budget to purchase materials has been decreasing, which may cause the reduction of services in future.
Although libraries are well-used by some heavy users, the number of users as a whole is small. The heaviest user groups are children. Recently usage by employed workers and the elderly users is increasing.