New National Archives

On the eve of unconditional surrender in World War II, Japanese bureaucrats burnt a huge amount of governmental documents, to erase the evidence of war crime of Imperial Japan. As said, Japanese government has negative history in terms of disclosing information to the people. Now, it considers rebuilding National Archives, which became old and obsolete. Japanese democracy faces a moment that it really gets the information back to the people.

Current National Archives was established to preserve important official documents in 1971. The main building is located in Kitanomaru Garden close to Imperial Palace and a branch was built in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki, in 1998. Compared to the archives in Western countries, Japanese National Archives has less space and human resource. Total length of bookshelf of JNA has 72 kilometers and 54 workers in both offices. But, United States has 1,400 kilometers of bookshelf and 2720 workers for its National Archives. Even France has 380 kilometers and 570 workers.

A committee of experts for renewing National Archives released basic idea on the relocation. Possible place for it is the parking space for the visitors to National Diet Building or the site of the Parliamentary Museum, which can be rebuilt as a complex with National Archives. The plan for the complex with museum is currently viable, because the site has broad space. While current National Archives has 11,550 square meters, the committee required 40,000 to 50,000 square meters for new building.

So, what kind of facility will be built? The committee defines public archives as “collection of decision-making process or the facts for exploring historical transitions and intellectual resource that supports basis of democracy, offered to subjective use of the people.” The experts think that National Archives succeeds history and values of the nation and implements responsibility of the government to the sovereign people.

However, the things are different. Shinzo Abe administration legislated Designated Secrecy Act, which broadly regulated disclosure of information related national security. In the name of national security, important decision making processes are backed off from eyes of the people. The government men do not have enough motivation to disclose information to the public or preserve official records as much as they can.

New National Archives has to be a place for Japanese people to identify themselves. Decision-making processes need to be evaluated by future generation. For reviewing history, facts have to be reserved in neutral eyes.