For some years now the Japanese economy has been in a recession. Financial institutions and major corporations have gone bankrupt. The Japanese government has actively used financial policy in order to recover from the recession.

These actions have been successful in removing the burden of psychological insecurity from the shoulders of people across Japan. While that part of the economic crisis has been solved, there is still another issue which must be faced. The large quantities of deficit covering government bonds that were issued have created even more of a cumulative deficit. This large cumulative deficit is a negative inheritance which is being left to the 21st century. This will be a great burden on the children and young people of today and those still to be born.

In addition the phenomenon of a declining population of children and a growing aged population continues in Japan. This phenomenon will place a great economic burden on the children and young people of the 21st century.

We Japanese citizens must do more than leave a negative inheritance for these young people. We must create a social environment that will make Japan a better and easier place to live. I believe that public libraries are an important part of our social environment. Changing our libraries is one way of improving Japan for the young people of today and the future generations to come.

I have been conducting research on Japanese public libraries in order to help　work for such improvements. This web page is composed of observations which consider the people who use 62 typical libraries across Japan.