George Ernest MORRISON	Bookplate used by G.E.Morrison in his collection	IWASAKI Hisaya

　The origins of Toyo Bunko date back further than its official founding in 1924 to the late 19th century after the Shigakukai (Historical Society) was founded at Tokyo Imperial University, marking the beginning of a scientific historical research community in Japan. It was around that time that Iwasaki Hisaya began collecting Japanese language sources on history and culture. Then in 1901 Iwasaki decided to purchase Oxford University linguist Max Mueller's 10,000 volume personal collection of mainly Indian Buddhist scripture and donate it to Tokyo Imperial University. (The collection would be destroyed by fire in the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.) In 1917, Iwasaki made a similar purchase of the personal collection of George Ernest Morrison, China correspondent for the London Times and special advisor to the president of the Republic of China. It was the Morrison Collection that would form the main body of Toyo Bunko Library at the time of its official founding.

1924-- Toyo Bunko established as a foundation. 1945-- Library holdings moved to safety to avoid the allied bombardment of Tokyo. 1947-- Former prime minister Shidehara Kijuro appointed Director Genelal. 1948-- Library reorganized as a branch of the National Diet Library. 1952-- Donation received from the Harvard-Yenching Institute. 1954-- Donation received from the Rockefeller Foundation. 1961-- Establishment of the Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies for Unesco. 1999-- International cooperation agreement signed with the École Française d'Extrême Orient. 2003-- Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies for UNESCO closed. 2006-- International cooperation agreement signed with Sinica Academica. 2006-- Establishment of the Documentation Center for Islamic Area Studies. 2007-- Establishment of the Documentation Center for China Studies. 2010-- International Cooperation agreement signed with the Harvard-Yenching Institute & Library. 2010-- International Cooperation agreement signed with the Library of Alexandria.(Bibliotheca Alexandria) 2011-- Toyo Bunko Museum Opened.

INOUE, Junnosuke 1924-- KIRISHIMA, Shuichi 1932.-- HAYASHI, Gonsuke 1932.-- SHIRATORI, Kurakichi 1939.-- SHIMIZU, Akira 1939.-- SHIDEHARA, Kijuro 1947.-- HOSOKAWA, Moritatsu 1951-- TSUJI, Naoshiro 1974.-- ENOKI, Kazuo 1985-- KITAMURA, Hajime 1990-- SHIBA, Yoshinobu 2001.-- MAKIHARA, Minoru 2007.-- KUROYANAGI, Nobuo 2021.--