Toyomiyazaki Bunko

Toyomiyazaki Bunko is a religious library at the Toyouke Daijingū shrine complex in Ise that held Shinto-related texts and historical documents from pre-modern times. The structure measured eight bays in width by three bays in depth and housed thousands of works.

Deguchi Nobuyoshi founded the library in 1649 to improve priest training at Ise Grand Shrine with support from the Tokugawa shogunate. The collection was later scattered during the Meiji Restoration but was substantially recovered by local efforts.

The site functioned as a learning hub where priests borrowed texts under strict oversight to prevent books from leaving the local area. Visitors today notice how this role shaped religious knowledge transmission in the region.

The site sits about seven minutes on foot from Iseshi Station and visitors can still see the tile-roofed gateway and outer wall. The location is straightforward to reach and the walk from the station is easy to follow.

The collection now holds over 18,000 recovered books after local groups repurchased the site and gathered works that had been lost during the Meiji period. This recovery effort reveals how community dedication helped restore what was nearly lost.