図書館

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 図書館で本を借りた。▶ —
   I borrowed a book at the library.
2. 図書館は静かにしてください。▶ —
   Please be quiet in the library.

Collocations

Mnemonic

Toshokan (図書館) is "library" — Sino-Japanese loan "to (figure) + sho (book) + kan (building)" = a building holding books. Cluster (B + cluster — Japanese library culture precise): (1) seishuku (silence) rite — Japans library silence ranks globally high, even phone-vibrate mode advised, no whispering, newspaper-page-turning sounds also flagged, multi-level "shhh" culture; (2) etsuran-shitsu (reading room) versus jishuu-shitsu (self-study room) split — Japanese libraries center on citizen reading and browsing with self-study attached, while Korean libraries center on student self-study; (3) kokuritsu kokkai toshokan (National Diet Library in Tokyos Nagatacho plus the Kansai branch, Japans largest, legal deposit since the 1948 act, archiving all national publications) plus prefectural and municipal libraries forming a layered structure; (4) kashidashi kaado (lending card — formerly dokusho kaado tracking who borrowed which book historically, mostly abolished since the 1990s on individual privacy grounds); (5) bukku-mobiru (bookmobile, well-established in rural areas); (6) bungou (great literary master — Japans libraries are a multi-source foundation for author development); (7) manga toshokan (manga library, a uniquely Japanese form — Kyoto International Manga Museum, Hiroshima Peace Manga Library). Korean dosogwan emphasizes self-study; Japans focus is etsuran reading; Chinese tú-shū-guǎn is similar; Japans seishuku level is unique. JLPT N5 plus Japans public-facility cultural cluster.

Quick check

1. Main use difference between Japans and Koreas libraries?

   • Japan = etsuran (citizen reading and browsing) main plus self-study attached / Korea = student self-study center
   • Same pattern
   • Japan self-study center
   • Korea citizen reading center