図書館
としょかん
hepburn toshokan
library
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
Examples
- 図書館で本を借りた。I borrowed a book at the library.
- 図書館は静かにしてください。Please be quiet in the library.
Collocations
図書館 (toshokan, library)図書館カード (toshokan kaado, library card)本を借りる (hon wo kariru, borrow a book)国立国会図書館 (kokuritsu kokkai toshokan, National Diet Library)静かに (shizuka ni, quietly)
Mnemonic
図書館 toshokan — 図 (figure) + 書 (writing) + 館 (building): "a house that holds words and pictures." Japan's libraries rank highest in the world for the grade of their silence (seishuku), where even the rustle of a turning newspaper page meets a layered culture of "shhh." Where Korean libraries cradle student self-study, Japan's cradle citizen reading. The National Diet Library in Tokyo's Nagatacho lays a nationwide roof over them all.
Quick check
Main use difference between Japans and Koreas libraries?