This archive contains old Japanese books, maps, and other items from the Kotani Collection, a mountain-related archive owned by the Shinshu University Library.

The Kotani Collection, donated to Shinshu University Library in 2002 by Ryuichi Kotani, an alumnus of the old Matsumoto High School, consists of about 8,000 mountain-related books and journals from various times and places. It is one of Japan's most prominent mountain-related collections.

This archive was created to support research and study by making Japanese old books, maps, and other items in the collection widely accessible via the Internet, and to improve the preservation of the original materials.

The archives of materials on the "Saburoku Disaster," a landslide and massive river flooding that struck the Ina Valley in 1961, including a collection of essays written by elementary and junior high school students affected by the disaster, along with various materials such as photographs and newspaper articles.

We will pass on to future generations, both within and beyond the Ina Valley area, information resources that convey the wisdom and lessons learned in disaster preparedness, which are at risk of being lost or forgotten.

This is a cooperative project of the Tenryu River Learning Center Kawaranbe, the Upstream Office of the Tenryu River, and the Shinshu University Library.