The purpose of this research is to look into the process of how researches on lending library in Edo Period have developed and how lending library itself had been changed in Edo period. In the early days, the study on this subject was merely a part of public library research and later on, researchers of literature started to work on this field as a part of study on Yomihon. Many researchers did their study on lending library, especially to understand more about Yomihon. At present, it could be said that more people take growing interest in the field. Most researchers have been presuming that the lending library might have appeared before Genroku Period (1688-1704), but there is no clear evidence. Various kinds of documentary record about the lending library have emerged since the eighteenth century. At the time, function of the lending library was not only limited to lending books. They actually took a part in publication and even reached the stage of influencing the writers. The heyday of lending library is from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. At the end of the nineteenth century, demand of fundamental changes in literary contents and printing technology increased as new Western civilization came in. This led to the advent of new type of lending library.
본 한국일본학회는 일본관련 학회로는 1973년에 한국 최초로 성립되어 2015년 3월 현재 가입회원수 기준 1000여명에 달하는 방대한 학회로 발전하였다. 본 학회는 일본어학 및 일본학은 물론,일본의교육,사상,역사,민속 등 일본학 전반에 걸친 연구와 한일간의 일본학 전반에 걸친 비교 연구를 대상으로 하는 학회로서 회원들의 연구기회 제공과 정보의 교류를 주된 목표로 하고 있다. 분회 발표를 포함하여 매년 20회 가까운 학술발표회와 국제학술대회를 개최 함으로서 발표 기회의 제공과 함께 회원 상호간의 친목 도모의 장으로도 활용하며 건전한 학회발전을 지향하고 있다.