The Access to Government Information Act was enforced in 2001, and the Public Records and Archives Management Act was enforced in 2011, while development of the legal system necessary to guarantee the “right to know” in Japan was progressing gradually. However, since then the Secret Information Protection Act was enforced in 2014, and assurance of the “right to know” has significantly retreated.

  To explore the historical and cultural background to this research, we looked back upon the history of records, disclosure, and secret protection from the Edo period to highlight the current status of Japan, primarily through comparison with other Asian countries. In international comparisons of the degree of democratization and freedom of expression by international organizations, freedom of the press and legal environments in particular have worsened since 2011 in Japan. Moreover, a comparative survey of public awareness in the Asian countries showed that the Japanese peer pressure is remarkably strong. The possibility is suggested that even if the legal revisions that restrict human rights proceeded, the Japanese do not show strong resistance to this development.

  There are unexpectedly a few research on the concrete method of archival processing for digital records. The object of this article is to clarify its methodology. At first, it surveys the way of archival processing of digital records based on literature written in English and points out that the process involves measures for long-term preservation. Secondly, taking into consideration the requirements that InterPARES created to appraise trustworthiness of digital records, the article concretely examines the procedure of the archival processing by means of two applications, AtoM and Archivematica. Thirdly, since records management from the stage of records creation before their transfer to archives plays important role in preserving digital records, the article mentions how the management should be through the comparison with the knowledge of archival science of Italy. Finally it finishes by considering the effect that the records management from creation stage has on arrangement and description in archives as an institution for records preservation.

  This article analyses child abuse reports and argues that the record‒keeping by child welfare institutes such as childrenʼs homes, residential schools and foster homes affect people who have been in care, as well as their families and societies. A lot of reports on child abuse of children in care have been released in Western Countries in these last few decades. In particular, “Historical Abuse Systemic Review: Residential School and Childrenʼs Home in Scotland 1950 to 1995” which was released in 2007, made a huge impact leading to new revise, the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011. This article also addresses as the case for people who have been in care to access their records with support of professional organizations, for example, archivists, record‒keepers, historian, care workers, social workers and others. According to government statistics, the number of children who lived in out‒of‒home care in Japan was about 46,000 (August, 2015). 90% of them spent their childhood not in foster homes, but in childrenʼs homes and residential schools. This article also considers that how important it into get access to records for individuals who have been in care and what they need in order to gain access to their own records.

  In Kagawa Prefecture, it has been two years since the regulations for the management of official documents were implemented. Based on the precedents under the regulations, the Kagawa Prefectural Archive is promoting the preservation and utilization of official documents. The duties of the Prefectural Archiveʼs Department of Official Documents also include the management of currently used administrative documents. The department also preserves the official documents transferred from twelve administrative bodies. In the Kagawa Prefectural Archive, administrative officers use the administrative documents and the documents that have been transferred and preserved. This study focuses on the usefulness of the relationship between the administrative bodies and the prefectural archives.

  I have been worked as archivist at Hiroshima University Archives and Osaka University Archives, and studied about university archives. In 2013, I published Daigaku Akaibuzu no Sekai. In this paper, the clue book reviews to my book, I consider the idea of private university archives. Further, I argue the relationship between university accreditation and records management, university archives. At last, I have a view for the development of university archives.