As testimony to their characteristically low profile, Japan's public libraries seldom make the news, although two recent exceptions come to mind.
In 2013, a number of school and public libraries in Shimane and Tottori prefectures attracted coverage when they removed Hiroshima bomb survivor Keiji Nakazawa's illustrated autobiographical novel, "Barefoot Gen," from their shelves. Some parents had objected to the depictions of extreme violence, while local right-wing groups had denounced its raising the issue of the late Emperor Showa's war responsibility.
Last year, the defacing of more than 100 books at Tokyo-area public libraries related to the diary of Holocaust victim Anne Frank, mostly in the juvenile book sections, made international headlines. The perpetrator, a man with a history of mental health issues, was finally apprehended after a security camera recorded him doing the same thing in a bookstore. His name was not even made public.