Public Access to Historical Documents Under the Rules Concerning Use of the Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , all persons wishing to read archival materials stored in the Diplomatic Record Office are allowed access to its diplomatic documents and materials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Main Building Reading Room. Ministerial records through the end of World War II can be accessed by printed catalogues.
Postwar documents are available on microfilms, which can be searched in directories.
The Diplomatic Record Office offers reference service regarding diplomatic records and the diplomatic history of Japan to visitors and researchers in Japan and overseas. The Annex has an Exhibition Room open to the public. The standing exhibition includes original manuscripts of major national and diplomatic documents from the end of the Tokugawa period to the Treaty of Peace with Japan signed in San Francisco in 1951. This Exhibition Room also has on display personal articles of the late Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida and documents related to his administration. Special exhibitions are also held every year on various themes.