SocietyNumber of facilities up 30% in two decades as they become community hubsSome 700,000 people a year visit Tenmonkan Library, which opened in 2022 in the Tenmonkan business and shopping district of Kagoshima, southern Japan. © KyodoSEIJI DOIMay 24, 2026 14:00 JSTTOKYO -- People in Japan are reading fewer books than they used to, but this has not stopped the number of public libraries from growing strongly.