NECESSARY MEASURES FOR PROPER PRESERVATION OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS OF IMPORTANCE AS HISTORICAL MATERIALS

March 30, 2001

Cabinet Decision

With the intention to providing necessary measures for appropriate preservation of
government documents and records of importance as historical materials in the custody of administrative organs of the State, the following will be determined and implemented from April 1, 2001 in accordance to Article 15, Paragraph 1 of the National Archives Law (Law No. 79 of 1999).


1. The main requirement for the “government documents and records of importance as historical materials” for which administrative organs of the State are to provide necessary measures for their proper preservation are those with the following content.

(1) Decisions on important national political affairs that are necessary to outlining the past major activities of the Government of Japan or decisions on those acknowledged as carrying equal importance to the aforementioned important national political affairs such as the important policies of the governing administration of all its other important affairs.

(2) The deliberations, considerations, process of discussion until the decision in (1)
was made, as well as the status of progress of the policy implemented based on the decision.


2. The “necessary measures for proper preservation of government documents and records of importance as historical materials” authorizes the transfer of government documents and records of importance as historical materials in the custody of administrative organs from the administrative organs concerned to the Prime Minister of Japan (National Archives-Independent Administrative Institution). However, for those organs capable of preserving and utilizing the government documents and records of importance as historical materials upon having those documents and records transferred to them, the said organ is to be transferred the government documents and records concerned.