I heard a rare exhibition of books banned, seized, or otherwise punished by censorship before and after the war was on at Meiji University Central Library 1F Gallery (1-1 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda Ward, inside Liberty Tower on the Surugadai campus), so I walked about ten minutes from Palaceside Building to see it.
The show is titled "Jo Ichiro Library Exhibition — Publishing Censorship and Banned Books" (photo: the poster). Jo Ichiro, known as a leading collector of banned books, donated about 7,000 volumes to Meiji University; part of that collection is now on view.
The rarest item seems to be the odd book "Hanmonki," a forgery that impersonated Fujimura Misao, the former First Higher School student who threw himself into Kegon Falls at Nikko in 1903 (Meiji 36) and became a byword for "intellectual suicide" — only a few copies are known. There are also many pre-war left-wing books and magazines such as Takiji Kobayashi's "The Crab Cannery Ship" and Shusui Kotoku's "Heiminshugi." Edogawa Rampo's "The Spider Man" was ordered cut and revised by 5,100 characters as corrupting public morals, but a complete uncut edition is shown this time. Post-war titles such as "Lady Chatterley's Lover" are also on view.
Panels outline pre-war publishing law and censorship and discuss the High Treason Incident and the suppression of speech, in the hope that visitors will look back at Japan's history of publishing censorship and think about today's media.
Through July 22; weekdays 8:30–22:00, so you can easily drop by after work (Saturday 8:30–19:00, Sunday 10:00–17:00; closed June 29; admission free). Please do not go drunk.