About this Site
This is the companion website for an in-preparation review paper that comprehensively surveys Bibliobattle — a book review game invented in Japan in 2007, which has since grown into a nationwide reading promotion movement adopted by 37.7% of Japanese universities and 10.6% of public libraries.
Most of the existing literature on Bibliobattle is in Japanese. This site is designed as a bilingual bridge, providing English summaries, original Japanese references, and supplementary data so that international readers can navigate and verify the sources cited in the upcoming review paper.
Status (May 2026): The review paper is currently in preparation for submission to JASIST (Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Wiley). This companion site is being built incrementally as the manuscript progresses.
What is Bibliobattle?
Bibliobattle is a social book review game with four simple official rules:
- Bring a book you have read and found interesting.
- Present it for exactly five minutes, in turn, without slides or prepared materials.
- Discuss each presentation for two to three minutes immediately afterward.
- Vote, after all presentations, for the single book you most want to read. The book with the most votes is crowned the Champion Book of the day.
The catchphrase of Bibliobattle is "Knowing people through books, knowing books through people." The game is designed not merely to recommend books, but to facilitate human-to-human understanding through the medium of book reviews.
Bibliobattle was invented in 2007 by Tadahiro Taniguchi, then a researcher at Kyoto University's Graduate School of Informatics. From a research-lab seminar reform, it has grown into a cultural movement, becoming part of Japan's National Cultural Festival programme since 2025.
For the official rules and history (in Japanese): bibliobattle.jp
For the English overview: en.bibliobattle.jp
Site Contents
Bilingual References
About 45 academic papers, books, and policy documents on Bibliobattle. Each entry includes an English summary, the original Japanese title, and a link to the source.
Dissemination Statistics
Quantitative data on Bibliobattle's spread across Japan: universities, public libraries, prefectures, and national policy integration.
Timeline 2007–2026
An 18-year chronology, from the first session at Kyoto University to incorporation into the National Cultural Festival.
Japanese Resources
A curated guide to Japanese-language resources on Bibliobattle: official sites, library guides, government policy documents, and educational materials.
Authors and Contributors
The review paper is authored by Tadahiro Taniguchi (Kyoto University), the inventor of Bibliobattle, in collaboration with co-authors to be announced. This companion site is curated by Production Tanichu's editorial team.
For collaboration inquiries or to report errors on this site, please open an issue at the GitHub repository.