Editing Aozora Bunko (section)

==History and operation==
[[File:Aozora Bunko how-to-make illustration.png|thumb|right|160px|This is an explanatory illustration prepared by Aozora Bunko as part of project encouraging Japanese citizens to contact Diet members in an effort to express a point-of-view.]]

Aozora Bunko was created on the Internet in 1997 to provide broadly available, free access to Japanese literary works whose copyrights had expired. The driving force behind the project was [[Michio Tomita]] ([[:ja:富田倫生|富田 倫生]], 1952–2013), who was motivated by the belief that people with a common interest should cooperate with each other.<ref>[http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/publication/ndl_newsletter/130/302.html "Electronic Library National Liaison Conference FY2003"], ''National Diet Library Newsletter.'' No. 30, April 2003.</ref>

In [[Japan]], Aozora Bunko is considered similar to [[Project Gutenberg]].<ref name="jto2006">Tamura, Aya. [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060930f2.html "Novelists, others want copyright protection extended"]. ''[[The Japan Times|The Japan Times Online]].'' September 30, 2006.</ref> Most of the texts provided are [[Japanese literature]], and some translations from [[English literature]]. The resources are searchable by category, author, or title; and there is a considerable amount of support on how to use the database in the form of detailed explanations. The files can be downloaded in [[PDF]] format or simply viewed in [[HTML]] format.<ref name="intute" />

After the passing of Michio Tomita in 2013, the {{Nihongo|Future of Books Fund|本の未来基金|hon no mirai kikin}} was established independently to assist funding and operations for Aozora Bunko.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.jp/daisuke-tsuda/post_5529_b_3854138.html|script-title=ja:青空文庫呼びかけ人・富田倫生さんを偲んで／追悼イベントのお知らせ|last=Tsuda|first=Daisuke|date=2013-09-01|work=HuffPost Japan|access-date=2018-02-08|language=ja-JP}}</ref>

Aozora Bunko currently includes more than 15,100 works {{As of|2019|01|5|lc=y}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aozora.gr.jp|title=Aozora Bunko|access-date=2019-01-05}}</ref>