ブックタイトルConservation and Restoration of Western Paper

概要

Conservation and Restoration of Western Paper

Conservation and Restoration of Westertn PaperShunsuke NakayamaHead, Modern Cultural Heritage SectionCenter for Conservatioon ScienceTokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties1. IntroductionIn recent years in Japan, cultural treasures,which involve the use of western paper, havebegun to attract more attention. This trendcan be seen in some recent events such asthe listing of Sakubei Yamamoto’s coal-minepaintings of Chikuho in the UNESCOMemory of the World Register and thedesignation of notebooks made of westernpaper as Important Cultural Properties ofJapan. Due to this trend, the deteriorationof western paper has come to be recognizedas a problem in need of a solution. In lightof this issue, between April 2014 and March2015, the Modern Cultural PropertiesSection conducted research and study onthe conservation and restoration of westernpaper and held a study meeting on this topic,inviting concerned parties. The following arethe result of these activities.2. Conservation and Restoration ofModern Cultural Properties usingWestern Paper.Various modern cultural properties, whichare made using western paper, have alreadybeen designated as Important CulturalProperties of Japan. Some representativeexamples are as follows:- Administrative documents from variousplaces in Japan (Kyoto Prefecture,Yamaguchi Prefecture, SaitamaPrefecture and Gunma Prefecture)- Documents related to modern schooltextbooks- Documents related to the history of theUniversity of TokyoBesides the above, it can be estimated thatamong the documents written back in theEdo to Meiji periods there may also be somewritten on western paper. It is not difficultto imagine that in the future, more and moredocuments written on this kind of paper aregoing to be designated as cultural properties,in addition to the documents noted above.Books printed on western paper areoften in need of repair, and a large numberof books of this kind have already beenrepaired. Although these books were nottreated because they were cultural properties,but merely books that had been damageddue to ageing, they may have been carefullyrepaired as historical items. That being said,this kind of work should still be clearlydistinguished from the restoration ofdesignated cultural properties.The following are examples of degradationto which paper documents, specifically thoseof western paper, are subject:- Oxidative degradationIt can be said that oxidative degradationis the most common type of degradation.There are several possible ways in whichpaper may oxidize, but the most common5