Taking Samples from Metal Objects Designated as Cultural Properties

On June 5, the Iwate Prefectural Museum (Morioka City) announced that a senior curator (terminated in March 2020) at the museum had, without the owners’ permission, repeatedly taken samples from metal objects excavated from archaeological sites in and outside the prefecture, which the museum was requested by local authorities for conservation treatment, and had analyzed them, for which the museum apologized. On December 16, the Iwate Prefectural Board of Education announced that samples were taken from two important cultural properties (‘kasha’ (incense burner) and ‘kebyō’ (flower vase) excavated from the Yanagi no gosho and Hiraizumi ruins in Hiraizumi Town, Iwate Prefecture) without the owners’ permission. The final report in 2022 reported a total of 103 cultural properties had been damaged. (Japanese)