Visit from the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Korea
On Wednesday, June 11, 2025. a delegation of researchers from the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (NRICH), Korea, visited our Institute. The NRICH is an agency under the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, dedicated to the research and investigation of various aspects of Korean cultural heritage. The institution traces its origins to the Cultural Heritage Research Office of the Cultural Heritage Management Bureau, established in 1969. Currently, it operates with an organizational structure comprising two divisions, six departments, and one team—namely, the Division of Administrative Operations, the Division of Research Planning, the Department of Archaeological Research, the Department of Art and Cultural Heritage Research, the Department of Architectural Cultural Heritage Research, the Department of Conservation Science Research, the Department of Restoration Technology Research, the Department of Safety and Disaster Prevention Research, and the Digital Cultural Heritage Research Information Team, respectively. In addition, the NRICH maintains seven regional research centers (located in Gyeongju, Buyeo, Gaya, Naju, Jungwon, Seoul, and Wanju), as well as a Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center.
Since 2023, the NRICH has been contributing information on Korean artists to the Union List of Artist Names (ULAN, https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabularies/ulan/), a database managed by the Getty Research Institute (GRI) in the United States. Prior to this, our Institute had already begun collaborating with the Getty Research Institute in 2016, supplying digital data and bibliographic information on our library holdings to the Getty Research Portal (GRP, https://portal.getty.edu/)—a digital collection of art-related literature from institutions around the world. This prior collaboration served as a model case and facilitated the current exchange.
The delegation, consisting of five researchers led by Ms. Kim Eun-young, Director of the Department of Art and Cultural Heritage Research, was welcomed by Mr. KIKKAWA Hideki (Head, Modern and Contemporary Art Section, Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems) and Mr. TASHIRO Yuichiro (Researcher, The Archives Section, Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems). After a presentation on our Institute’s initiatives, both parties engaged in a productive discussion. Although based in different countries, both institutions share commonalities in the cultural context of East Asia. The discussion addressed ways to effectively disseminate information on East Asian art and culture to Western audiences, and explored avenues for future collaboration.
Our Institute is currently the only institution in Japan engaged in joint projects with the Getty Research Institute. Building on this priority status, we hope to further expand our international network and fulfill our role as a central “hub” for scholarly exchange between Japan and the world, thereby contributing more comprehensively to academic research in Japan.
(Materials from Our Institute’s Collection Registered in the GRP)
・Japanese Art Exhibition Catalogs（951 records）
・Complete series of Japanese Art of Meiji period（64 records）
・Compilation of Artist’s Seals（85 records）
・Ranking List of Japanese Artist（61 records）
・Oda Kazuma Collection （135 records）
・Maeda Seison Collection（269 records）
・Rare Books （335 records）
・Japanese Wood Print Books（210 records）
etc.