Online Annual Meeting with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties has been carrying out our joint research project with Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in the United Kingdom since 2013. The Sainsbury Institute, one of the research centers for Japanese arts and cultures in Europe, collects information on Japanese art-related publications written in non-Japanese languages and Japanese art exhibitions held outside of Japan. They provide this information to the Tobunken Research Collections (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/archives/). On the Tobunken Research Collections database, you can access information about Japanese art studies and research trends in and outside of Japan.
Until 2019, our staff used to visit the Sainsbury Institute in Norwich, England, once every year to discuss the database and deliver some lectures. However, our annual visit had to be canceled this year due to COVID-19. Instead, it was conducted online on November 26, 2020. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a long-lasting global impact, the open-access database and publications, accessible anytime and anywhere, have played an important role and are more indispensable for research than ever before. We discussed initiatives to ensure the services would be available for a wider range of users. The discussion started at 5:00 p.m. in Tokyo and 8:00 a.m. in the U.K., with a 9-hour time difference between both venues. However, as we had a face-to-face discussion and shared as much information as possible, it was a meaningful interaction which will help sustain our joint project into the future. We are going to continue the joint projects with the Sainsbury Institute for the upcoming medium-term plan covering FY 2021–2025.