Joint studies with the Sannomaru Shozokan [The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Imperial Household Agency]
On March 30, 2015, the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo and the Imperial Household Agency concluded an Agreement on Joint Studies of Works in the Sannomaru Shozokan Collection. Pursuant to the Agreement, works in the Sannomaru Shozokan collection that need to be conserved in the future and works that are significant to art history will be studied. Materials in these works will be analyzed and high-resolution photographs of these works will be taken in order to ascertain what materials were used in these works and how they were used.
An initial joint survey was conducted at the Sannomaru Shozokan on April 6-15, 2015. High-resolution photographs of 3 paintings were taken by SHIRONO Seiji (the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems), and X-ray fluorescence analysis of those works was performed by HAYAKAWA Yasuhiro (the Center for Conservation Science and Restoration Techniques).
Joint studies are scheduled to take place over a 5-year period ending in March 2020, with individual studies being conducted 2-3 times a year.