Presentation and Information Sharing for ICFA Committee, ICOM Kyoto “The Minakuchi Rapier, European Sword Produced in Japan

Presentation for ICFA committee at ICOM Kyoto

 For a week, from September 1st to 7th, ICOM Kyoto 2019, the 25th General Conference was held at the Kyoto International Conference Centre as its main venue.
 At the ICFA’s (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Fine Arts) individual session “Asian Art in Western Museumns, Western Art in Asian Museums II,” KOBAYASHI Koji from the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems delivered a presentation titled The Minakuchi Rapier, European Sword Produced in Japan jointly with Ms. NAGAI Akiko from the Koka City Minakuchi History and Folkroe Museum.
 The Minakuchi Rapier (cruciform sword possessed by Fujisaka Shrine in Koka City) was produced in Japan modeled on a European sword, which was brought Japan in the early 17th century. We have been researching this sword together with experts at home and abroad since 2013. Part of the processes and outcomes have been reported through the articles, “the 10th Seminar Held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems ‘Study of the Western Cruciform Sword Possessed by Fujisaka Shrine in Koka City’” (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/katudo/243895.html) and “Research of the Western-style Cruciform Sword Possessed by Fujisaka Shrine in Minakuchi, Koka City, Shiga Prefecture by an Expert from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and an Initial Report at the 7th Seminar Held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems” (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/katudo/247392.html).
 For this presentation, the later result of analyzing the sword blade at SPring-8 (large-scale synchrotron radiation facility) and historical examination from an overall point of view was added. This presentation aimed at disseminating to the world, including Europe and the United States, the fact that such Western swords existed in Japan in the 17th century when cultural exchange was occurring globally, and that a sword was imitated at that time and has been handed down up to the present time.
 At the fully occupied presentation venue, the audience showed much interest in the existence of such a cultural property in Japan through a variety of questions and discussions, including on the background of producing a Western sword replica.

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