| ■Tokyo National Research
Institute for Cultural Properties |
■Center for Conservation
Science |
| ■Department of Art Research,
Archives and Information Systems |
■Japan Center for
International Cooperation in Conservation |
| ■Department of Intangible
Cultural Heritage |
|
Seminar in Progress
Part of the Finding Aid for Yoshida Yoshie Collection
In the seminar conducted on May 23rd, 2018, by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, Researcher Hideki KIKKAWA delivered a presentation titled “Storage, Conservation and Provision of Archives at the University of California, Los Angeles – Taking YOSHIDA Yoshie Collection as an Example.” The presenter visited the departments involved in the storage, conservation, and provision of archives at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and consulted with the concerned personnel on the occasion of opening the collection on YOSHIDA Yoshie, a Japanese critic, at UCLA in February 2018. Based on his visit and consultation at UCLA, the presenter reported the outlines of UCLA and its group of libraries, as well as how to manage archives, while discussing not only a budget scale for archives but also a more effective way of operating archives at domestic institutions with less personnel assigned. From outside the Institute, artist Ms. Yoshiko SHIMADA, who was involved in the donation to UCLA, and curator Mr. Yukinori OKAMURA from Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels, the gallery of Mr. and Mrs. Maruki, who had close relationships with YOSHIDA Yoshie, attended the seminar to exchange opinions from the viewpoints of specialists during the discussion after the presentation. In recent years, when artists and concerned personnel who pioneered postwar Japanese art have begun to pass away, Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties is now expected to partially assume the role of securing the access to their archives without dissipation at a permanent institution.
Analysis of coloring materials using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties and the Tokyo National Museum (TNM) have jointly conducted optical research on Buddhist paintings in TNM’s collection. As part of this joint research, high-resolution photography with image dividing technique and analyses of coloring materials using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry were conducted on paintings of Kokuzo Bosatsu (Akashagarbha Bodhisattva) and Senju Kannon (Sahasrabhuja Avalokitesvara) from May 22nd to 23rd, 2018. These Buddhist paintings, which are representative of the later part of the Heian period, were produced with a particularly sophisticated aesthetic sense and a highly developed painting technique; the delicate and elegant depiction of their subjects is their most significant feature. Through this joint research on Buddhist paintings of the Heian period, high-definition color, near-infrared, and fluorescent images have been obtained. A comprehensive analysis of coloring materials using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry was carried out for the essential parts of the painting such as the subjects’ faces, bodies, clothes, accessories, belongings, and halos, as well as the canopies and backgrounds. The results of this analysis are not only beneficial for the understanding of each artwork but are important indicators for Japanese art history. After this, we will conduct further research, examine our results, and proceed to publish them as research materials.
Reproduced mill and milling hut in Jeju Island
Ongoing workshop at the National Intangible Heritage Center
The Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage at Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties has been conducting research exchanges with the National Intangible Heritage Center in the Republic of Korea since 2008. During the exchange, staff members of each institution stay at the other institution to conduct research while holding joint symposiums. As part of this research exchange, Tomo ISHIMURA, Head of the Audio-Visual Documentation Section of the Department, stayed in Korea for overseas research for two weeks from April 23rd to May 7th, 2018.
The objectives of overseas research currently was to research the movements of anthropological and ethnological studies made by Japanese researchers in the Korean Peninsula during the colonial period and to critically redefine their significance today. In this instance, research was conducted to retrace the steps of Professor Seiichi IZUMI (1915-1970), who worked as an assistant professor at Keijo Imperial University in the Korean Peninsula until the end of the war and was involved in the establishment of Japan’s first Cultural Anthropology Department at the University of Tokyo after returning to Japan.
During the first half of the research in Korea, Tomo ISHIMURA visited Jeju Island where Professor IZUMI conducted research in the 1930s and 1960s, in order to organize a hearing survey in the villages that Professor IZUMI had visited. The society on Jeju Island drastically changed due to the Jeju uprising that lasted from 1948 through 1954. It resulted in the replacement of most village residents. Fortunately, ISHIMURA could meet an old man who had been living in the same village since the 1930s when Professor IZUMI conducted the first research. ISHIMURA succeeded in clarifying the tangible changes in the village. Through research, Professor IZUMI defined multiple families who jointly owned a flour mill as a “molbange (mill) association” by regrading such a group of families as a unit comprising the social aggregation on Jeju Island. However, through the current research, ISHIMURA found that the use of the mill almost ceased from the 1950s to 1960s and that not only social changes but also mechanization of flour milling affected the extinction.
In the last half of the research in Korea, ISHIMURA stayed at Jeonju, where the National Intangible Heritage Center is located. He organized the details of his research on Jeju Island to report the achievements at the workshop while expanding exchanges with the staff members at the National Intangible Heritage Center．
Through this study in Korea, ISHIMURA confirmed that Korean society including Jeju Island drastically changed during the prewar and postwar periods and that former anthropological and ethnological research materials are significant today in understanding such changing processes.
Last but not least, we would like to express sincere gratitude to Myung Jin LEE (National Intangible Heritage Center) and Doc Woo LEE (Kanagawa University), who supported his study during this research exchange.
Survey of tile-roofing specifications at Aganchen Temple
Workshop in Sankhu on the conservation of historic settlements
As part of the above-mentioned project commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, we have continually provided technical assistance to Nepal. Already, in 2018, we have dispatched on-site research missions in February, March, April, and May.
For the rehabilitation of the Aganchen Temple and its associated buildings in the Hanumandhoka Palace in Kathmandu, we surveyed detailed specifications and traces of transformation of the brick masonry surfaces of the inner walls whose finishing layers had peeled off. The brick masonry, all of which looks the same, differs in material, dimension, or construction method according to age. Evidence remains at places where the wall or opening was altered. Observation following the cleaning inside cracks blocked by the rubble that had collapsed from the upper section, revealed numerous clues to retrace the history of various extensions and alterations since its construction in the 17th century. The number of targets to be clarified through further research has increased, including the existence of an unknown mural painting unveiled during this process. We have further increased our awareness of this building’s great value as physical evidence to comprehend history, in addition to the highly elaborate work applied to the subsequently altered sections as a particularly important building in the palace.
As preparations for the rehabilitation work are being made under the direction of experts dispatched from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), we are cooperating in the examination of concrete conservation methods and consultation with the relevant institutions in Nepal. Although the work has not yet begun due to various difficulties in procedures, as a united team we would like to make every effort to conserve the building’s value as a cultural heritage.
Meanwhile, we have continued to cooperate in the conservation of historic settlements in the Kathmandu Valley. In May 2018, we organized a workshop at the historic settlement of Sankhu, inscribed in the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites of Nepal, but seriously damaged by the earthquake, for those officers in charge of public administration in each city holding jurisdiction over historic areas and settlements. Under the theme of conservation of historic water channel networks, participants from six cities discussed their current situations and issues together with urban design experts, and developed six suggestions. The outcomes will be shared with those concerned in other cities who could not attend the workshop this time. We expect the suggestions will help to conserve each historic settlement.
Training to conserve and restore paper cultural properties
Providing materials related to Syrian cultural heritage
In Syria, the Middle East, a conflict that began in March 2011 has not ended even after seven years. The conflict has caused serious damages to both the Syrian people and their precious cultural heritage.
Since 2017, the Japanese government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have been supporting Syria in preserving its cultural heritage. In addition to the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, academic institutions, such as the University of Tsukuba, Teikyo University, Waseda University, Chubu University, and the Ancient Orient Museum, plan to accept Syrian experts for a variety of training seminars in archaeology, and conservation and restoration of cultural properties, since February 2018.
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TNRICP) invited two Syrian specialists to Japan from May 15th to 30th, 2018, (two weeks) to conduct training seminars on conservation and restoration of paper cultural properties. At the seminars organized in cooperation with the National Diet Library and the National Archives of Japan, they learned basic restoration and conservation methods for documents and books.
In January 2018, a news report that the ruins of the Ain Dara Temple, built in Northwestern Syria during the Syro-Hittite period, were severely damaged by an air raid was released. For this temple, TNRICP conducted a conservation and restoration project from 1994 through 1996. Project leader and Researcher Emeritus Tadateru NISHIURA provided related materials of that time. The materials were offered to the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums in Syria through the Syrian specialists invited to the seminars for utilization in the smooth restoration of the remains. In addition, valuable old photographic data on Aleppo, Damascus, and Palmyra, shot by Shin WADA in 1929 and 1930, which are now in possession of TNRICP were provided.
Scene of Children's Education by Koai TAKEMURA in 1890, in the possession of Ochanomizu University
Picture of Lily by Koai TAKEMURA, in the possession of Ochanomizu University
At the monthly seminar conducted by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems on April 24th, 2018, a presentation was made, titled “Koai TAKEMURA and Female Japanese-Style Painters in the Meiji Era,” by Tai TADOKORO (Associate Fellow of the Department).
Koai TAKEMURA was a female Japanese-style painter in the Meiji Era well known for her paintings of flowers, birds, and landscapes. While Koai is also considered a fine art educator now, her life and works as a painter have been scarcely revealed. Based on her diaries in the possession of the library of Kyoritsu Women’s University, this presentation unveiled her painting career focusing on her activities as a painter, along with a study of the aspects of other female painters’ activities in the Meiji era.
Koai was born in Edo in 1852 as the daughter of a feudal retainer of Sendai Domain. Her real name was Chisa or Sada. She showed a keen interest in painting and pictures even as a child. She learned painting from Kazunobu KANO, Kinkoku YAMAMOTO, Nammei HARUKI, Togai KAWAKAMI, and other masters. Koai studied various schools of painting, and even produced Western-style works. Endowed with good English language skills, she assumed the post of assistant professor in English at Tokyo Women’s Normal School in 1876. From around 1877, as a professor in painting, she devoted herself to the education of women. In 1889, she joined the Japan Art Association. Her work, Yochihoiku-zu (Scene of Children’s Education), displayed at the exhibition of the Association held in the fall of the following year, was awarded the bronze prize, and the painting was bought by Prince Arisugawa Taruhito, the Honorary Patron of the Association. In April 1898, she resigned from the Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School due to an illness. However, two months after her resignation, Keikanyuri-zu (Lily in the Valley), displayed in the first exhibition of the Japanese Painting Associateon, was highly commended as the best by Masao GEJO, honorary members of the Society, and Kampo ARAKI. In addition, Yuri-zu (Picture of Lily) was conferred the bronze prize in the women’s department of the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910. In this work, depth and spatial breadth were expressed in her use of weak/strong outlines, gradations of color, and layout of motifs.
Koai also taught painting to her disciples at home, which totaled to almost 150 people including women and young ladies of peerage, as well as foreign women.
Taking a close look at her activities, it is clear that women painters in the Meiji era had their own role and demand during the period. Against the activity on the center stage of the art world of showing paintings at exhibitions, their role was related to backstage activities.
Further research on the activities and interactions of female painters in this period will help reveal their actual situation, aspects of their social recognition, and their development toward prosperity during the Taisho era.
Access to the digital contents
The Institute has been proceeding research studies of cultural properties in various ways and releasing the results. This time, the digital contents of Illustrated Handscroll of The Tale of Genji (The Tokugawa Art Museum), Birds and Flowers of Four Seasons Screens and The Western Kings on Horseback Screens (Suntory Museum of Art) have been produced and launched to open access in the Tobunken Library. Various images such as high resolution color images, X-ray images and near infrared images and analysis results of color materials by X-ray fluorescence spectrometer are on display on a dedicated terminal device. It is for academic and study purposes only and coping and printing are prohibited, but abundant information on the artworks utilizing the characteristics of digital images is available. In addition to those three artworks, nine artworks in all have been released such as The Eleven-Headed Kannon (Nara National Museum), The Hikone Screen (Hikone Castle Museum),Genre Figures said to be Honda Heihachiro Screen, Kabuki Performance Handscroll, Various Amusements known as the Sooji Byobu Screen (The Tokugawa Art Museum), and Red and White Plum Blossoms Screens (MOA Museum of Art). It is planned to add newly digital contents of other artworks and provide exclusive research materials. A display terminal is available for accessing the images and information during the opening hours of the Library. For more information about the Library, please see the Visitor’s Guide.
http://www.tobunken.go.jp/~joho/english/library/library_e.html
“Kariyado Folk Journal”
Making a speech to introduce the published folk journal at the unveiling ceremony of the monument
In the Kariyado area, Namie Town, Fukushima Prefecture, intangible cultural heritage such as “Shishimai (Deer Dance)” and “Kagura (sacred Shinto music and dance)” have been passed down from generation to generation. In 2011, however, all residents of the area evacuated due to serious nuclear accidents caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The succession of their folk performing arts also faced a crisis. Therefore, the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage conducted several surveys to accumulate information on Shishimai and Kagura, as well as the history and life of the area supporting such intangible cultural heritage, in order to compile it into a folk journal. In March 2018, “Kariyado Folk Journal” was finally published.
Although the residents were allowed to return to their homes in the Kariyado area in April 2017, only some households have returned now in a year. Under the circumstances, a “Monument for the Reconstruction of the Kariyado Area Devastated by the Great Earthquake” was built, hoping for the recovery of the area. Its unveiling ceremony was held on April 21st and was attended by Hiromichi KUBOTA from the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage. During the ceremony, the newly published folk journal, whose number of copies is large enough to be distributed to all households in the Kariyado area, was introduced to the public. We hope that this folk journal will contribute not only to the succession of the intangible cultural heritage of the area but also to the further progress of the reconstruction of the area.
Top page of “INTANGIBLE.” The character on the left is Kobayashi, while the one on the right is Nyadeshiko.
As part of the “Cultural Heritage Disaster Risk Mitigation Network Promotion Project” (a project subsidized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs), the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage developed a website called “INTANGIBLE” to start its publication and operation for intangible cultural heritage lovers. Prompt relief and recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake were hindered due to very limited information on devastated intangible cultural heritage and its support. Particularly, intangible cultural heritage includes numerous assets other than designated cultural properties. To collect such diverse information, networks for the people involved and lovers were focused on.
This website was started to share information required for the construction of such networks. To attract as many web surfers as possible, news and backstage reports on intangible cultural heritage, as well as the gallery and collection pages for lovers, have been provided. Along with the unique characters of the website, friendly pages will welcome all visitors.
http://intangible.tobunken.go.jp/
Participants of the Second Festival Network Meeting
The second meeting of the “Festival Network” for festival and folk performing art lovers was conducted jointly with Omatsuri Japan Co., Ltd. in the basement conference room of Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties on Saturday, April 14th. The theme of this meeting was “Shishimai × Shishimai (Lion Dance × Lion Dance).” Four people were invited as guest speakers: Mr. Osamu KATSUYAMA from Shishieden Shishikatashu in Toyama Prefecture, Ms. Kumiko KATSUYAMA from the Lion Dance Preservation Society in Imizu Town, Toyama Prefecture, Mr. Mitsuru TOGAWA, representative of the Sanuki Lion Dance Preservation Society in Kagawa Prefecture, and Ms. Ayumi NAKAGAWA, spokesperson of the said Society and representative of the Tokyo Sanuki Lion Dance. An overwhelming number of lion dances have been passed down in these two prefectures. After the speakers talked about the passion for their local lion dances, questions and answers were exchanged actively with the audience. They commented that persistence to preserve local festivals and traditions, as well as rural depopulation and generation gap issues, could be recognized anew through the actual cases indicated by the speakers
Mural painting exhibited at the Museo Egizio in Turin
Exterior view of the Santuario della Madonna d'Ongero
From April 19th through April 29th, 2018, members of Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation visited the Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy, and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) in Switzerland to collect information about the international scene and build a network with international institutions.
At the Museo Egizio in Turin, curators, managers for registration of works, and restorers gathered to talk about the concrete efforts made for maintenance and management of their collected items, as well as for their conservation and restoration. At the SUPSI, we delivered a lecture on the projects undertaken by the Center for professors and students of the University. In addition, guided by Ms. Giacinta Jean, Course Director in Conservation, we visited the research facilities of the University and the Santuario della Madonna d’Ongero, on whose stucco-work, study and research were conducted by the University. Ms. Giacinta Jean explained how the concept of conserving cultural properties worked in Switzerland and the current status of its conservation activities.
In the conservation and restoration of cultural properties, it is important to enrich our insight while collecting information from various areas, as well as to repeatedly exchange opinions on how to resolve problems and maintain and manage cultural properties. This is vital because such efforts will help us in retaining an objective attitude toward cultural heritage and viewing it with an open mind without allowing for subjective eyes.
Also, during these visits, we made discoveries and found research themes through opinion exchange, which we could hardly have done during the regular activities. Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation will continually reinforce international cooperative relationships, putting much effort into building a network with international institutions.
Open Seminar: “Toward Sharing Information on Art Magazines”; On-going Discussion
One of the sources for information regarding any exhibition or art museum is the art magazine. In recent times, there has been an increasing use of TV or the internet as an information source. However, before TV and the internet became popular and accessible to all, the art magazine, regularly published with pictures of various works of art, was a visual and immediate source for transmitting/supplying information to persons involved in the fine arts and art lovers. In the research on Japanese modern art, these art magazines play an important role as materials that reflect the details of the trends and movements in the fine arts of the time. Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties is a rich source of information as numerous art magazines published in the Meiji era and thereafter are in its possession. An open seminar titled “Toward Sharing Information on Art Magazines” was held on March 16th to provide an opportunity for participants to discuss the organization, publication, and sharing of such information.
In this seminar, the following three researchers specialized in Japanese modern art delivered presentations, whose titles are as shown below:
○Jun SHIOYA (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties): “Art Magazines of Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties – History of Its Collection and Publication”
○Shogo OHTANI (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo): “Another Art Scene in the Period from the Mid-1930s to the Mid-1940s from “Nikkan Bijutsu Tsushin (Daily Art Journal)”
○Hitoshi MORI (Kanazawa College of Art): “The Art Magazine – Its Value and the Obstacles to its Production”
Mr. Shioya unveiled the Institute’s history of collecting art magazines and described the project started by its predecessor, The Institute of Art Research, in 1932, to compile the art history of the Meiji and Taisho eras and the project to publish the “Yearbook of Japanese Art” initiated in 1936. Then, Mr. Ohtani pointed out the scarcity and the significance of the art industry journal published from 1935 through 1943, “Nikkan Bijutsu Tsushin (Daily Art Journal)” (the title was changed to “Bijutsu Bunka Simbun (Art Culture Newspaper)” in 1941), by introducing its articles on reorganization of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts and the inside story of the organization that led to it publicly seeking works for its exhibition. Finally, Mr. Mori presented a comprehensive view on the friction between the concepts of “fine arts” and “magazine” brought in from Western Europe and the scope of Japanese pre-modern art, after presenting an overview of modern art magazines.
After the presentations, the three researchers held an active discussion together with Mr. Hideki KIKKAWA (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties) as the MC taking questions on the presentations from the audience and settling on the proposed ways of sharing information using art magazines as a topic. In addition, Mr. Kikkawa mentioned how there has been steady progress regarding international information sharing among art magazines, and he introduced the efforts of the Institute, such as (a) a joint project with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures to build a database of Japanese fine arts literature mentioned in European magazines; (b) providing metadata of “Mizue” published in the Meiji era for the Getty Research Portal operated by the Getty Research Institute; and (c) uploading “The Bijutsu Kenkyu (The Journal of Art Studies)” and “Yearbook of Japanese Art” on JAIRO, operated by the National Institute of Informatics.
The seminar, which functioned as a site to exchange valuable information, attracted 80 persons involved in archive operations at art museums, universities, and publishing and other companies. Related to the presentation by Mr. Mori, a book editorially supervised by him and containing information on art magazines from the Meiji era through the pre-war period of the Showa era, will be published soon by TOKYO BIJUTSU Co., Ltd. titled “Overview of Japanese Art Magazines 1867-1945” (temporary title).
A few of the materials possessed by Yoshihiko Imaizumi
On March 31st, the bereaved family of Yoshihiko IMAIZUMI (1931–2010), who was an artist and principal of an alternative art school “Bigakko,” donated the precious materials possessed by him. Mr. Imaizumi was involved in the avant-garde art movement while he was studying at the Department of Fine Arts, Nihon University College of Art. He wrote art critiques while creating paintings, and he was involved in the publication of a magazine “Keisho” in 1958. Since the foundation of the “Bigakko” in 1968, Mr. Imaizumi had been supporting the activities of avant-garde artists through widespread interactions with them until his last years. The papers donated this time include his diaries, photos, books and magazines, documents, and letters sent to him from the 1950s through the 2000s, which occupy book racks 6 m in length. Several materials are related to Yutaka MATSUZAWA, Hiroshi NAKAMURA, Natsuyuki NAKANISHI, Gempei AKASEGAWA, and Mokuma KIKUHATA, who taught at the art school. The letters exchanged with the Soviet Union in 1955 and 1957 when he was a member of the exhibition executive committee of the World Festival of Youth and Students, which was regarded as the Universiade for socialist countries, are also included. The letters enable verification of the relationships with non-American and non-Western European countries in the late 1950s. The papers are also valuable in the context of the cultural and social histories during the Cold War, in addition to art history. Members of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems of the Institute visited his house to survey the papers before the donation by courtesy of his bereaved family. We will provide these precious materials as research data at the Library of the Institute after taking actions to conserve and organize the data for retrieval.
Exchange of ideas with the delegation from the Ministry of Culture in Thailand
Visit to the Performing Arts Studio of the Institute
On March 13th, 2018, five delegates headed by Mr. Pradit Posew, the Deputy Director-General of the Department of Cultural Promotion (the Ministry of Culture, Thailand), visited Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and exchanged ideas with researchers at the Institute
In 2016, the Thai government ratified the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, a UNESCO Convention. At present, the government is preparing an inventory of the intangible cultural heritage of the country. In 2017, the government made an nomination files to have “Khon (traditional mask dance drama of Thailand)” and “Nuad Thai (traditional massage of Thailand)” included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The former will be examined at the 13th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Mauritius, scheduled for November 26th through December 1st, 2018.
The objectives of their visit to Japan were to update themselves on the current condition of conservation and utilization of intangible cultural properties and heritage in Japan, which has years of accumulated experience in these activities, and to exchange ideas with Japanese experts. At this Institute, Thai and Japanese experts reported the current status of their respective intangible cultural heritage and discussed the issues common to the two countries, along with related questions and answers. Particularly, all the members recognized that how to hand down intangible cultural heritage to the coming generations is an important issue both in Japan and in Thailand.
In the course of modernization, numerous traditional cultures have disappeared in Japan. Today, Thailand is experiencing rapid economic growth and accelerating development while facing the possibility of deterioration or extinction of its traditional cultures. Thus, the balancing of economic development with the preservation of culture is an important issue there. We believe that Thai people would be able to find a better way to hand down their intangible cultural heritage to future generations by referring to Japanese experiences not only of success but also of failure in preserving cultural heritage.
Scene of the private view
Scene of the exhibition
It is seven years since the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. We offer our sincere condolences on the death of victims of the unprecedented tragedy, and we express our gratitude to those who have worked in restoration assistance following the disaster. Iwate Prefectural Museum, where thousands of cultural assets that were damaged by tsunami have been treated for stabilization treatment, held panoptic exhibitions from March to May, which demonstrated to us the importance of conservation of tsunami-damaged assets. During these exhibitions, we exchanged information with specialists involved in stabilization work of damaged assets.
Two exhibitions, “Asu ni tsunagu Kesen no takaramono–Tsunami de hisai shita Rikuzentakata shiryo wo chushin ni (The treasures of Kesen that we pass on to the future generations –with a focus on tsunami-damaged assets in Rikuzentakata)” (March 3rd to 28th, 2018) and “Mirai heno yakusoku–ima katari hajimeta Kesen no takaramono” (A promise to the future–the treasures of Kesen that start to talk now)” (April 3rd to May 6th, 2018), introduced the damaged cultural assets that stabilization treatment of which was finished. During the opening ceremony, the deputy director general of our institution, Eriko Yamanashi, gave a congratulatory speech by guests, instead of the director general, Nobuo Kamei, who could not come to the museum. In the private view, the director of Center for Conservation Science, Chie Sano, gave an explanation of our study on the stabilization processing of tsunami-damaged documents. It seemed that the exhibitions were strongly motivated activities. There were descriptions of every asset’s condition before stabilization, and stabilization methods used, as well as the cultural assets that stabilization treatment of which was finished.
Through seven years of the work, stabilization treatment of 220,000 items, out of 460,000 damaged items, has been completed. However, 240,000 cultural assets are still awaiting stabilization in the museum. The number of tsunami-damaged assets is enormous. In addition, the assets have many types of problems such as unpleasant odor. We would like to contribute to the conservation of damaged cultural assets through scientific study.
Complete view of the Hien. The national marking (red sun) on the surface of the right-hand main wing is reproduced with projected red light.
The national marking (red sun) on the right-hand side of the fuselage is reproduced every two minutes by projection mapping.
Visible are two traces of the national markings (red sun) on the left-hand side of the fuselage. The larger one is a trace of one painted after the war.
The trace of the airframe number “6117” below the supercharger air intake.
The Kawasaki Ki-61-II Hien (flying swallow), possessed by the Japan Aeronautic Association, was manufactured at the Gifu Works of Kawasaki Aircraft Co., Ltd. in 1944. When World War II ended in 1945, it belonged to the Air Evaluation Department of the Imperial Japanese Army located at the Fussa Air Base in Tokyo. Although almost all Japanese aircraft were scrapped after the war, this fighter was not disposed of for some unknown reason and had been displayed at the US Yokota Air Base until 1953. This Hien is now the world’s only airframe displayed in a museum. (There have been several attempts to restore the Hien, using the wreckage retrieved from New Guinea.) This fighter was transferred to The Japan Aeronautic Association from the US forces for free in 1953. Until 1986, when it was exhibited in the Chiran Peace Museum (Minamikyushu City), the fighter was displayed all over Japan. Meanwhile, some of its parts were lost and the airframe was damaged. When necessary, temporary repairs were carried out while painting and marking distinctly different from the original ones were applied from 1965 onwards.
In recent years, the Japan Aeronautic Association has begun to recognize anew the Hien as a cultural property through joint research with the Center for Conservation Science. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (hereinafter KHI) offered full cooperation in restoration of the Hien as a commemorative project to celebrate the 120th anniversary of its foundation in 2016. In 2015, the fighter was restored at its Gifu Works for almost a year.
Prior to its restoration, it was decided that the Hien would be restored as a cultural property through negotiation between the Japan Aeronautic Association and KHI. As for individual items for restoration, KHI proposed restoration methods, which the Association checked and accepted. The restoration by KHI covered a wide range of issues, including the removal of the paint applied on the airframe surface, removal of non-original parts added after the war, and production of new replica parts such as the nose panel above the engine and the instrument panels of the cockpit.
Removal of the paint on the airframe surface revealed the traces of the drilling tool blade that slid over the skin of the wings during manufacture, as well as traces of national markings and caution notes on various parts of the airframe. It also revealed the fact that the airframe number (construction number) was “6117.” Repainting of the national markings, which was proposed by KHI, was not implemented due to a possibility that new paint might affect the airframe surface and for the value of exhibiting the discovered traces as they are. When the Hien was exhibited at Kobe Port Terminal Hall (Kobe City) for about one month in autumn 2016, the national markings were reproduced with wrapping film at the request of KHI. The film was peeled off after being delivered to the Kakamigahara Aerospace Science Museum (Kakamigahara City). Although the museum had been closed since September 2016 for renovation, the disassembled Hien was displayed in the repository from November 2016 through November 2017.
After the restoration by KHI, the Japan Aeronautic Association surveyed the Hien under the supervision of the Center. This led to the removal of deteriorated rubber parts and the replacement of the fabric on the control surfaces (the rudder, the elevators, and the ailerons). Like many other aircraft of that time, the control surfaces are composed of a metal framework covered with fabric. When the fabric was replaced in 1986, it was not sewed to ribs, which resulted in creating a different appearance. Therefore, the Center researched the material of the fabric used in the WW2 era so as to provide supporting data for replacement of the fabric. This replacement was carried out from autumn 2017 through February 2018. The Center also took photos of the airframe before and after the reassembly for the record.
When the Museum was reopened after the renewal as “Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum” on March 24th, 2018, the Hien became one of the main exhibits there. According to the Museum, many visitors positively accept the unpainted national markings, and this fact indicates that the perception of aircraft as cultural property is spreading in our society.
Excavated terrace structure
Ongoing precise survey
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties has been engaged in technical cooperation with the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA) in order to draft a conservation and management plan for Ta Nei Temple in Cambodia. From March 8th through 22nd, 2018, we conducted the third archaeological investigation at Ta Nei Temple and a precise survey of its surroundings.
The main purpose of the archaeological investigation was to further clarify the terrace structure on the upper surface of the embankment of the East Baray reservoir discovered during the second investigation in December 2017. The excavation was conducted jointly with staff from APSARA.
The investigation disclosed the fact that laterite ashlars are laid to shape the entire structure as a cross, which is 13.8 m east to west and 11.9 m north to south. In addition, numerous roof tiles were found in its vicinity, and there were many holes and dents on the laterite ashlars, which seem to have been postholes. These findings implicitly show that there once was a wooden building on this terrace structure. Since the terrace structure is located on the east-west temple axis, we will continue the investigation to clarify the connection between the two structures.
At the same time, we also conducted a precise survey with a total station around the temple. Based on the collected data, we are preparing a detailed topographic map, which is expected to be effectively utilized for the conservation and management of the temple.
We also provided technical guidance for APSARA staff through technical transfer during the precise survey. We will continue such technical support, in addition to academic investigations.
Consultation on conservation plans for the paintings
Investigation of the hanging scroll
Among overseas art collections, there are numerous Japanese art objects that play a significant role in representing Japanese culture in their regions. However, since the conservators-restorers who are specialized in these objects are rarely overseas and the proper conservation treatment cannot be undertaken on the objects, quite a few objects cannot be shown to the public. Thus, the Institute conducts the Cooperative Program for the Conservation of Japanese Art Objects Overseas in order to contribute to the conservation-restoration and utilization of these objects.
On 26th March, the Institute’s researchers and conservators visited Grassi Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig and investigated the paintings for the purpose of formulating conservation plans and selecting objects for conservation under the Cooperative Program. Two hanging scrolls and a pair of folding screens, which had been chosen based on the collection survey conducted last year, were observed to record their components and conditions in detail. After the investigation, we consulted with the Museum about future conservation plans by explaining the conditions of each object as well as details about the Cooperative Program. Moreover, there was also a discussion on the possibility of future cooperation in the techniques of conservation of painting in each country such as an exhibition of techniques seen from ethnologic perspectives.
A scene of the workshop
Old traditional house proposed as a subject to be preserved (in Haa province)
The traditional houses in the western region of Bhutan are built with earth rammed down into a formwork, a method called rammed earth construction. These houses have become a key element of the beautiful cultural landscape of the country with lush greenery. However, unlike religious and administrative buildings such as temples and castles, they are not protected legally as cultural heritage, and precious old houses are being lost rapidly due to natural disasters, modernization, and various other factors.
Since 2012, Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties has been conducting architectural studies and research on buildings constructed in the rammed earth method jointly with the Division for Conservation of Heritage Sites, Department of Culture, Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs in Bhutan. During the process, both sides became once again strongly aware of the value of old houses as cultural heritage and the urgency in their conservation. Therefore, on March 13th, 2018, we organized a workshop joined by Japanese and Bhutanese experts, persons in charge from the Ministry of Works and Human Settlement and local governments, and owners of traditional houses at the headquarters of the Department of Culture in Thimphu. We shared information about the survey outcomes including the chronology and the changing process of traditional house architecture, the legal framework for protection of cultural heritage in Bhutan, and how Japanese traditional houses are protected. We also exchanged opinions on specific traditional houses to be preserved and related future issues. We hear that soon after the workshop, a positive effect began to appear through a movement toward the preservation and utilization of important houses. We expect its great contribution to the consolidation of the legal system for cultural heritage, which has been stagnant in the country.
Left: Yoshida Yoshie Collection (after treatments applied at Conservation Center)
Right: Collection’s call label
UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library
The Library of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA, held a symposium on February 20th to commemorate the opening of the Yoshida Yoshie Collection―a collection of materials on Yoshida Yoshie donated to the library. Kikkawa from the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems of Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties took this opportunity to visit the UCLA Library system’s sections and units related to special collections (archives). Accompanied by Tomoko Bialock, Japanese Studies Librarian of the university, Kikkawa made a tour of the East Asian Library (second floor of the Charles E. Young Research Library), Special Collections (basement of the same library building), Conservation Center (Powell Library), and the Southern Regional Library Facility. During the tour, Kikkawa met with specialists in charge of conservation treatments, creation of finding aids, digitization of individual items, and long-term preservations, who explained to him how to select, accept and conserve special collections and how to allow library users to access them, by using the Yoshida Yoshie Collection as a case study. He also discussed and exchanged information with each specialist about the situation surrounding special collections in Japan in the field of art. Through the tour of the UCLA Library, a library of one of the largest universities in the U.S., which accepts an enormous number of special collections in a variety of genres, including those on politicians, historians and literary figures, Kikkawa learned firsthand about its sophisticated system of accepting materials into special collections, and about the job specialization that allows each staff member to exercise his or her expertise. This visit provided him with an opportunity to realize once again the differences between the U.S. and Japan in terms of structural factors, including the arrangement of staff and the budget size allocated to special collections. A report of this visit will be presented and shared with relevant individuals and parties at a seminar to be held in May by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems.
