| ■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 |
|
Discussion of the Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites which Japan nominated
Lobby of the Qatar National Convention Center where the 38th Session took place
The 38th Session of the World Heritage Committee was held from June 15 to 25 in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Prior to the session, the Institute analyzed documents regarding the state of conservation of properties on the World Heritage List and documents regarding properties nominated for inscription on the List. The Institute also gathered information on trends related to world heritage during the session.
During the session, 26 sites were added to the World Heritage List, bringing the total number of sites on the List to 1,007. The Okavango Delta (Botswana), the only African site recommended for inscription on the List by the Advisory Bodies, was inscribed on the List and the order of nominations was modified so that the site would be the symbolic 1,000th inscription on the List. The Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites that Japan nominated for inscription were discussed. Of the 20 Committee Members not including Japan, 18 expressed approval for the site to be inscribed. Many of the Members cited the mill complex, a site of early modern industry, as evidence of the exchange and amalgamation of the technologies of France and Japan.
During the session, 3 sites were added to the List of World Heritage in Danger and 1 site was removed. One of the included sites was Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines—Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir. Since the site had been submitted as an emergency nomination, it was automatically inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Advisory Bodies had recommended that the nomination of 13 sites be deferred, but 8 of these sites were inscribed on the List during the session. One site that was recommended not to be inscribed was inscribed as an emergency nomination and 2 sites that recommended for referral were also inscribed. The prevalence of nomination decisions overturning the recommendations from Advisory Bodies could compromise the Committee’s credibility and transparency. The National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo will continue to discern trends regarding Committee sessions.
Starting this year, the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage has studied the preservation and further utilization of tools associated with intangible cultural heritage. Craft techniques and folk techniques are intangible cultural properties, and tools are essential to these techniques. However, a system of preserving these tools has yet to be instituted. Workshops and plants in various places are closing due to the advanced age of the craftsmen who work in them and the lack of individuals to carry on techniques. As a consequence, tools are in danger of vanishing. Preservation and further utilization of tools is essential to passing down intangible cultural properties, and the current state of the preservation and further utilization of these items probably needs to be ascertained and discussed.
Kumagaya dyeing (yuuzen [a form of dyeing with drawn patterns] and komon [intricate pattern dyeing]) is a traditional handicraft as designated by Saitama Prefecture. This year, the tools used in Kumagaya dyeing were studied with the cooperation of the Kumagaya City Library in the City of Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture. Workshops that use Kumagaya dyeing were found to use traditional craft techniques and to incorporate somewhat modern craft techniques such as screen printing. Information about early modern textile techniques that have expanded on traditional textile techniques must be compiled to pass down those techniques. Information about the tools that are kept by and used in various workshops is essential to understanding the techniques those workshops use. As the study progressed, it revealed that the type, usage, and repair of tools differed depending on the workshop. In the future, we would like to explore new ways to pass down intangible cultural heritage as we compile information about these tools.
On-site training at Bagaya Monastery
Practice preparing materials to conserve murals
Damage to glass mosaic decorations on a Buddhist alter at Shwe Nan Daw Monastery
As part of the “Networking Core Centers for International Cooperation in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage Project” commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, on-site training and surveys were conducted from early to mid-June in cooperation with the Department of Archaeology and National Museum (DoA), Ministry of Culture of Myanmar;
1) A second on-site training course on the conservation of historical wooden buildings was conducted
The course took place from June 2 to 13. Trainees were 8 staff members with specialties in architecture or archaeology from the main and branch offices of the DoA together with 1 associate professor and 3 students from the Technological University (Mandalay). The course consisted of classroom lectures at the DoA Mandalay branch office and on-site practice at Bagaya Monastery in the suburbs of Mandalay. The trainees learned techniques such as drafting schematic drawings of floor plans, measuring floor unevenness and the tilting of columns, and checking and recording what types of deterioration have occurred and their extent. Training concluded with each group announcing the results of its research. In addition, termite damage (a problem common to wooden buildings in Myanmar) was surveyed by an expert and a preliminary course on termite damage was conducted. Termite damage at Bagaya Monastery has spread to the upper part of the building, and monitoring of this damage commenced with the assistance of the trainees in order to examine effective countermeasures.
2) Survey of and training on the conservation of murals at brick temple ruins
From June 11 to 17, a survey of the state of murals and conditions indoors at pagoda No.1205 was conducted to continue previous efforts. Damage to murals was mapped during the current survey. The murals are quite sturdy, but the survey revealed damage that must be dealt with in the future, such as the weakening and collapse of murals due to rain leakage and termite nests. In addition, training on the conservation of murals and pest control was conducted at the Bagan Archeological Museum. This training was attended by 6 conservators from the DoA Bagan branch. The trainees were especially interested in practice using restoration materials like adhesives and fillers as well as lectures on pest control and practice controlling pests. Plans are to continue conducting training sessions with more practical content.
3) Survey on traditional lacquerware techniques
Surveys were conducted in Bagan and Mandalay from June 11 to 19. The survey in Bagan was conducted in cooperation with the Lacquerware Technical University and Lacquerware Museum under the auspices of the Ministry of Cooperatives. The survey examined insect damage and it studied techniques that were used to produce lacquerware and damage to lacquerware in the museum’s collection. The survey revealed the need for urgent cleaning and the need to improve conditions for exhibition and storage of the pieces. In Mandalay, interviews on lacquer materials produced in Myanmar were conducted. In addition, techniques to produce glass mosaics in conjunction with lacquer decoration were studied at monasteries and shops selling those materials. Lacquer techniques that were used on the outside of the Shwe Nan Daw Monastery were visually inspected along with insect damage. Most of the interior and exterior of this building features lacquer decoration. This inspection revealed that ultraviolet rays and rain had extensively damaged the lacquer decorations.
A panel discussion underway
In April 2011, a large-scale pro-democracy movement developed in Syria, and that groundswell shows no sign of stopping. In actuality, Syria is currently in a state of civil war. There are over 140,000 dead in Syria, and over 4 million people have fled the country.
Destruction of Syria’s cultural heritage as the civil war unfolds has made major news around the world. World heritage sites that epitomize Syria, such as Aleppo and Krak des Chevaliers, have become battlegrounds, and many ruins have been looted and many museums have been plundered. The illegal export of cultural properties from Syria is an international concern. In light of this situation, UNESCO began efforts to safeguard Syria’s cultural heritage.
On June 23, the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo hosted a symposium on Safeguarding Syria’s Cultural Heritage. At the symposium, presenters reported on the expert meeting, “Rallying the International Community to Safeguard Syria’s Cultural Heritage” that UNESCO had convened from May 26 to 28. In addition, presenters reported on various activities both at home and abroad to safeguard Syria’s cultural heritage.
A lecture at the seminar
On June 26 and 27, the Japan Consortium for International Cooperation in Cultural Heritage (JCIC-Heritage) co-organized a seminar on Community Involvement in the Management of Cultural Heritae with the National Museum of Ethnology. The seminar took place at the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo and at the International House, Osaka.
Over the past few years, there has been a clamor for public involvement in the management of cultural heritage in terms of promoting the coexistence of cultural heritage and tourism development. This clamor has arisen at the local, national, and international level, but the problem is that attempts to answer that clamor have not fared well. Given this reality, a seminar on Public Involvement in the Management of Cultural Heritage was held to specifically discuss the local community’s role and potential in terms of the management of cultural heritage.
A lecture was given by SEKI Yuji, Vice Chairperson of JCIC-Heritage and Chairperson of the Latin America and Caribbean Subcommittee, explaining the purpose of the seminar and the issues in question. Afterwards, examples of the state of management of cultural heritage involving local residents were described by NISHIYAMA Noriaki (Peru), Head of the Hokkaido University Center for Advanced Tourism Studies, YAOITA Kiho (Fiji and Peru), an Appointed Associate Professor of the Hokkaido University Center for Advanced Tourism Studies, MASUDA Kanefusa (Micronesia) of the Japanese Association for Conservation of Architectural Monuments, and MATSUDA Akira (Italy and the UK), a Lecturer in Japanese Art and Artistic Heritage at the University of East Anglia.
A panel discussion took place after the lectures. Based on the examples described during the lectures and in light of questions from the audience, panelists actively discussed issues with the concept of community involvement, issues with its implementation, and the potential for community involvement from the perspective of international cooperation. The seminar had around 130 attendees during the 2 days in which it took place. Questions and views were proffered from various perspectives related to the management of cultural heritage, indicating the considerable interest in this topic.
Signing ceremony at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia: Arev Samuelyan, Deputy Minister of Culture (left) and the author (right)
Director General KAMEI Nobuo, accompanied by YAMAUCHI Kazuya, Head of the Regional Environment Section of the Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation and HIRAIDE Hidefumi, Chief of General Affairs of the Department of Research Support and Promotion, was invited and visited the Republic of Armenia from May 25 to June 2 at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture. This invitation was in response to a project by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan that invited Arev Samuelyan, Deputy Minister of Culture to Japan last year to inform her of the current state of safeguarding of Japan’s cultural properties. A networking core center project of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan had conducted workshops on the conservation of bronze objects since 2011. With the conclusion of these workshops, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo signed an Agreement for Cooperation in the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage for the next 5 years. The Japanese representatives also attended the workshop’s closing ceremony and an opening ceremony for an exhibit of items that had been conserved.
The signing ceremony for the new memorandum of agreement took place at the Ministry of Culture and the opening ceremony for the exhibit took place at the History Museum on the 26th. Addressing numerous members of the press, Deputy Minister Samuelyan expressed appreciation and thanks for Japan’s cooperation in training Armenian personnel. On the 27th, KAMEI delivered a lecture entitled “The current state of and issues with safeguarding Japan’s cultural properties.” In this lecture, he explained the necessity of fostering personnel to pass on techniques and providing materials and tools needed to safeguard various cultural properties. KAMEI also emphasized that he had the sense of an impending crisis regarding the safeguarding cultural properties in Japan, given its shrinking society. The Japanese representatives visited Armenia’s foremost monasteries, convents and churches along with museum conservation facilities from 28th. Through the on-site visit, the Japanese representatives experienced Armenia’s wonderful culture while they realized the necessity of further technical exchanges between Japan and Armenia.
Top page of The Information retrieval system for the Research Materials Database
The Information retrieval system for the Research Materials Database (http://www.tobunken.go.jp/archives/) has been redesigned. This redesign reflects some of the work to create an Institute-wide research materials archive by the Archives Working Group last year. The Working Group falls under the Institute’s Archives Management Committee. The redesign involved extensive revamping of both the operability of the Information retrieval system and database content.
The Institute’s Research Materials Database made information on Japanese volumes and in sales catalogs available online in 2002. Since then, the database has made available library information from different departments, information on sources in related fields, information on exhibitions, and information on traditional musical instruments. The database distributes useful content specific to institutes researching cultural properties. That said, database users asked for improved operability since they wanted to be able to Search Across Multiple Databases in the System, perform an Advanced Search Using Multiple Keywords, or Sort Search Results. The database was previously constructed using SQL, which is a database language, and Microsoft’s ASP.NET, which is a web application framework. These components have been changed to a combination of MySQL and WordPress (PHP). As a result, problems have been resolved and the database’s operability has improved.
Content has been increased so that the database now has 530,000 pieces of information on papers and articles featured in the Institute’s publications. Previously, the database only included papers featured in the research journals Bijutsu Kenkyu (The Journal of Art Studies), Geino no Kagaku (Performing Arts Studies), and Science for Conservation. Now, however, the database includes various reports of research results, the Yearbook of Japanese Art, TOBUNKEN News(News from the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo), and Annual Reports. The database also includes bulletins and articles besides papers. As a result, access to articles describing the status of research projects and the Institute’s research results has improved.
Approaches to facilitate access to highly specialized information and allow its efficient use are being considered. If you have any comments or questions about using the system, please let us know by using the database’s Comments or Questions form (http://www.tobunken.go.jp/archives/ご意見・お問い合わせ).
The class at the Hometown Center
The Description of Folk Customs in Goishi is a report that was produced by the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage last year documenting religious festivals and life in the Goishi region of Massaki-cho in the City of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture. The region was stricken by the massive tsunami that followed the Great East Japan Earthquake. An attempt to read this report together with local residents and put it to use has begun. The Kasumigaseki Knowledge Square has been active in the Massaki region. As part of the Square’s Digital Community Center, a class was conducted entitled “Learn in Massaki! A look back at our hometown…via the Description of Folk Customs in Goishi.” KUBOTA Hiromichi of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage attended the class. The class took place at the Hometown Center in the Massaki region and it had about 30 attendees. After a lecture, attendees exchanged various types of information. In the future, local residents will take the lead in creating descriptions of more familiar folk customs and in passing on those customs to local children. This approach was evident in the class. Preserving local identity is a concern since communities are scattered or they are relocating to higher ground. The Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage plans to continue its efforts, and its efforts in the Goishi region may serve as a case study. The Description of Folk Customs in Goishi (in Japanese) is available in PDF format on the website of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage .
2014 Conference (National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea)
The Center for Conservation Science and Restoration Techniques concluded a memorandum of understanding with the Conservation Science Division of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Korea. Both institutes are proceeding with “Joint research on the effects of environmental pollution on cultural properties and R & D of conservation techniques.” Specifically, both institutes are conducting joint field studies of outdoor stone heritage in both countries and they are both hosting an annual conference. Researchers from both institutes are endeavoring to share their results with their counterparts.
National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, the Republic of Korea is overseeing the research this year, so a conference was held on May 27 in a lecture hall at the Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center. The conference was attended by OKADA Ken, KUCHITSU Nobuaki, and MORII Masayuki from the Center for Conservation Science and Restoration Techniques. The conference garnered interest, as was evinced by the almost packed venue. At the conference, lead Japanese and Korean researchers and cooperating university professors gave presentations on stone heritage, and an active discussion took place with attendees asking numerous questions and offering numerous comments. Plans are to conduct joint studies of cave tombs in the future.
Exhibition of workshop achievements at the History Museum of Armenia
The opening ceremony for the exhibition (KAMEI Nobuo, Director General of the Institute, is on the far right)
The Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation held its 6th workshop at the History Museum of Armenia from May 20 to 27, 2014. This workshop is part of the Networking Core Centers for International Cooperation on Conservation of Cultural Heritage Project commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The project is planned to last 4 years, and the aims of the project are capacity building and technical transferring in the conservation of archaeological metal objects. This year is the final year of the project, and the theme of this year’s workshop was “Exhibition in Museums”.
The workshop was held for 6 experts from Armenia and 2 experts from Georgia and Russia. Japanese experts gave lectures on the case studies of exhibitions at Japanese museum, the effects of light, temperature, and humidity that must be considered during exhibition, the exhibition explanation panels, and materials used for exhibition works. Then, the participants took the lead in displaying the archaeological metal objects that had been conserved in the previous workshops. Not only to publicize the achievement of the joint Armenian-Japanese projects but also to inform the visitors about conservation activities of this project, various opinions regarding the exhibition plan were exchanged among the participants. Specifically, photographs of the object before conservation were displayed beside the conserved objects to show the difference while the slide show depicting every step of the conservation works was shown. More detailed information achieved through the studies on the exhibited objects was included in the brochure. The exhibition preparations finished on the final day of the workshop. The opening ceremony for the exhibition took place on the same day, and both the persons concerned in this project as well as persons not related with the History Museum of Armenia attended the ceremony.
The workshop has concluded, and a report on the workshop is planned to be published in the future.
General Director of Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums, Syria reporting on the extent of damage to Syria’s cultural heritage
In April 2011, a large-scale pro-democracy movement developed in Syria, and that groundswell shows no sign of stopping. In actuality, Syria is currently in a state of civil war. There are over 140,000 dead in Syria, and over 4 million people have fled the country.
Damage to Syria’s cultural heritage has made major news as the civil war unfolds. World heritage sites that epitomize Syria, such as Aleppo, Palmyra, and Krak des Chevaliers, have become battlegrounds. Many archaeological sites have been looted and many museums have been plundered. The illegal export of cultural properties from Syria is an international concern.
In light of this situation, UNESCO began a new project, Emergency Safeguarding of Syrian Cultural Heritage, this March to safeguard Syria’s cultural heritage with the support of the EU.
As part of this project, “International Expert Meeting: Rallying the International Community to Safeguard Syria’s Cultural Heritage” was convened by UNESCO at its headquarters in Paris from May 26 to 28. The meeting was attended by over 120 experts from 22 countries. Two of those experts were YAMAUCHI Kazuya and ABE Masashi from the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo. The extent of damage to Syria’s cultural heritage was reported at the meeting, and future strategies to safeguard Syria’s cultural heritage were actively discussed.
Survey in the Jaffna Archaeological Museum
An exchange of opinions at the Office of the Department of Archaeology in Trincomalee
In February and in May, the Japan Consortium for International Cooperation in Cultural Heritage (JCIC-Heritage) supported surveys of the current state of museums and cultural heritage in Sri Lanka since the civil war. These surveys were part of a cultural cooperation program of the Japan Foundation (project participants: KOIZUMI Yoshihide, Supervisor of Planning in the Department of Planning of the Tokyo National Museum and FUKUYAMA Yasuko, Associate professor in the Faculty of Intercultural Communication of Ryukoku University). The project was implemented on the basis of survey studies on international cooperation of Sri Lanka by JCIC-Heritage in 2012. With the cooperation of the Department of Archaeology of Sri Lanka, exhibits and collections were surveyed and information on conservation of cultural properties was gathered primarily in museums in the north (the Jaffna region) and the northeast (the Trincomalee region). These regions had been affected by a civil war that lasted 26 years (1983–2009). Future strategies for conservation and use of cultural properties since the end of the civil war were discussed.
For several years, Sri Lanka has worked to establish cultural facilities and develop regions using cultural properties while taking regional characteristics into account. These efforts are led by the Department of Archaeology and they seek to restore regions affected by the civil war. Jaffna is a unique place in Sri Lanka where one can see the religious imprint of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity, and Jaffna retains various cultural heritage sites with surviving buildings from the colonial period. Trincomalee has many vestiges of Buddhism as well as a history as a center of maritime activity and foreign trade. Plans are underway to establish museums and cultural centers by reusing historic buildings in both regions to appeal to domestic and foreign visitors. That said, the regions face numerous problems in terms of managing cultural properties in existing museums, exhibiting those properties, and personnel to exhibit them. Survey participants provided instructions and suggestions on exhibition plans and management techniques as they exchanged opinions with local personnel.
Sri Lanka has just begun local development that draws on cultural properties in regions that have survived a civil war. The Department of Archaeology needs foreign support in the form of dispatched experts, instruction of personnel, and funds. JCIC-Heritage hopes to continue exploring the potential for cooperation in order to help the regions recover.
The fashion show underway
Group photo
On May 8, an event entitled “Starting with the Days of the Nara Palace: A Fashion Show of Asuka & Tempyo Attire” took place in the Heiseikan of the Tokyo National Museum (organizers: Asuka Mura, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan, the Tokyo National Museum, the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Asahi Shimbun, Collaborator: the Nakagawa Laboratory of the Graduate School of Creative Science and Engineering of Waseda University). The event was related to a special exhibit of Wall Paintings from the Kitora Tumuli that took place at the Tokyo National Museum from April 22 to May 18, 2014. Models for the event included 13 members of the staff of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo. This valuable experience of wearing ancient handmade attire was a first. All of the clothing was made by hand by ancient attire researcher YAMAGUCHI Chiyoko (who arranged the Tempyo attire). The historical setting of the Imperial Palace in Nara in year 3 of the Wadou era (710) was splendidly recreated thanks to planning and staging by SUGIYAMA Hiroshi, Head of the Department of Planning and Coordination of the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.
Acting as a model, I experienced joyous anticipation and elation as I joined my fellow models in setting the stage while dreaming of the ancient world. As I wore beautiful clothes, had my hair coiffured, and adorned myself with numerous accessories, I was able to envision how people from the long-gone Imperial court conducted themselves. However, my imagination had its limits and I was reminded again of the difficulty of studying history. The experience was visceral. I would like to express my appreciation to everyone involved for all of their hard work. I hope to tackle history with a renewed interest.
A portrait of LIAN Quan (from the Educational Materials Office of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts)
The Modern/Contemporary Art Section of the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems is proceeding with a research project on “Research on the history of cultural exchanges in modern and contemporary art.” This project covers modern and contemporary art in Japan and other countries in East Asia. As part of this project, ZHAN Xiaomei, Associate professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology delivered a presentation entitled “Letters from LIAN Quan to OMURA Seigai” at a seminar of the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems on April 25. LIAN Quan (1863‐1932) was a modern Chinese man of letters who was active as a collector of calligraphic works and paintings and as a poet. LIAN made several trips to Japan, where he exhibited his collection and published catalogs. LIAN wrote to OMURA Seigai (1868‐1927), who was known to be an authority on Oriental art history, and 34 of those letters were among the materials related to OMURA that were recently donated to the Educational Materials Office of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. ZHAN’s presentation was based on a study of those letters. LIAN Quan had 1,000 or so fans with paintings by Ming and early Qing painters such as TANG Yin, WEN Zhengming, and WANG Jianzhang. The letters to OMURA mostly concern the sale of LIAN’s fan collection, and the text indicates the extent of the trust LIAN had in OMURA. The letters also reveal that OMURA was indebted to LIAN Quan since LIAN introduced OMURA to notables in the world of calligraphic works and paintings such as WU Changshuo and WANG Yiting when OMURA traveled in China from year 10 of the Taisho era (1921) to the following year. The letters are valuable documents that vividly depict the exchange between Japanese and Chinese at the time. TAKIMOTO Hiroyuki, a writer and researcher of Chinese painting and YOSHIDA Chizuko of the Educational Materials Office of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts attended the seminar and furthered discussion. Plans are to reprint the letters by LIAN Quan in the research journal Bijutsu Kenkyu (The Journal of Art Studies), which is edited by the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems, and have ZHAN Xiaomei describe them.
A festival at Yamada Shrine
As part of a survey of intangible cultural heritage in areas stricken by the Great East Japan Earthquake, an annual celebration at Yamada Shrine in the City of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture was attended on April 23, 2014. Located on the coast, the shrine was washed away by the tsunami following the earthquake, and the area served by the shrine suffered heavy losses. Chief priest MORI Yukihiko also works as a curator at Fukushima Museum. In addition, comments and expressions of sympathy were received by the Intangible Cultural Heritage Information Network operated by the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
After the disaster, a temporary shrine was built through the efforts of volunteers from Kumamoto Prefecture. One the date in question, a number of attendees joined parishioners as a result of extensive media coverage of the plight of Yamada Shrine. However, parishioners’ organizations in many of the surrounding areas are on the brink of collapse. Major issues regarding maintenance and reconstruction of the shrine remain. Religious institutions like shrines and temples tend to be thought of as distinct from management of cultural properties in light of the separation of church and state. That said, the existence of those institutions is closely tied to the passing down of intangible cultural heritage. Thus, relevant information needs to be shared and issues need to be discussed in the future.
Practice handling waterlogged paper
Since April 1995, the Institute has collaborated with the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts to conduct a Course on Preventive Conservation in the Graduate Department of Conservation. Six researchers from the Institute are teaching graduate classes on conservation conditions and conservation materials. In the new school year, there will be 21 first-year master’s students and 9 first-year doctoral students entering the Graduate Department of Conservation. A first-year master’s student in the Conservation Materials Program (advisor: HAYAKAWA Noriko, Adjunct Associate Professor) and a second-year master’s student in the Museum Environment Program (advisor: SANO Chie, Adjunct Professor) have been accepted into the Course on Preventive Conservation. Researchers from the Institute will serve as thesis advisors for these 2 students. Researchers from the Institute conduct a broad range of research, so they can foster researchers in a vast area of conservation science that is not covered by existing courses in the Graduate School. This is how the Graduate School benefits as a result of collaborating with the Institute. Students in other courses also have the ability to question researchers from the Institute. Staff members who act as instructors have the chance to identify unresolved issues through student questions and student interest, further spurring their own research. Another productive year is beginning as students dive into new fields.
Exhibition in the Lobby
Image of part of the exhibition “Painting”
Azurite pigment applied to silk
Research results and projects have been periodically publicized in the Institute’s entrance lobby on the 1st floor. This time, the exhibition shows materials and techniques that are indispensable to create, appreciate, restore and conserve paintings and calligraphic works. The exhibition was planned by the Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation, and all of the images were taken by SHIRONO Seiji of the Image Laboratory of the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems. The exhibition panel has been fashioned into a long hand scroll so that the visitors may realize that cultural properties are made with various materials and techniques The scroll is 1.15 m tall and 14 m long and it has a cover as well as a roller rod according to the Japanese traditional mounting method. Large photos depict moments that highlight the qualities of materials and techniques—such as the overlapping of paper fibers to produce a single sheet of paper, the crushing of rock and its refinement into powder for use as a bright pigment, and the methodical preparing and spreading of paste. In addition, actual samples of Washi, silk for painting, pigments, karakami and tools of conservation works are displayed in the showcases. Techniques to produce materials and conservation tools as well as techniques to restore cultural properties described in the exhibition must be preserved. In Japan, these techniques are designated as Important Intangible Cultural Properties or Selected Conservation Techniques by the Japanese Government. On the other hand, techniques and materials that have been cultivated in Japan are widely known for their usefulness and are applied for the restoration of cultural properties in foreign countries. The Institute also conducts international training projects in order to encourage a correct understanding of Japanese restoration techniques and materials. We hope visitors may learn that the world’s cultural properties are being protected by Japan’s exceptional traditional techniques to hand them down to future generations.
Imaging a Painting of Samantabhadra
The Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems has conducted joint studies of Buddhist paintings from the Heian Period with the Tokyo National Museum. These studies seek to precisely image paintings in the museum’s collection and explore aspects of their production in further detail than that offered by observation with the naked eye. A Painting of Akasagarbha (a National Treasure) and a Painting of the Thousandarmed Kannon (also a National Treasure) were previously studied. This year, a Painting of Samantabhadra (a National Treasure as well) was imaged on March 26, 2014. This work is one of the most acclaimed Buddhist paintings from the Heian Period. The images obtained will be examined by the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems and researchers from the Tokyo National Museum, and the painting’s significance to art history will be studied in the future.
Homepage of the online version of Mizue
The Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems conducts a monthly seminar to share information on relevant research. A seminar entitled Research on and Development of an Internet Version of Mizue: Prospects for the Digital Publication of Art Historical Resources and Art Archives began at 2 PM on March 25, 2014. During the seminar, presentations were given by TSUDA Tetsuei, Head of the Art Research Materials Section, KIKKAWA Hideki, an Associate Fellow at the Institute, MARUKAWA Yuzo, Associate Professor of the National Museum of Ethnology, and NAKAMURA Yoshifumi and YOSHIZAKI Mayumi of the National Institute of Informatics. The presentations covered Mizue, an art journal that was first published in 1905. The journal subsequently suspended publication in 1992, it resumed publication in 2001, and it then suspended publication again in 2007. Since this journal has been published for almost a century, it has had a profound effect on art in modern Japan, and it clearly has documentary value. Moreover, volumes prior to volume no. 90, which were published in the Meiji Era, are hard to obtain and few institutions have those assembled volumes in their collections. Accordingly, issues of the journal are treated as valuable written works by the Institute. At the same time, there was a growing call for the journal to be made publicly available. Since most of the copyrights to articles and other pieces in the volumes published during the Meiji Era had expired, the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems and the Center for Research and Development into the Informatics of Association of the National Institute of Informatics drew on their extensive know-how to jointly research and develop a way to make those issues available internet. This project started in 2011 and lasted 3 years. With Mizue serving as a test case, this joint research and development looked at one possible way of publishing information on cultural properties primarily in text format. This effort was originally part of a Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems research project on General Research regarding the Publication and Utilization of Research on Cultural Properties. The seminar on March 25 was conducted for the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems to internally share information regarding the results of this research and development. The internet version of Mizue that resulted from joint research and development has been made publicly available as Mizue from the Materials Archive of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo. Please feel free to have a look (http://mizue.bookarchive.jp/).
Survey of a traditional meeting house in Kiribati
Dancing at a traditional meeting house in Tuvalu
As part of Japan’s International Contribution to the Conservation of Cultural Heritage (expert exchanges) commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan, a Survey of the Current State of Cultural Heritage that is Likely to be Affected by Climate Change was commissioned by the Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation. The survey was conducted from February 18th to March 5th. The areas surveyed were the 3 Oceanic nations of Kiribati, Tuvalu, and Fiji. These nations are threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change.
The capital and outlying islands of Kiribati and Tuvalu were visited, and the current state of cultural heritage, which includes traditional dances, folk techniques, traditional architecture, and sacred sites, was surveyed. Damage due to rising sea levels was noted. Surveyors talked with administration officials and chieftains on outlying islands. Both countries face real problems in terms of the deterioration and disappearance of cultural heritage as well as the erosion of the country itself due to rising sea level. Sustainable intangible cultural heritage helps to maintain a people’s identity even if they are forced to emigrate overseas; representatives from both countries were cognizant of this fact. One example of cultural heritage is the large meeting houses that are found in villages in both countries. Various observances, such as religious rites and dances, are performed at these meeting houses. The culture related to these meeting houses is intangible and their architecture and building techniques and materials are closely linked to various elements, such as nature. These buildings represent the survival of that culture. At the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, surveyors exchanged opinions with researchers in relevant fields. This survey was significant in terms of considering the future of the cultural heritage of Oceanic island nations.
