Workshop on the “Conservation of Japanese Paper and Silk Cultural Properties”

A demonstration of Japanese painting production techniques in the basic course

A demonstration of emergency treatment of hanging scroll in the applied course

　This workshop is held annually as a part of the Cooperative Program for the Conservation of Japanese Art Objects Overseas. This year, it was held at the Asian Art Museum, National Museums in Berｌin, with the basic course, “Japanese paper and silk cultural properties,” from July 11^th through 13^th, and again with the applied course, “Restoration of Japanese hanging scrolls,” from the 16^th through the 20^th.
　In the basic course, following the practical process of cultural properties from creation, through mounting, exhibition and up to appreciation, we gave lectures, demonstrations and training for materials such as paper, pigmnets, paste,and animal glue, techniques of creating paintings,and caligraphy, mounting culture and handling of those cultural properties.
　In the applied course, we gave a workshop centered on practices in relation to restoring hanging scrolls using restoration techinques based on traditional Japanese mounting. We focused on the diagnosis of hanging scrolls, structure consiting of multiple paper layers of hanging scrolls, the emergency treatment and usage of traditional brushes and edged tools.
　Recently, the restoration techniques based on traditional Japanese mounting have been renowned abroad, and have come to be put to use in foreign paper cultural properties. However, for many foreign conservation specialists, the techniques are learned through reference books and hearsay. Through this workshop, we would like to offer an opportunity to understand the authentic materials and techniques to as many foreign conservation specialists as possible.

Architectural survey training at the temple of Ta Nei in Cambodia

Hands-on training for how to work with a total station

State of the measurement survey

　An architectural survey training course began at the Ta Nei temple in Angkor as a new human resource development project based on a cooperation agreement with the Cambodian government’s Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (ASPARA). This training course provides a combination of classroom lectures and field practices, with the goal of learning by the Cambodian staffs the basic sequence of steps for surveying architectural remains using GPS and a total station and CAD drawing. This was the first of four planned training courses through the next fiscal year. Twelve young and core staff members, who specialize in architecture and archeology, from the ASPARA, the Preah Vihear National Authority and the JASA team participated in the training, which took place for five days from July 30 through August 3. The trainees were all enthusiastically making an effort to learn the skills. The current goal is to complete an up-to-date planimetric map of the entire temple complex.

First Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Cultural Cooperation Network (APTCCN)

Group Photo

During the Meeting

　At the request of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Japan Consortium for International Cooperation in Cultural Heritage participated in the First Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Cultural Cooperation Network (APTCCN) held from July 20–23, 2012 in Bohol, Philippines. Representatives of ASEAN countries and three East Asian countries, Japan, China and South Korea, participated in the meeting, gathering information regarding future cooperation for safeguarding cultural heritage in these countries. Until last year, this meeting was called the Networking of East Asia Culture Heritage (NEACH), but the name was changed because the current five-year plan includes broader issues, as follows:.
1. the enhancement of regional cooperation in cultural fields through the establishment of a network of experts in related tangible and intangible fields;
2. the development a sense of regional identity among the ASEAN countries, Japan, South Korea and China;
3. and the necessity of common understanding in the areas of cultural heritage management, human resources development in the cultural context, and small- and medium-sized cultural enterprises development.
　The 40^th anniversary of the ASEAN-Japan exchange is 2013. This meeting will be increasingly important in enhancing relations between ASEAN countries and Japan.

Acceptance of donations

Certificate of appreciation presented to the Tokyo Art Dealers’ Association

　Offers for donations to the Institute were received from the Tokyo Art Dealers’ Association and the Tokyo Bijutsu Club. The Tokyo Art Dealers’ Association aims to fund publication of the Institute’s research results and the Tokyo Bijutsu Club intends to fund the Institute’s research projects. We received the donations with great appreciation.
　On June 11^th, Shingo Rokukawa, Director of the Department of Research Support and Promotion, visited the Tokyo Art Dealers’ Association and met Katsumi Kiyoshi, the general manager of the Tokyo Art Dealers’ Association to present certificates of appreciation to Keiichi Shimojo, the director of the Tokyo Art Dealers’ Association, and Masakatsu Asaki, the president of the Tokyo Bijutsu Club.
　We are glad that both organizations are aware of our activities and are most grateful for their donations. We look forward to using these donations to fund our activities.

Facility Tour，June

At the Performing Arts Studio

Sixteen Visitors from Kawamura Gakuen Woman’s University, Faculty of Education, Department of Social Education:

　On June 28^th, sixteen visitors from Kawamura Gakuen Woman’s University, Faculty of Education, Department of Social Education visited the Institute in order to view work to conserve and restore cultural heritage as part of their coursework in Museology.They toured the Library of the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems and the Chemistry Laboratory and Conservation Laboratory of the Center for Conservation Science and Restoration Techniques.The staff members in charge of each section explained the work they do.

A survey of the Shochuhi memorial and work on the memorial with a cherry picker

Survey with the cherry picker. The bronzed black kite that had fallen from the pedestal is evident at the bottom right.

The damaged bronze adornment and top of the pedestal. The stone leaves blossoming from the pedestal’s center are barely restrained by a loosened bolt.

　Erected on the ruins of the keep of Sendai Castle (or Aoba Castle) in 1902, the Shochuhi memorial commemorates the fallen from the Imperial Army’s 2nd Division, which was located in Sendai. As was reported in January of this year, the memorial features a black kite in bronze atop a stone pedestal close to 20 m high that was damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake last year (evident by the fall of the bronzed black kite). Following a survey of the damage and collection of fragments in January, damaged to the top of the pedestal was surveyed and fragments were collected with a cherry picker on June 26^th as part of the Cultural Property Rescue Program.
　The survey and work to collect fragments included individuals from the Gokoku Shrine, Miyagi Pref., where the Shochuhi memorial is located, as well as Mitsuro MIKAMI (Miyagi Museum of Art) from the Council to Conserve Damaged Cultural Properties in Miyagi Prefecture, personnel from the Japan Institute for the Survey and Conservation of Outdoor Sculpture (a firm with experience surveying and conserving outdoor sculptures in Japan), and personnel from Hashimototen Co., Ltd. (a local construction firm). Also participating in the survey were Akio HASHIMOTO of the Department of Crafts, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts and Chizuko YOSHIDA of the Educational Materials Office of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. Work was supported by a donation from Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. to the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo to help with the Cultural Property Rescue Program.
　The survey found a number of bronze fragments scattered atop the pedestal, and these fragments were collected. A survey of the remaining portion of the bronze adornment determined that one of the stone leaves was barely restrained by a loosened bolt, cracks ran through the narrow portion of the base supporting the bronzed black kite, and the bronze adornment that was perched atop the pedestal had struck the projecting cornice at the top of the pedestal before leaving a hole at the foot of the pedestal when it fell. The stone leaves that had come free were secured with bands and the top of the pedestal was covered with blue plastic tarp, but these are only stop-gap measures. If a large earthquake were to strike again, the stone leaves could fall to the foot of the pedestal. Rainwater from holes in the cornice and the damaged pedestal could seep into the pedestal and cause it to collapse. Steps to deal with the bronzed black kite that had been left where it fell at the foot of the pedestal need to be devised along with steps for the future.

The 36^th Session of the World Heritage Committee

Tauride Palace, venue of the World Heritage Committee

The moment when Palestine’s property was inscribed

Fireworks during the welcoming reception (Peterhof Palace)

　The 36^th Session of the World Heritage Committee was held from June 24^th to July 6^th in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation.Prior to the Committee, the Institute summarized and analyzed documents regarding the state of conservation of World Heritage properties and the Advisory Bodies’ evaluation of nominated properties. Three staff members of the Institute joined the Committee in collecting information.
　Twenty-six properties were inscribed on the World Heritage List during the session. Four properties that were slated to have their inscription deferred were instead inscribed on the list; this number was smaller than that during the previous session. Seven properties that were to be referred back to the state party for additional information were all inscribed on the List. Although there was less of a tendency for the Advisory Bodies’ recommendations to be overturned by the Committee due to changes in Committee Members as a result of elections,that tendency still remained. Three former mining sites were inscribed on the list, and all three were associated with negative aspects of history, like the spread of labor movements among miners and mining accidents. This tendency to focus on the dark side of the history remains evident.
　The World Heritage Convention is said to be UNESCO’s most successful convention since it has been ratified by 190 state parties. The Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem was inscribed on an emergency basis during the session. Of interest is the fact that the “state party” nominating the property was Palestine. In addition, World Heritage property in Mali was destroyed by Muslim fundamentalists, highlighting the global impact of the destruction of World Heritage properties.
　Since Palestine ratified the Convention last year, the United States stopped its financial contribution and Japan became the largest contributor to UNESCO. As of the current session, Japan also became a Committee Member with the right to comment freely during sessions, so Japan should be playing a larger role in future sessions. The Institute hopes to provide information to relevant organizations in Japan and to provide support such as information analysis so that Japan can contribute further to the World Heritage Committee.

Research Presentation by Visiting Researcher Maki KANEKO

　Maki KANEKO, Assistant Professor in the Art History Department at the University of Kansas, who came to research and study as a visiting researcher in the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems for one year last July, gave her results presentation at the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems’s research conference on June 28, coinciding with her visit coming to an end. Ms. KANEKO has been investigating how the Asia-Pacific War and the postwar period were expressed in the work of artists, and as a very interesting problem to emerge from that investigation, she has focused on the change in the evaluations surrounding Kiyoshi YAMASHITA (1922–71), who is known for his simple collages. She presented a topic titled “The Expression of a ‘National Artist’: ‘The Kiyoshi YAMASHITA Boom’ during the Asia-Pacific War and the Postwar Period.”
　Kiyoshi YAMASHITA has been spoken of as a ‘National Artist’ that can create imagery that induces a sense of innocence and idyllic nostalgia since the second time he was noticed during the postwar period in the mid-1950s. In contrast, when he first gained prominence for two years between 1938 and 1940, from around one year after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was portrayed as the ‘Japanese Van Gogh,’ who exemplified a magnificent creative faculty even while having a mental disability.
　Ms. KANEKO pointed out the possibility that these portrayals of Kiyoshi YAMASHITA reflected the state of the societies during each period, in that during the latter half of the 1930s a system of total war was constructed for the war, while the memories of war were brought back in various ways during the 1950s, when it was said, “it’s still not the postwar period.”
　 It was a very interesting experiment that tried to analyze society from how visual representations were received, extending outside of the narrow framework of “art.” Ms. KANEKO returned to her home upon finishing her research here at the end of June.

Preliminary research on Kezurikake-like poles in Sarawak State, Borneo

Kezurikake-like poles of the Berawan people as a decoration to welcome “VIPs”

Kezurikake-like poles of the Kayan people fashioned during slash-and-burn agriculture

　This research examined customs and folk techniques related to poles found in Sarawak State, Borneo from June 27^th to July 4^th. These poles resemble the Kezurikake, or half-shaved sticks, found in Japan. In the Japanese Archipelago, Kezurikake are widely used as ritual implement or as decorations during Ko-syogatu, or the New Year according to the lunar calendar, or as Inau, a ritual implement of the greatest importance to the Ainu people. Although similar poles were known to be found in Borneo, there have been almost no field studies or comparative studies of these poles by experts. Thus, preliminary research was conducted in cooperation with experts from the Center for Ainu & Indigenous Studies, Hokkaido University in order to facilitate future comparative studies.
　The research site provided several opportunities to talk with local residents and observe their creation of these poles. A rough outline of customs related to these poles was also obtained. The names, uses, forms, and materials of these poles differ slightly depending on the tribe. The Iban people, for example, call these poles Bungai Jaraw (Bungai means“flower”). Nowadays, these poles are typically considered a decoration to welcome “VIPs.” However, there is some evidence that these poles had greater symbolic or religious meaning since they played an important role in headhunting and during traditional festivals. More in-depth research is needed.
　Plans are to study Kezurikake-like poles in countries like Borneo in order to better understanding the customs related to Kezurikake in Japan and techniques for their fabrication.

The 4^th session of the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage

The 4^th session of the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage

　The 4^th session of the General Assembly took place from June 4 to 8, 2012 at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. Representing the Institute, MIYATA Shigeyuki participated in the conference. The main subject for discussion during the session was revision of the Operational Directives, which led to a more lively discussion among representatives from participating nations than takes place at a usual session. Past sessions approved the decisions of the Intergovernmental Committee, but the current session turned into a discussion, much like the Intergovernmental Committee. Revision of the way in which nominations for inscription on the Representative List are evaluated was a matter of intense debate. The question was whether to change from evaluation of nominations by the Subsidiary Body, with extensive advice from the Intergovernmental Committee, to evaluation by the Consultative Body, which is comprised of experts like those tasked with considering nominations for the Urgent Safeguarding List. In the end, the present method of nominations evaluated by the Subsidiary body was retained, with revision of recommendations from the Committee. Decisions that will greatly affect the implementation of convention were made, e.g. the maximum ceiling of files to be evaluated annually by the Committee, a long-running concern, was formally defined in the Operational Directives. Although the Assembly still has supreme decision-making ability with regard to the Convention, this session was the first to completely overturn the recommendations of the Committee, and problems with implementation of the Convention remain. In addition, the appearance of divergent opinions among different regional groups must be followed closely. Since Assembly sessions have increasingly become a forum for discussion, this trend must be followed closely in the future.

Follow-up Training for Conservators

Training underway

　Follow-up Training for Conservators is conducted annually to inform individuals who have completed the Training for Museum and Art Museum Conservators of the latest findings in conservation. With 80 participants in attendance, follow-up training of this year was held on July 25. As noted below, the first half of follow-up training covered efforts by the Committee to Rescue Cultural Properties Damaged by the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami (Cultural Property Rescue Program) thus far. The second half covered approaches to dealing with conservation conditions by Institute personnel.

・Efforts to rescue cultural properties thus far (Ken OKADA, Head of the Center for Conservation Science and Restoration Techniques)
・Severe damage to facilities handing cultural properties and systems to protect those properties by large-scale disasters (Masayuki MORI, Senior researcher)
・Conservation conditions in the film repository (Chie SANO, Head of the Conservation Science Section)
・Surveys of conservation conditions, consulting, and recommendations by the Institute (Naoto YOSHIDA, Senior researcher)

　Each year, at least 10% of all individuals who have completed the training for conservators attend to follow-up training. This reflects the Institute’s hopes for better approaches to conservation conditions. The Institute will continue its efforts to accurately ascertain conservation needs in order to meet its expectations.

A Seminar on the Conservation of Wall Painting Fragments in the National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan

A lecture by a conservator

Discussion of conservation techniques

　In a collaborative project with the Institute of History, Archeology, and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo has undertaken conservation of the wall paintings in the National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan since 2008. A Seminar on ‘the Conservation of Wall Painting Fragments in the National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan’ was held on June 12, 2012. Conservation experts described about the conservation efforts thus far.
　The wall paintings that are being conserved are mostly those that were excavated from the palace ruins (from around the 7^th–8^th century) of the Sogdian people, who were known to be merchants on the Silk Road, and those that were excavated at the palace ruins at the Khulbuk site dating from the early Islamic period (from around the 11^th–12^th century). The Sogdian wall paintings were burnt and fragmented. At the seminar, the experts talked about conservation techniques such as those to put the fragments together and display them in the Museum of Antiquities. The wall paintings excavated at the Khulbuk site are extremely fragile. Therefore, experts spoke about current conservation efforts to consolidate the fragments and conservation techniques for display of those fragments in the future. The seminar featured presentations on techniques and materials for the conservation of wall paintings and discussions by participants, providing a forum for a meaningful exchange of opinions.

Study and photography of Yokoyama Taikan’s Yamaji [the Mountain Path] (Eisei Bunko collection) after its restoration

Study and photography of Yokoyama Taikan’s Yamaji (Eisei Bunko collection)

　As previous reports have occasionally mentioned, joint research on Yokoyama Taikan’s Yamaji [the Mountain Path] with Eisei Bunko Museum has taken place as part of a Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems research project entitled Documentary Research on Cultural Properties. Taikan’s Yamaji in Eisei Bunko’s collection was exhibited at the 5^th Bunten Art Exhibition (sponsored by the Ministry of Education) in 1911 and is an important work that inaugurated new forms of expression in Japanese painting with its vivid strokes. Upon completion of the piece’s restoration this spring, high-resolution images of the piece were taken on May 12^th at the Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, where the piece is held, by Seiji SHIRONO (National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo), and the piece was studied by Hidekazu MIYAKE (Eisei Bunko Museum), Ryuta HAYASHIDA (Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art), Ayako OGAWA, and Jun SHIOYA (also of the Institute).
　Yamaji features extensive use of coarse paints made from mineral pigments, though this was not readily apparent in conventional images. The images taken during this study adeptly convey the nuances of the piece’s texture. In conjunction with the results of X-ray fluorescence analysis performed in the fall of 2010, high-resolution images should help distinguish the pigments used in the piece. Plans are to summarize these results in one volume and report them this year by means of a conference in August of this year.

Research Exchanges with South Korea’s National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage: A Comparative Study of Buddhist Rituals

Monks and believers praying for their ancestors

A lantern for the Nento Festival

　A second round of research exchanges between the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Folkloric Studies Division of South Korea’s National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage began based on an agreement concluded last November. During the first year of exchanges, Takakuwa visited South Korea for 2 weeks from May 18^th to study Buddhist rituals. Buddhism plays a great role in both Japan and South Korea, but there are a number of differences in rituals and observances since Buddhism has developed in forms particular to each country.
　In South Korea, April 8^th on the lunar calendar is Buddha’s birthday and a national holiday, and the Nento Festival or the Paper-lantern Festival is gaily celebrated 1 week prior to the Buddha’s birthday, even attracting tourists from abroad.
　Buddhists in South Korea, 90 percent of whom follow the Jogye order of Zen, worship Buddha every morning, noon, and night. This practice is similarly followed by Japanese Buddhists, but South Korea Buddhists appear to be more enthusiastic, with believers participating in overnight retreats and praying with monks.
　In addition, religious ceremonies are considered “religious acts” and are not designated as important intangible cultural properties in Japan. In South Korea, however, religious ceremonies are treated quite differently, as exemplified by the Yeongsan-jae ritual of the Taego order that has been inscribed in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of UNESCO. This comparative study of Buddhist rituals also revealed differences in Japanese and Korean perceptions beyond the Buddhist religion.

Research on Intangible Cultural Properties in Areas Stricken by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Ugoku-Tanabata floats from Nagasuka ward in the City of Rikuzen-takata that were damaged by the tsunami. They have been assembled in a vacant lot in front of a wooden Buddhist monument marking houses that were washed away.

Hooks used in the Sanriku area to catch abalone. These hooks were made by local smithing. The blacksmith’s home workshop in the City of Rikuzen-takata was not damaged by the tsunami, but abalone fishing has not started since many fishermen were affected by the disaster last year. The blacksmith has also been unable to ship the hooks he has made.

　Damage to and restoration of intangible cultural properties in the coastal areas of the Tohoku region was studied. Over a year has passed since the disaster, but studies of intangible cultural properties and support for their restoration have lagged behind studies of and support for tangible cultural properties. Relevant organizations and groups have striven to collect and disseminate information on the damage and link providers of support with recipients, but support efforts have often failed to meet needs and too much support is provided where it is not needed instead of where it is needed. Such problems have arisen because of the lack of a network linking support efforts overall.
　In many instances, sites of folk techniques had not been determined prior to the disaster, and information on damage overall and needed support has yet to be obtained. Many folk techniques use natural materials such as wood and clay, so practitioners face both the physical damage from the tsunami as well as radioactive contamination of materials as a result of the nuclear plant accident and harmful rumors. Determining the state of those techniques under such circumstances is difficult.
　Although such problems exist, festivals and folk performing arts have been emphasized by local residents in light of prayers and memorials for the deceased. The strength of these cultural practices is more evident or is being reassessed in many instances since these festivals and folk arts have served as an important tie to bind disjointed communities with residents living in temporary housing.
　With a focus on conditions in stricken areas, the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage will strive to collect information. The Department will also work to create new networks to provide support to stricken areas and respond to future disasters.

Survey at the Guimet Museum of Asian Art

A survey at the Guimet Museum of Asian Art

　In 2010, the Institute concluded a memorandum of understanding on cooperative research and exchanges with the Guimet Museum in France, and the Institute has implemented joint projects such as lectures and restoration programs. The Guimet Museum of Asian Art began with the collection of Lyon industrialist Émile Guimet (1836～1918). Today, the Museum has about 11,000 Japanese artworks in its collection and is considered one of the world’s leading Oriental art museums. The Museum has one of the world’s oldest Japanese art collections, and its collection includes a number of works with significance in terms of art history. Some of these works are in great need of restoration due to the passage of time. As Cooperative Program for the Conservation of Japanese Art Objects Overseas, artworks of the Guimet Museum that included 5 paintings, i.e. Buddhist hanging scrolls and picture scrolls, and 1 piece of lacquerware were restored from 1997 to 2005. Consistently curating and exhibiting artworks in good condition is crucial to introducing Japanese culture and history overseas. With the cooperation of Hélène Bayou, the Museum’s chief curator of Japanese art, 3 Institute personnel—Wataru KAWANOBE, Director of the Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation, and Masato KATO and Tomoko EMURA, both of whom are senior researchers at the Center—surveyed a dozen or so paintings from the perspectives of restoration and art history on May 25, 2012. In the future, the Institute will conduct more in-depth surveys and provide further consultations regarding artwork restoration and encourage cooperative research and exchanges.

Networking Core Centers Project for the Conservation of Traditional Buildings in the Kingdom of Bhutan

A group interview of craftsmen at the rammed earth construction site

Testing at Paga Lhakhang

　Seven experts were dispatched from Japan to the Kingdom of Bhutan from May 28 to June 8, 2012 as a part of the Networking Core Centers Project commissioned by the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs. This Project started this fiscal year to teach and train personnel in conservation and restoration techniques, including structural assessments and aseismatic measures, for traditional buildings in the Kingdom of Bhutan.
　For the project to be implemented, a Memorandum of Understanding was first concluded between the Department of Culture, Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs of the Kingdom of Bhutan and the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo. Terms of Reference were also agreed upon.
　In cooperation with Bhutanese personnel, field surveys were conducted to elucidate traditional construction techniques used in temples, houses, and ruins with rammed earth and wood in order to identify the value to be conserved. In addition, questionnaires were drafted to facilitate future architectural surveys. Moreover, structural surveys were conducted in order to quantitatively ascertain the structural performance of traditional buildings. These surveys included a destructive load test on the rammed earth walls of Paga Lhakhang, a temple that was devastated by a fire and scheduled to be dismantled, and a materials test on the rammed earth blocks of that temple. Micro-tremors were also measured at Pangrizampa Lhakhang.
　Plans are to continue exploring the potential for aseismatic measures as an extension of traditional techniques through both architectural surveys and structural surveys.

The Second Workshop on Conservation of Archaeological Metal Objects in the History Museum of Armenia

Practice cleaning the surface of archeological metal objects

　The Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation conducted a workshop on conservation of archaeological metal objects at the History Museum of Armenia from May 29 to June 8, 2012. This project was part of the Networking Core Centers for International Cooperation on Conservation of Cultural Heritage Project commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan. This workshop was the second conservation workshop, following one in late January and early February of 2012. Ten young Armenian experts from the History Museum of Armenia and other institutes in Armenia participated in the workshop. The workshop began with practical conservation techniques with a focus on surface cleaning and desalination of archaeological metal objects, i.e. removal of corrosion and incrustation. The workshop included lectures on examples of conservation work in Japan, conservation techniques overall, and cleaning and desalination of archeological metals. The workshop also included practice with photography, condition check, exhibition/conservation planning, and conservation treatments. This workshop helped improve the knowledge and skills of Armenian experts.
　The next workshop will continue with surface cleaning, e.g. corrosion removal, and techniques to prepare objects for exhibition at the Museum after next year. Plans are to conduct an elemental analysis of objects once they have been conserved and study techniques for their fabrication in greater depth.

Facility Tour，April

In the Performing Arts Studio

Four Visitors from the Office for Incorporated Administrative Agency Support, Commissioner’s Secretariat of the Agency for Cultural Affairs:

　On April 23, four visitors from the Office for Incorporated Administrative Agency Support of the Agency for Cultural Affairs visited the Institute in order to observe the Institute’s facilities.They toured the Library of the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems, the Performing Arts Studio of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Conservation Laboratory and the Chemistry Laboratory of the Center for Conservation Science and Restoration Techniques, and the Archives of the Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation.The staff members in charge of each section explained the work they do.

“Intangible Culture Heritage inPost-earthquake Reconstruction—Reports from the Field and Proposals” published

Report on the 6^th Conference on the Study of Intangible Folk Cultural Properties

　A report on the 6^th Conference on the Study of Intangible Folk Cultural Properties was published in March 2011. The conference was held on December 16, 2011 with the theme of “Intangible Culture Heritage in Post-earthquake Reconstruction.” Seven experts working on reconstruction from various standpoints were invited to give lectures and to discuss actual conditions and issues concerning intangible cultural heritage in post-earthquake Tohoku. Details of the lectures and discussion are included in this report in order to share information with and describe issues to as many people as possible. The report was distributed to relevant personnel, including all of the conference attendees. The entire report can also be downloaded in PDF format from the website of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
　The Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage is planning to hold a 7^th conference in the autumn of 2012 to continue discussing the theme of “Intangible Cultural Heritage in Post-earthquake Reconstruction.”