| ■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 |
|
“Biography of HISHIDA Shunso, Part I” from “Documents from the Meiji and Taisho Art History Compilation Project” Mr. ODAKANE Taro, a researcher at the Institute of Art Research, compiled a critical biography of the Japanese painter HISHIDA Shunso in 1938. The results were made public in 1940 as the 9th series of “Bijutsu Kenkyu Shiryo” (Art Research Materials).
On May 1, information on “Documents from the Meiji and Taisho Art History Compilation Project” was released on the Institute’s website “Material Archives.”
https://www.tobunken.go.jp/
joho/japanese/library/pdf/
archives_TOBUNKEN_MEIJITAISHO02.pdf
The Meiji and Taisho Art History Compilation Project was a prewar compilation project conducted by the Institute of Art Research, the predecessor of the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN), which focused on the collection of materials related to art of the Meiji and Taisho periods and the creation of critical biographies of artists. The “Meiji and Taisho Masterpieces Exhibition” held at the Tokyo Prefectural Art Museum (now the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum) in 1927 under the auspices of the Asahi Shimbun was so well received that a committee was set up to compile a history of Meiji and Taisho art. In 1932, the Institute of Art Research began a compilation project funded with the profits from the exhibition donated by the Asahi Shimbun Company. Many of the art books and magazines from the Meiji and Taisho periods in the Institute’s collection were collected through this project.
The materials that have been made available to the public at this time are review biographies of artists and manuscripts of original materials written by researchers who were involved in the project. Some of the materials, such as “Historical Materials of Oil Paintings by TAKAHASHI Yuichi” (owned by Tokyo University of the Arts), have already been published, but others are valuable because they are transcriptions of materials whose existence is unknown. Advance reservations are required to view the collection.
We hope you will make use of these materials, which convey the spirit of research on Japanese modern art during the period of the Institute of Art Research.
https://www.tobunken.go.jp/joho/japanese/library/special_collection/index.html
Dedicated terminal for viewing high-resolution optical survey images in the Library
Thumbnail overview of all six volumes
Enlarged view of the calligraphic text section
We have been conducting collaborative research with domestic and international scholars on the Shuten-dōji Handscrolls by Sumiyoshi Hiroyuki, discovered in Leipzig, Germany, in 2019 (hereafter referred to as the “Leipzig Scrolls”). As of May 22, 2025, we had made the entire six-volume Leipzig Scrolls available to the public as digital content in the Library of the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.
Handscrolls (emaki) are a horizontal narrative painting format. When printed in books, viewing the entire work at once requires significant reduction of the size of the image, making it difficult to observe details. With the digital content, however, users can freely scroll, zoom in and out on any section, and view transcribed text alongside the text image.
Volumes 1 and 6 of the Leipzig Scrolls returned to Japan for the first time and displayed to the public at the Suntory Museum of Art as part of the Shuten Dōji Begins exhibition, which ran until June 15, 2025. The exhibition concluded successfully with positive reception.
In the digital content format, users can also view every scene from Volumes 2 through 5, which were not included in the exhibition.
Please refer to the Tobunken Library Visitor’s Guide before accessing the content.
https://www.tobunken.go.jp/joho/japanese/library/library.html
Scene from the seminar
The Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems regularly invites distinguished scholars from abroad to deliver presentations as part of its research seminar series. This year, on May 21, we hosted Mr. Tim T. Zhang ¬from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for a presentation titled “On the Grape Paintings by Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai).”
Motsurin Jōtō (d. 1492), a Zen monk also known by the name Bokusai, was a devoted disciple of Ikkyū Sōjun (1394–1481). Following Ikkyū’s death, Motsurin dedicated himself to preserving and transmitting his teacher’s legacy. For Motsurin, the brush served as a crucial means for inheriting and embodying Ikkyū’s teachings as well as maintaining his monastic order after the master’s passing, as evidenced by his numerous calligraphic works, inscriptions on portraits, and inscribed paintings. The grape painting, in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, exemplifies this body of work.
In his seminar presentation, Mr. Zhang offered a close comparative analysis of the grape painting held by the Metropolitan Museum and the version housed in the Tokyo National Museum, meticulously examining the differences in artistic expression and historical context. He analyzed the five-character quatrain inscribed on the Met’s painting, which features the term rishu (lízhū in Chinese)—a precious pearl said to lie beneath a black dragon’s jaw. Mr. Zhang demonstrated how the term functions as a poetic metaphor for grapes. He argued that, within the context of Motsurin’s inscription, the grapes come to symbolize the wisdom attained through sudden enlightenment.
Mr. Zhang further observed that Motsurin appears to have touched the painted grapes with his inked fingers, leaving visible fingerprints. This physical act, he suggested, evidences his grasping of wisdom while also represents a deliberate, performative gesture grounded in the calligraphy and painting tradition of suiboku (zuìmò in Chinese, literally, “intoxicated ink”). By integrating this embodied act with the inscription’s emphasis on intoxication, Mr. Zhang revealed the work’s underlying intent to celebrate the enlightenment that Motsurin attained under his teacher’s guidance.
Mr. Zhang’s presentation illuminated the interplay between poetic symbolism and visual representation, and the immediacy of bodily traces embedded within the calculated composition. Through Motsurin’s brushwork and fingerprints, the seminar revealed how Buddhist wisdom and reverence for Ikkyū find tangible form in an interwoven practice of painting, calligraphy, and verse, known as the “Three Perfections,” leaving a deep impression on all participants.
This research seminar provided a valuable opportunity to broaden our international perspectives on the study of Zen monastic art in East Asia and opened new avenues for future collaboration and research.
We remain committed to actively inviting leading scholars from abroad and to fostering meaningful scholarly exchange on a global scale.
Database table relationships
Since the 2022 fiscal year, Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) has been involved in “The Investigation of Tools and Materials Used for the Preservation and Restoration of Fine Arts and Crafts” as part of the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ “TAKUMI Project,” and the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems is in charge of the “Archiving of Cultural Property Restoration Records” initiative. As reported, on March 31, 2025, a prototype of the “Database of Restoration Records for Cultural Properties (Fine Arts and Crafts)” was made publicly available online. A study meeting on this database and Restoration Records for Cultural Properties was held on April 17, 2025.
The structure and operation of this database, its status as official documentation of the restoration records regarding nationally designated cultural properties, the current situation of the source materials, and future developments were reported by Mr. OYAMADA Tomohiro, Ms. YAMANAGA Naomi, and Mr. TARASHIMA Satoshi. In a discussion that took place after the meeting, in addition to questions about the presentation, various issues were raised, such as the relationship between databases of collections at museums and art galleries and repair records, and the scope of information to be collected.
It is true that there is an impression that restorations of cultural properties are unavoidable actions taken in response to deterioration due to aging or damage by other causes. For this reason, restoration records that convey the state of the property before repair have not attracted much public attention. However, in recent years, there has been a growing awareness that cultural properties cannot be preserved unless they are repaired at appropriate intervals, and that past repair records are a great help for their future repairs and preservation. We hope that the publication of this database will encourage further discussion and organization of cultural property repair records.
Digital Content of “Dōshoku sai-e”
Research Report on “Kasuga Gongen Genki-e”
Research Report on “Map of the World”
The Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties uses cutting-edge science and technology to investigate and record the precious cultural properties that our ancestors have protected and passed down, and makes the results open to the public. We have now published Ito Jakuchu’s “Dōshoku Sai-e” (30 scrolls in total) online as part of the digital content of the optical survey conducted by the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties and the works stored in The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan. (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/doshokusaie/) This website publishes high-resolution photographs of Ito Jakuchu’s “Dōshoku Sai-e” taken during an optical survey conducted as a joint research project between 2001 and 2008 by the Imperial Household Agency’s Sannomaru Shozokan Museum of the Imperial Palace (as it was then) and the data of coloring material analysis using fluorescent X-rays. In addition, we have been publishing reports on “Kasuga Gongen Genki-e” (20 volumes in total), known as a representative picture scroll work from the Kamakura period, two volumes at a time, since 2017, and this is the 10th report, the final volume in the series. We have also published a comprehensive report on the “Map of the World,” including images of related works such as the “Map of the World and Four Capitals Screen” (Kobe City Museum), the “Battle of Tunis and World Map Screen” (Kōsetsu Museum of Art), “Western Kings and Princes on Horseback Screen” (Suntory Museum of Art, Kobe City Museum), and “Western Kings and Princes” (Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture). We hope that this report will be useful in future research.
Cover of the publication
Figures in the publication (items in the maki-e toolbox formerly owned by Mr. Miki Sakae)
Japan-made Lacquered door panels of Wat Ratchapradit
At the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, we have been conducting research on cultural properties located in Thailand in cooperation with the Fine Arts Department, Ministry of Culture, Thailand since 1992. Since 2011, the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties has been involved in the research of the Japan-made lacquered door panels of Wat Ratchapradit, a first-grade royal temple in Bangkok, providing technical support for a full-scale restoration project of the panels that the Fine Arts Department is currently organizing.
Apart from the lacquered door panels, in Thailand other examples of Japan-made lacquerware can be seen at libraries, museums, temples, palaces and other locations. The exchange between Japan and Thailand in the field of lacquering was not limited to the trade of goods. King Rama V’s profound fascination with Japanese maki-e art prompted him to dispatch Thai students to Japan to master the intricacies of this technique. He also invited Mr. TSURUHARA Zenzaburo to Thailand to gild the principal Buddha statue of Wat Benchamabophit, a first-grade royal temple, with gold leaf. In another example of cultural exchange, Mr. MIKI Sakae had been involved in production and restoration of lacquerwork for over 30 years in Thailand, from 1911, as an expert of the present Fine Arts Department.
Our book titled “Japanese Lacquerwork and Crafrtspersons in Thailand – Study of the Japan-made Lacquerwork Found in Thailand (2) –”, published in March 2025, summarizes the research results on Japanese lacquerware found in Thailand, photographs taken in Thailand documenting such lacquerware, as well as the above-mentioned Japanese craftspersons who worked in Thailand, conducted to date by Japanese and Thai researchers involved in the joint study. These findings provide new insights into the exchange between the two countries in the field of lacquering; and are also useful for understanding the significance of the door panels of Wat Ratchapradit in the history of lacquering, as well as in the history of exchange between Japan and Thailand.
This book is available in public libraries in Japan and some overseas libraries that handle work on Japanese art. As this book presents only a small portion of the Japanese lacquerwork in Thailand, more and more documentary materials on Japanese lacquer craftspersons are being discovered, and therefore experts will continue to study these topics and publish the results.
The seminar
SEIMIYA Naobumi (1917-1991) is known as an artist who expressed his tranquil and poetic world of the mind through woodblock prints and glass paintings. Last year, the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) received a donation of materials left by SEIMIYA, including his memoirs, diary, and photographs, from his bereaved family (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/ekatudo/2065846.html), and on March 6, Mr. SUMITA Tsuneo (Chief Curator, Takasaki Museum of Art), who has studied SEIMIYA for many years and acted as an intermediary in donating the materials, gave a presentation titled “The SEIMIYA Materials” at the seminar held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems.
SEIMIYA left many words deeply related to the creation of his works in his journal titled “Zakkan-roku” or “Zakki-cho.” SUMITA’s presentation showed how pictures and words were inseparably linked for SEIMIYA, who himself wrote that he was “a poet who uses ‘pictures’ as a form of expression” (“Zakki-cho,” 1971-72), and made us realize anew the importance of the materials the Institute received.
Mr. INO Koichi (Chief of the Art Division, The Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki), who worked with Mr. SUMITA to organize the SEIMIYA materials, participated as a commentator in the discussion that followed the presentation. Although the Institute received only paper materials such as memoirs, diaries, and photographs, other materials left behind include woodblocks, and Mr. INO reported on the issues involved in their preservation and utilization. During the discussion, staff members of the Institute exchanged opinions on the ideal way to preserve the unique materials of the printmakers, including woodblocks.
Examples of the materials in the KUNO collection
The Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) houses a vast amount of materials, including photographs and research records related to cultural properties, some of which were created and collected by the researchers themselves. The valuable collection of materials left by Mr. KUNO Takeshi (1920-2007), a leading authority on the history of Buddhist sculpture and a member of TOBUKEN, which was donated to the Institute by his bereaved family after his death, is among such materials (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/ekatudo/217654.html).
Some examples of this collection, mainly photographs, are already available in the TOBUNKEN library, and now a list of his handwritten notebooks (312 volumes, 13422 entries), which were KUNO’s favorite item throughout his life, has been sorted and the works are now available to the public. These notebooks contain records of his research on Buddhist sculpture in Japan and abroad, notes on the exhibitions he saw, and the research lectures he attended, and are truly a record of KUNO’s trajectory as a researcher. We have published a list of the contents of the notebooks on our website (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/kuno_note), and the actual notebooks are available in the TOBUNKEN library. We hope that these notebooks will be useful for your research.
Database of Restoration Records for Cultural Properties (Fine Arts and Crafts)
Year range of authoritative sources and restoration records in this database
Since the 2022 fiscal year, Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) has been involved in the “Investigation of Tools and Materials Used for the Preservation and Restoration of Fine Arts and Crafts” as part of the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ “TAKUMI Project.” In April 2025, we launched a website for this project, providing video documentation, scientific research results, and a database of restoration records related to the tools and raw materials required for restoring fine arts and crafts (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/conservation-arts-crafts/).
In recent years, there has been a growing demand to appropriately preserve and pass down important information such as records of cultural property restoration for future generations. Restoration records not only transmit information about the condition, materials, and structure of works to future generations, but also serve as crucial resources for the management and preservation of cultural properties. However, in the field of fine arts and crafts among nationally designated cultural properties, there have been no comprehensive reports or databases covering restoration records since the enactment of the Law for the Preservation of Ancient Shrines and Temples (Koshaji Hozon-Hō) in 1897. Additionally, restoration reports created in various places have lacked uniformity in content and format, resulting in challenges for information sharing. For these reasons, there is an increasing need today to build a platform for the consolidation and central management of information related to the restoration of cultural properties in the field of fine arts and crafts.
One of the outcomes of this project is the creation and release of a prototype version of the “Database of Restoration Records for Cultural Properties (Fine Arts and Crafts)” (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/conservation-arts-crafts/records-archives). This database will be continuously updated with restoration information extracted from restoration reports published by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, national museums with conservation-restoration facilities, conservation studios across Japan, and other related organizations. We hope that this database will be widely used for various purposes, including the restoration and management of cultural properties, sharing restoration information, and research activities. In addition, the results obtained through our research will be shared at conferences, symposia, and workshops.
The Seminar
The Flyer of the Exhibition
A study meeting on the Shuten-dōji Scroll was held on February 25, 2025. This research has been carried out since 2022 as a project for Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) centering on the Shuten-dōji Scroll (6 volumes, collection of the Grassi Ethnological Museum in Leipzig, hereinafter, “the Leipzig Scroll”) by Sumiyoshi Hiroyuki, and two previous meetings had been held and reported on this theme1. This time, in the final year of the research funded by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, the following presentations were made:
EMURA Tomoko, “The Mysterious Charm of Shuten-dōji”
NAMIKI Seishi (Specially Appointed Professor at Kyoto Institute of Technology), “The Kano School and Shuten-dōji Scroll”
KOBAYASHI Kenji (Professor Emeritus at the National Institute of Japanese Literature), “Resonating Noh and Scrolls”
After the three presentations, UENO Tomoe (Deputy Director of Curatorial Department of the Suntory Museum of Art) spoke as a commentator, and then a Q&A session was held with the audience and online participants. This research project is also cooperating with an exhibition called the “Shuten-dōji Begins: Tales of the Demon Slayer Throughout the Ages,” which will be held at the Suntory Museum of Art from April 29 to June 15 this year. The Leipzig Scroll was specially created as a wedding furnishing for Tanehime, who was adopted by the 10th shogun, TOKUGAWAI Ieharu, and married the 10th Lord of the Kishu clan, TOKUGAWA Harutomi, and this exhibition will be the first time the Leipzig Scroll has been showcased in Japan. We hope that many people will come to see it at the exhibition venue.
For more information about the exhibition, please click here.
Scenes from the seminar
The Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems hosts study groups, inviting researchers from Japan and abroad as a platform for academic exchange. This year, the department welcomed Dr. Wan Muchun, a professor at the China Academy of Art and vice president of the Advanced School of Arts and Humanities, who gave a research presentation titled “Wang Shen’s ‘Light Snow on a Fishing Village‘ Scroll.”
Based on source materials, the presentation explored Wang Shen’s legacy of paintings, closely analyzing the key elements of Light Snow on a Fishing Village—the waterside, snowy scenery, and a fishing village—to examine how they contribute to the spatial composition of the work as a whole. Attempts were also made to decipher the painter’s visual approach, with a focus on depictions of nature and on atmospheric expression in particular. Looking beyond Light Snow on a Fishing Village, the presentation also compared multiple examples, conducting a detailed examination of different approaches to visual expression.
The question-and-answer session elicited active discussions and insightful questions from researchers and graduate students, to which Dr. Wan provided clear and insightful responses. This lecture by an international researcher offered Japanese scholars a valuable opportunity to gain new perspectives.
Moving forward, the department aims to invite more international researchers and regularly host study groups as a platform for knowledge exchange.
At the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, we actively promote research exchange by inviting external researchers to present their findings. At the 10th research seminar held on February 17, 2025, Professor Seo Yoon-jung from Myongji University, South Korea, delivered a presentation titled “An Gyeon and the North China School of Landscape Painting in East Asia—Attributed Works, Forgeries, and Korean Paintings within Kara-e.” Additionally, Chief Curator Kim Gwi-bun from the National Hansen’s Disease Museum presented on “The Process of Professionalization of Calligraphy in Modern Korea and Its Characteristics—Focusing on the Trends of Bureaucrat-turned-Calligraphers.” Lastly, Tashiro Yuichiro, a researcher at our institute, gave a presentation entitled “Sekino Tadashi’s (関野貞) Survey of Korean Paintings and Korean Collectors—Based on Survey Materials Preserved at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.”
Each presentation examined the evaluation and institutional framework surrounding Korean calligraphy and painting. Professor Seo Yoon-jung analyzed the process by which various works attributed to An Gyeon were historically recognized in Edo-period Japan and Joseon Korea. She also explored how An Gyeon’s paintings could be positioned within the lineage of the North China school of landscape painting in East Asia. Following this, Kim Gwi-bun investigated the process by which calligraphers, particularly those from bureaucratic backgrounds, transitioned into professionalized careers from the late Joseon period through the colonial era. Lastly, Yuichiro Tashiro examined Sekino Tadashi’s survey of Korean paintings and the role of Korean collectors, using research notes on Korean paintings preserved at our institute as primary materials.
The seminar was conducted in a hybrid (HyFlex) format with simultaneous online streaming. It attracted not only students and researchers from Japan, but also scholars from the United States, China, and other countries. The event concluded successfully with active participation and engagement from a broad international audience.
MATSUZAWA Yutaka (Utopias & Visions, 1971, the person in the center) photo by Ms. MATSUZAWA Kumiko
Some of the digitized materials previously owned by MATSUZAWA Yutaka (related to the Contemporary Art Festival, Undépendant Art Festival,1965, commonly known as Gifu Anpan).
As part of the research project “Research and Compilation of Materials on Modern and Contemporary Art,” we have recently received a generous donation from the family of the late artist MATSUZAWA Yutaka, titled, the “Matsuzawa Yutaka Papers.”
MATSUZAWA Yutaka (1922–2006) developed a mode of expression mediated by language and concepts from the late 1960s onward, and he actively engaged with international currents in conceptual art. This collection, which conveys his creative practice and artistic philosophy, serves as an important resource for understanding the development of conceptual art. It includes manuscripts, exhibition materials, photographs, and other documents generated through his artistic activities, offering valuable reference points for grasping the artistic trends of the time. Moreover, this collection plays a vital complementary role in shedding light on areas not fully covered by materials previously collected by our Institute—particularly the development of avant-garde practices in postwar Japan and the networks that supported these expressions.
Since 2017, our Institute has organized four research symposia on the Matsuzawa Yutaka Papers, during which we have shared the scholarly value and potential uses of the materials with relevant researchers and institutions. Through initiatives such as the JSPS-funded project “Post-1968 Artistic Communities: Centering on the Matsuzawa Yutaka Archives” (Project No. 18K00200, Principal Investigator: KIKKAWA Hideki), we have also worked to catalogue and digitize the collection*. As this work has progressed, MATSUZAWA’s evolving thought and his networks—both domestic and international—have come into clearer focus. These materials not only provide a foundation for retracing his artistic trajectory, but will undoubtedly serve as a vital resource for interdisciplinary research into the broader cultural landscape of his time, both in Japan and abroad.
The research project “Research and Compilation of Materials on Modern and Contemporary Art” is intended to facilitate the conduction of research on modern and contemporary Japanese art works and materials, to promote research exchange based on this research, and to establish an efficient collection and publication framework for materials related to contemporary art. Once preparations are complete, these materials will be available for viewing in the Materials Reading Room. We hope that they will serve as a starting point for solving research questions in various fields, including contemporary art, and inspire new research.
◎ List of MATSUZAWA Yutaka’s Materials Created through JSPS KAKENHI Project 18K00200
https://researchmap.jp/kikkawahideki/published_works
- Materials related to the Japanese Conceptualist movement (mainly 1960–2007), approximately 1,400 items
- Data Center for Contemporary Art materials (mainly 1972–83), approximately 850 items
*Among the materials formerly owned by MATSUZAWA Yutaka that were donated this time, digital images of 81 items—including manuscripts written in his own hand—are available to the public via the digital archive system “Shinshu Digital Commons” operated by the Nagano Prefectural Library (https://www.ro-da.jp/shinshu-dcommons/search).
Lecture at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Japan Research Centre
Discussion at the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia
Meeting at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures
The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC), located in Norwich, the capital city of Norfolk, United Kingdom, is one of the leading centers for Japanese art and cultural studies in Europe. Since 2013, SISJAC and the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) have been engaged in a collaborative project under the framework of the “Program for the Foundation of Japanese Art Research.” Through this initiative, SISJAC provides TOBUNKEN with data on publications and exhibitions related to Japanese art conducted outside Japan, which is then made publicly accessible on the TOBUNKEN Research Collections (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/archives/?lang=en).
As part of this collaboration, researchers from the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems visit Norwich annually to engage in discussions and give presentations. In fiscal year 2024, KIKKAWA Hideki, Head of the Modern and Contemporary Art Section, and TASHIRO Yuichiro, Researcher, visited the UK from February 24 to March 2.
On February 26, Mr. KIKKAWA gave a lecture titled “Matsuzawa Yutaka and Europe: Conceptual Art Exchange” at the Japan Research Centre, SOAS University of London. The following day, he traveled to Norwich and presented another lecture, titled “Building and Utilizing Archives of Modern and Contemporary Japanese Art: Initiatives at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties” at the Sainsbury Centre, University of East Anglia. Following this lecture, presentations were made by Mr. Grant Young of the University of East Anglia Library; Ms. Pat Hewitt, librarian for the Sainsbury Research Unit, responsible for collections in African, Oceanic, and American art; and Mr. HIRANO Akira, librarian of the Lisa Sainsbury Library at SISJAC. They each introduced their respective institutional activities and archival initiatives related to Japan. A lively discussion ensued among participants, moderated by Dr. Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer, Associate Professor at SISJAC.
On February 28, a working meeting was held at SISJAC to discuss the current status and future development of the shared database project. Mr. TASHIRO, who is scheduled to return to the UK in fiscal year 2025, shared findings from his research conducted during this visit, including studies at the British Museum. He also proposed ideas for future collaboration based on his expertise in Korean and Joseon art history, including potential lecture topics and archival research directions. This prompted an active exchange of views on future collaboration.
TOBUNKEN remains committed to deepening its collaboration with SISJAC and will continue to enhance its efforts in promoting international research and dissemination of information related to Japanese art.
A scene from the symposium: Presentation (by Ms. TAKAYAMA Yuri)
Discussion at the symposium
The Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) was founded in 1930 as a result of the legacy of KURODA Seiki (1866-1924), a painter known as the “father of modern Western-style painting in Japan.” The Kuroda Memorial Hall, where KURODA’s works are now displayed and exhibited as a facility of the Tokyo National Museum, was originally built as the Art Research Institute, the predecessor of TOBUNKEN. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of KURODA’s death in 2024, TOBUNKEN hosted a symposium, “KURODA Seiki, His Research and Evaluation Today: On the Occasion of the 100th Anniversary of His Death,” on January 10 in the seminar room of the Kuroda Memorial Hall where the Art Research Institute was founded.
The symposium presentation titles and respective presenters were as follows:
Keynote Speech: On the Painting Works of KURODA Seiki: From the Perspective of a Kozu Kojin (Mr. SHIOYA Jun, Special Researcher Chair, TOBUNKEN)
Presentation 1: KURODA Seiki and Raphael Collin: Some Perspectives (Ms. MITANI Rika, Joshibi University of Art and Design)
Presentation 2: After KURODA Seiki: Aspects of “Government Exhibition Academism” in the Showa Period (Ms. TAKAYAMA Yuri, Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art)
Presentation 3: Learning from KURODA Seiki and his Influence to Local areas: The Case of a Native of Tottori Prefecture (Ms. TOMOOKA Maho, Tottori Prefectural Museum)
The symposium was held simultaneously in-person and online and attended by 63 people. Ms. TOMOOKA was unable to come to the symposium due to heavy snowfall in the San’in region, so she had to give her presentation online at short notice, but the symposium went without a hitch, including the discussion that followed his presentation. We hope that this symposium, which reassessed KURODA Seiki’s artwork from the viewpoints of his relationship with French modern art, his influence on the Japanese modern Western-style painting scene, and the spread of his style to the provinces, based on the latest research results, will serve as a catalyst for rethinking the study of Japanese modern art. The contents of this symposium will be published in our research journal “Bijutsu Kenkyu” No. 447 (scheduled for publication in November 2025).
The Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems actively promotes academic exchange by inviting international researchers to present their research findings. At the 9th research meeting, held on January 21, Prof. Kim So-yeon from Ewha Womans University in South Korea, who was a visiting researcher at Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) from December 2024 to February 2025, delivered a presentation titled “Depicting Mount Geumgang: Changes in the Perception and Visualization of Mount Geumgang in Modern Korea.”
Mount Geumgang, renowned as one of the most famous mountains on the Korean Peninsula, has long been a subject of literature and painting. However, significant changes occurred in the modern era with the development of railway infrastructure and tourism. These transformations influenced the ways in which the mountain was represented. Prof. Kim analyzed various media that depicted Mount Geumgang and highlighted two key points: (1) Unlike in the Joseon period, when only the inland “Inner Geumgang” was depicted, the coastal “Outer Geumgang” also came to be represented; and (2) a gendered distinction emerged in these representations, with “Inner Geumgang” being associated with femininity and “Outer Geumgang” with masculinity.
Prof. Kim’s study, which incorporated materials such as photographic postcards and illustrations from travel guides, underscored the potential for constructing art history through diverse media. It also reaffirmed the relevance of art history in relation to broader issues such as tourism and gender studies.
The research meeting attracted a large number of students and scholars from both within and outside the institute. The question-and-answer session was particularly lively, fostering an active exchange of ideas.
Presentations by international researchers offer valuable opportunities to engage with different academic perspectives and methodologies, distinct from those prevalent in Japan. By serving as a “hub” for academic exchange between Japan and the international research community, TOBUNKEN aims to contribute to Japanese scholarship from a more multifaceted perspective.
Venue for the lecture ‘The Work of an Art Librarian’ (Photo courtesy of Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo)
A slide from the lecture ‘The Work of an Art Librarian’
On December 6, 2024, KIKKAWA Hideki, Head of the Modern / Contemporary Art Section at the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, was invited to give a lecture titled “The Work of an Art Librarian at the ART with” series held at Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo. The ART with series features experts from various fields related to art, offering insights into their professions for a broad audience of art enthusiasts.
In this lecture, Mr. KIKKAWA presented a wide range of specialized librarian skills based on his career not only at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) Library, but also at the Art Library of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and the Art Library of the National Art Center, Tokyo. In particular, he discussed the enjoyment of supporting researchers and curators in their studies and creating frameworks that enhance the value of library collections through cataloging and compiling bibliographies on artists.
TOBUNKEN engages in collaborative efforts among experts from various fields to preserve cultural properties for future generations. Librarians well versed in art materials also play a crucial role in supporting these efforts, considering the future of cultural properties and continuing to safeguard them. This lecture provided an opportunity not only to introduce their work, but also for Mr. KIKKAWA to reflect once again on its significance. He has expressed that nothing would be more gratifying to him than for art enthusiasts, professionals from other fields, or students who attended the lecture to have found the role of an art librarian appealing and had deepened their interest in the preservation of cultural properties.
On December 15, 2024, a group of researchers from Korea, France, and the U.S. visited the library of the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN). The group had come to Japan for a research presentation at the Korean history Forum, held at Dokkyo University from December 13 to 14, and TOBUNKEN was selected as a destination to visit during their stay in Japan. Guided by Mr. TASHIRO Yūichirō, the group took a tour of the Institute’s collection of books and rubbings, which have been collected since 1930.
Among the missions of the Archives Section of the TOBUNKEN Library* are to provide information on cultural properties to experts and students and to create an environment for the effective use of such materials. We hope that the materials of our institute, which are of high value by international standards, will be widely utilized not only in art history research, but also in Asian history research and historical research in general, and will contribute to the development of research on cultural properties that are the common heritage of all humankind.
*The Archives Section provides usage guidance for undergraduate students, graduate students, museum staff, etc. If you are interested, please apply after reading the guidance
(https://www.tobunken.go.jp/joho/japanese/library/application/application_guidance.html
(Japanese only)).
The seminar
At the 8th Seminar of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems held on 18 December 2024, Ms. TSUKIMURA Kino, Researcher of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, gave a presentation entitled “Basic Research on the Nagao Museum – Towards a Clarification of its Relationship with the Art Research Institute.”
The Nagao Museum was established by NAGAO Kin’ya (1892-1980) and his wife Yone (1889-1967), the founders of Wakamoto Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., at their villa ‘Senko Sansō’ (Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture) in 1946. The museum had many masterpieces in its collection, such as Tea-Leaf Jar with a design of wisteria by NONOMURA Ninsei (now in the MOA Museum of Art, in Shizuoka prefecture), Tachi Signed Chikushūjū Sa (Named “Kōsetsu Samonji”) (now in the Fukuyama Museum of Art), and Shrike in barren tree by MIYAMOTO Musashi (now in the Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi). Over time, however, NAGAO Kin’ya and Yone gradually gave up these works and the museum was dissolved around 1967. More than half a century has passed since the de facto closure of the museum, and the actual operation of the museum and the status of entire collection are still unclear.
However, when purchasing and exhibiting works, Kin’ya and Yone were closely involved with staff members of the Art Research Institute (Bijutsu Kenkyūjo), the predecessor of the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN). It is noteworthy that Kin’ya participated as a board member in the activities of the Bijutsu Konwa-kai and the Society of Friends of Eastern Art (Tōyō Bijutsu Kokusai Kenkyūkai), which were based at TOBUNKEN, and had the opportunity to introduce the collection to researchers.
The lecture raised the possibility that the interaction between the NAGAO couple and art historians was related to the evaluation of the Nagao Museum collection, as a result of an examination of relevant documents remaining at TOBUNKEN.
The presentation was followed by a lively exchange of views, including valuable testimony from researchers with knowledge of the situation at the time of the museum’s dissolution. The Nagao Museum is important for the history of the transmission and evaluation of works, and future research will be conducted to gain a fuller understanding of the museum.
The Presentation
The Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems organizes research seminars to be conducted not only by staff from the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, but also external researchers for presentations and research exchange. At the seminar in November, Mr. EGAITSU Michihiko, Deputy Director of the Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, gave a presentation titled “Study of HASEGAWA Tōtetsu.”
Regarding HASEGAWA Tōtetsu, records of the IWASA Family Genealogy show that the younger brother of IWASA Matabei’s eldest son, Katsushige, was adopted by HASEGAWA Tōhaku, called himself HASEGAWA Tōtetsu Setsuō, and painted sliding doors in the azalea room of Edo Castle. It had previously been thought that he was the same person as “Tōtetsu Sakyō Setsuzan” in the HASEGAWA Family Genealogy and that “HASEGAWA Tōtetsu,” who was described in Ryūjō Hikan as the painter of the azalea room of Edo Castle.
Although Tōtetsu’s work “White Plum Blossoms Screen” (owned by the Minneapolis Institute of Art) is well known, there are few other existing examples and documents, and he was a painter whose work is largely unknown. In this presentation, Mr. EGAITSU presented many works that are considered to be by Tōetsu, such as “Willow and Camellia Screen” which bears the signature “by HASEGAWA Totetsu,” or based on the latest research findings, and presented new documentary information, such as the fact that HASEGAWA Tōtetsu’s name appears as one of the “accompanying members” of Shōjūraikōji temple in the temple historical document “Raikōji Yōsho,” and that his name is also recorded as a poetic immortal artist in the “On miya Zōei-ki” (Record of the Construction of the Shrine) of Usa Hachiman Shrine in Bizen Province, and discussed HASEGAWA Tōtetsu’s artistic career. In the question and answer session following the presentations, many researchers participated, including commentators Mr. TODA Hiroyuki (Imperial Palace Museum of the Imperial Collections) and Mr. HIROMI Nobuhiko (Idemitsu Museum of Arts), as well as Mr. MIYAJIMA Shinichi, who has made numerous contributions related to our understanding of HASEGAWA Tōhaku, and a lively research discussion was held.
