| ■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 |
|
Cross-search using ColBase
Since its establishment in 1930, the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) has continuously investigated and collected materials on many cultural properties. In recent years, we have been digitizing images taken during surveys and materials collected, and making them available on our website. For example, the images taken at the time of the establishment of TOBUNKEN were in black and white, making it impossible to convey the colors of the cultural properties. However, the images that retain their former appearance are valuable and interesting and can inform us as to how the cultural properties were preserved and how they were restored by comparing them with their current appearance.
TOBUNKEN has started collaboration with Japan Search, a national platform for aggregating metadata of digital resources of various fields, and ColBase, a service that enables multi-database searches of the collections in the four national museums, The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan , and two research institutes, to make this information more readily available. TOBUNKEN will continue to work on adding collaborated databases and registering data from time to time, so we hope that you will compare our data with the various data held by other institutions while conducting your research.
A tour, guided by Mr. KIKKAWA Hideki
On March 21, 2024, a group from the National Museum of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Korea (Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do) visited the TOBUNKEN Library of the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.
The museum, an institution under the Cultural Heritage Administration, Korea, opened in November 2023 and mainly holds historical materials, including 75 volumes of the Odaesan Edition of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (UNESCO’s Memory of the World) and 82 volumes of the Royal Protocols of the Joseon Dynasty.
The group, including Mr. Daehyun Kim (administrative officer), took a tour, guided by Mr. KIKKAWA Hideki, Head, Archives Section of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems and Mr. TASHIRO Yūichirō, Researcher of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems of the Institute’s collection of books, which have been collected since 1930. Furthermore, both institutions exchanged opinions on the current situation and issues surrounding material preservation and archive projects based on common ground regarding the preservation and utilization of materials.
One of the missions of the Archives Section is to provide information on cultural properties to experts and students, as well as to create an environment for the effective use of such materials. This is no exception for overseas experts and students. We hope that the materials of our institute, which are highly valued even by international standards, will be widely utilized and contribute to the development of research on cultural properties that are the common heritage of all humankind.
Note: 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)).
Still Life in Early Spring by SEIMIYA Naobumi, 1977, owned by the Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki
Some of SEIMIYA’s materials donated to TOBUNKEN
SEIMIYA Nobumi (1917 – 1991) was a renowned artist who expressed his world of calm and poetic imagery into woodblock prints and reverse glass paintings. Many viewers might be enchaned by his lyrical artworks.
Recently, materials left by SEIMIYA including his notes, diaries, and photos, were donated to the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) by his bereaved family. Among them, handmade notebooks titled “Notebook,” “Thought Records,” and “Subjects of Paintings” are included. These notebooks were created and written as a break between his artworks. They reveal his skillful and meticulous qualities. Furthermore, they are important primary source materials for tracing the journey of his thoughts hidden behind his artworks. They will be available for public view after we finish organizing them. We believe that the donated materials will greatly contribute to the progress of research on SEIMIYA Nobumi.
In 2014, the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) developed a database of cultural property information using WordPress（https://ja.wordpress.org/）, a web content management system, which is still in operation（https://www.tobunken.go.jp/archives/）. WordPress was developed as a blog management system, but at TOBUNKEN it is used as a system for publishing databases, because of its flexibility in development and operation.
WordCamp（https://central.wordcamp.org/）, which was started in 2006 as a conference for WordPress developers and users to get together, has since been held more than 1,200 times in 65 countries. In this conference, WordCamp Kansai 2024（https://kansai.wordcamp.org/2024/）, held in Kobe on February 24, 2024, Mr. OYAMADA Tomohiro, Senior Researcher of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, gave a presentation titled “Renewal of WordPress Contents and Selection of Adoption System,” about the challenges that have arisen during the 10 years of WordPress operation at TOBUNKEN and the requirements for its renewal. After the presentation, the following questions and impressions were raised, leading to a lively exchange of opinions:
- Outsourcing to a development company is difficult.
- What kind of organizational structure does WordPress operate under?
- Do any problems occur when WordPress is upgraded?
Now that it is commonplace to disclose information on the Internet, we believe that issues and operational know-how regarding information systems can be shared widely across disciplines. We will continue to create opportunities to share knowledge gained through the dissemination of such information.
Presentation by Dr. Kim Soyeon
Discussion with Dr. Kim Soyeon
In the Art World, it is widely known that fewer female artists actively worked in the male-dominated society in the past, while female artists work very actively today. Recently, however, research has been gradually revealing previously little-known activities of female artists in the modern period of Japan. However, how female artists worked in the modern Korean art world remained unknown to us.
On January 17, 2024, Dr. Kim Soyeon of Ewha Womans University conducted a presentation titled, Female Arts in Modern Korean Art History – Why were there no Female Artists in Modern Korea?” at the 8th Seminar held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems. This presentation showed the latest outcomes of research on female artists in Modern Korean Art history.
Dr. Kim explained that Kisaeng (Korean Geisha) occupied outstanding positions as the first receivers of the benefits of the art education available for females in Korea in the first half of the 20th century. However, the arts that kisaeng created did not go beyond the traditional art categories such as Korean traditional calligraphy and Sagunja (the four gentlemen paintings or the Four Gracious Plants: Korean traditional paintings depicting bamboo, plum blossoms, chrysanthemums and orchids, as metaphors of noble gentlemen). On the other hand, female artists such as Jeong Chanyeong, who adapted the way of modern Japanese-style painting, appeared in that period. Dr. Kim also talked about Japanese female painters in Korea who worked as art teachers or trained disciples in their own private painting schools in colonial Korea. Based on these outcomes, she stressed the necessity of research collaboration between Japan and South Korea.
After her presentation, Mr. TADOKORO Tai of Kosetsu Memorial Museum, Jissen Women’s Educational Institute, talked about the current research on modern female artists in Japan, especially Japanese-style painting artists. After his talk, discussions were held that included the audience.
This seminar focused on areas in which further research is needed both in Japan and Korea. We believe that it was a precious opportunity for research exchange to further historical investigation.
This seminar was held in both Japanese and Korean, and Dr. TASHIRO Yuichiro of the department interpreted the seminar.
Research scene at TOBUNKEN
Presentation at the seminar
Observation of the lecterns by the attendees
On January 23, 2024, Mr. KOBAYASHI Koji, Senior Fellow of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, and Dr. Ulrike Körber, Researcher of the IHA-NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST, Lisbon, Portugal, conducted research and made a presentation titled as above at the 9th seminar held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems.
Two portable lecterns that had been used by Christian missionaries and served to uphold the mass books were reported as new materials discovered in Portugal in recent years. One lectern, with a Luso-Asian style, has been referred to as having a strong relationship with the Ryukyu Islands or with Macau, the latter having been a Portuguese base in China at the time, and many Chinese characters are written in black ink on the wooden substrate underneath the decorative lacquer coating. The other lectern is of Nanban lacquer, made in Kyoto in the 1630s, and had been exported to Europe. Curiously, the center area, with the IHS insignia of the Jesuits on almost all such lecterns, is thickly recoated with a black lacquer pine tree pattern on it on this lectern. It was considered that these lecterns with the above characteristics must be important, previously unknown historical materials, and thus we have been preparing to conduct various research studies at the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties in Tokyo and Nara or other facilities and to have this presentation.
Based on the research of the two presenters and that conducted at this time, we could obtain the tentative results that the lectern having the Luso-Asian style was made around 1600, and that the Nanban lectern produced in Japan during the same period had a close relationship with Macau, because we can see characters that can possibly be read as ‘difficult to leave from Macau’ in a Chinese poem on the lectern. Also, on the other lectern, we could discover the IHS insignia trace underneath the pine tree lacquer recoating layer by X-ray CT conducted at Nara National Museum. We can infer that the involved party at that time stripped the original shell pattern (raden) off completely and recoated the area to totally hide the Christian symbol under the imminent pressure of the strict Christian ban imposed by the Tokugawa Shogunate.
We reported on the above ongoing very new findings quickly based on in this presentation, and it became an opportunity for the attendants to observe these two lecterns. We intend to deepen our research further and to make an official report of this research as soon as possible.
(NHK news report web link in Japanese:https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240218/k10014362331000.html)
The seminar room on January 26.
The Archives Section at the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems currently organizes Korean painting research materials, such as prewar glass plates and mounted photographs.* In organizing the data, we exchange opinions with both Japanese and Korean researchers. As a part of the project, Dr. Mok Soohyun (Director, Institute of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, at the Association of Korean Modern & Contemporary Art History), a leading researcher on modern art history in Korea, was invited to the institute. In conjunction with a review meeting on materials, a colloquium titled, Korean Art History Colloquium was held on January 26 in the institute’s basement seminar room, where the first colloquium was held in November. The colloquium was designed as an opportunity for researchers and students in Japan to come into contact with the recent trends and current state of Korean art history. The event, titled stablishment of Museums in Korea, was hosted and translated by Mr. TASHIRO Yūichiro, a researcher at the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems. The colloquium was attended by researchers and graduate students from related fields, including Professor KIDA Emiko of Ōtani University and Professor Lee Mina of Tokyo National University of the Arts, and full and frank academic discussions were held. The Archives Section hopes that we can continue to organize the data accumulated by the institute and serve as a bridge between researchers from overseas and Japan.
*Funded by the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation. “Photographs of Korean Paintings at Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties” (September 2023 – August 2024, research representative: TASHIRO Yūichiro)
Ms. Maizawa, presenting at SOAS
Ms. MAIZAWA Rei (Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems) has been a visiting researcher at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC) in Norwich, UK, since last October, where she has been working on research of art works and studies
(https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/ekatudo/2059896.html). As a part of these activities, on January 25, 2024, she gave a lecture in English titled “The Arhat painting at Kōmyōji Temple: Iconography, Style, and the Worship of Buddha in East Asia” at SOAS (University of London, The School of Oriental and African Studies), Center for the Study of Japanese Religions. SOAS is world-renowned as an academic institution for the studies of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. It also has been a leading center for the study of Japan in Europe.
In the lecture, Ms. MAIZAWA explained about the style and iconography in detail, and then discussed its religious background of the Arhat painting. Professor Lucia Dolce of SOAS chaired the lecture, which was attended by around 70 people, including SOAS alumni and researchers and students of Japanese religious studies. The lecture was followed by a question-and-answer session, during which experts in Chinese and Korean art also gave their opinions, providing an opportunity for a meaningful exchange of views. The lecture hall was almost full on the day, indicating the high level of interest in the study of Buddhist painting in the UK.
Q&A Session
When investigating cultural properties, it is essential to decipher related materials from the past. However, the materials are often deteriorated, and the meanings of scripts at the time of their usage were often different from their modern meanings, and therefore caution is required when reading the materials.
At the 7th Seminar, held on December 11, 2023, Mr. KATAKURA Shumpei (Tohoku University Archives) gave a presentation titled Interim report on the investigation of “Yongzibifu（用字避複）” about Guodian Chujian（郭店楚簡） on excavated materials from Upper Ancient China. “Yongzibifu” has been considered as a kind of rhetoric, a phenomenon in which variants are used when the same Chinese characters would be repeated within a certain range. The reason for its occurrence is not clear. Mr. KATAKURA reported that in order to discuss this phenomenon objectively, in his investigation he has been organizing the characters in the documents into a table, one by one, to determine the intervals and proportions at which “Yongzibifu” is occurring.
Although the presentation was given at an intermediate stage of the research, with no conclusion yet reached, there was a lively discussion led by Mr. MIYAJIMA Kazuya of Seikei University on how to interpret the expressions and use of script described in the materials.
Mr. KATAKURA has published the character data on the Chinese excavated materials he has created in the course of his research as a data paper (https://doi.org/10.24576/jadh.3.1_27). The Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) will also consider constructing a database focusing on data of scripts obtained through the process of reading various materials.
Lecture presentation in the conference room.
Lecture tour: Introduction of materials in the stacks.
On October 16 2023, about 40 students from Gakushuin University (under the supervision of Prof. KYOTANI Yoshinori and Prof. SARAI Mai) visited the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN), and as part of the course “Museology: Media and Information,” TOBUNKEN introduced its activities related to cultural property archives. The students attending this lecture were not only from the Department of Art History, but also from other faculties, and the lecture provided a good opportunity for them to learn about some of TOBUNKEN’s activities.
First, Mr. KIKKAWA Hideki, Head of the Archive Section of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, gave an overview and history of the Institute in a meeting room of TOBUNKEN, and introduced the collection and publication of materials useful for future activities of museum curators, and materials created in the course of museum activities. The presentation also explained how research activities are supported in specialized libraries, using the TOBUNKEN library as an example. The participants then moved to the library and the stacks and were divided into two groups, where Mr. KIKKAWA and Mr. TASHIRO Yuichiro, Researcher of the Department, introduced the significance of the digital archives and cultural property research photographs, showing them in person and explaining how they could be used.
The Cultural Property Archives Laboratory will continue to actively provide guidance for students and professionals under the research project called ‘Enrichment of Professional Archives and Comprehensive Reference.’ If you would like to participate in a session, please submit a request to “TOBUNKEN Library Guidance for undergraduate/graduate students and museum staff” (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/joho/japanese/library/application/application_guidance.html, Japanese only).
An explanation of the activities of the TOBUNKEN's Library provided during the tour.
Photo by Ms. TERASHI Taro (Art Documentation Society).
An explanation about investigational photographs of cultural properties in the Library provided during the tour.
Photo by Ms. TERASHI Taro (Art Documentation Society).
On October 28 2023, the 16th Fall Seminar of the Japan Art Documentation Society was held at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN), including a tour of the library.
The Japan Art Documentation Society is an organization engaged in research on methodologies for recording, managing, and digitizing materials related to art, and in the pursuit of practical application of these methodologies. There are approximately 350 members, including librarians, curators, archivists, information science researchers, and art historians, and the tour was attended by 13 members.
During the tour, Mr. KIKKAWA Hideki, Head of the Archive Section of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, first gave an overview of TOBUNKEN and introduced the activities and the composition of the library collection in the conference room on the second floor, and then moved with the participants to the library and stacks to explain the significance and actual use of digital archives and investigational photographs of cultural properties. Specialists in cultural property materials were included among the participants, and the event also provided an opportunity for a productive exchange of views, with questions from the perspective of practitioners regarding the collection, organization, publication, and preservation of materials, as well as questionss from the perspective of users.
Among the tasks of the Archive Section are to provide experts and students with information on materials related to cultural property and to develop an environment for the effective use of these materials. In the future, we would like to provide more opportunities for such specialists to become aware of the TOBUNKEN collections via tours and guidance.
If you would like to participate in a session, please submit a request to “TOBUNKEN Library Guidance for undergraduate/graduate students and museum staff” (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/joho/japanese/library/application/application_guidance.html, Japanese only).
Visit to the National Art Library at the Victoria & Albert Museum
A scene from the gallery talk at the Sainsbury Centre
Since 2013, the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC) in Norwich, UK, and Tokyo National Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) have been working on the joint project, “Shaping the Fundamentals of Research on Japanese Art.” SISJAC staff regularly provide information on literature and exhibitions related to Japanese arts held outside of Japan, and in previous years researchers from the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems have travelled to the UK for a site visit, consultation, and lecture. From 2020 until last year, online discussions were held, as it was not possible to visit the site, but this year two TOBUNKEN members, Mr. KIKKAWA Hideki and Ms. MAIZAWA Rei, have visited the UK for the first time in three years to tour the site, hold a consultation, and give a lecture.
On the 14th, 15th, and 17th of November, we visited institutions related to art books and documentation in London. This included the art libraries and photographic archives attached to the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, the Courtauld Institute of Art, the University of London, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, as well as other libraries with substantial collections of Japanese materials, such as the British Library and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. We were given a tour of the facilities and presented with materials by the staff of each institution and discussed the possibility of holding joint projects with some of the institutions. These visits were coordinated by Mr. HIRANO Akira and accompanied by Mr. HIRANO Ms. HAYASHI Miwako of SISJAC.
The consultation was held at SISJAC on the November 16, and Ms. MAIZAWA gave a gallery talk and lecture at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts that afternoon. The Sainsbury Centre, attached to the University of East Anglia, houses the collection of Sir Robert Sainsbury and Lady Lisa Sainsbury, the founders of SISJAC, which includes Japanese arts. A gallery talk on Buddhist and Shinto statues was held in the exhibition room, followed by the lecture in the basement conference room on ‘The activities of Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties and its research on rakanzu (Arhat painting).’ In addition to the local general audience, Japanese officials visiting SISJAC also attended and listened attentively. Ms. MAIZAWA has been at SISJAC as a visiting researcher since October, and will continue to work on research and studies in the UK until the end of February next year.
The seminar room on November 18.
The Archives Research Center, Archives Section, Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems of the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Propertiesis currently carrying out a project to organize Korean art research materials, including pre-war glass plates and albums*. Researchers not only from Japan but also from South Korea are consulted for the project. On November 17th, the institute invited Professor Chang Chin-Sung, a leading Korean art history scholar at Seoul National University, to a review meeting on materials. In conjunction with the meeting, the Korean Art History Colloquium, headed by Professor Chang, was held in the institute’s basement seminar room on November 18th (Saturday). The colloquium was designed as an opportunity for researchers and students in Japan to come into contact with the trends and current state of Korean art history research. The colloquium, organized and interpreted by researcher TASHIRO Yuichiro, covered paintings from the early Joseon period under the title “Reading Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land by Ahn Gyeon.” Researchers and graduate students from related fields, including Professor Itakura Masaaki (University of Tokyo) and Professor Kanno Chiaki (University of Tsukuba), participated in the colloquium to engange in full and frank academic discussion. The institute will continue to organize the accumulated data, and at the same time serve as a bridge between researchers in Japan and from abroad.
*Funded by the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation. “Research on Photographs of Korean Painting at Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties” (September 2023 – August 2024, research representative: TASHIRO Yuichiro)
An example of the materials of MORIOKA Ryuzo (photo of Madonna with Child by Carlo Crivelli, 1482, Pinacoteca, Vatican)
MORIOKA Ryuzo (1878-1961) was a painter who studied under KURODA Seiki (1866-1924). Materials of MORIOKA Ryuzo were donated to TOBUNKEN by his family on November 8, 2023. In response to the donation, SATO Takamasa, Director General of TOBUNKEN, sent a letter of gratitude to a representative of the family by surface mail. The materials consist of 85 sheets of photos of western paintings collected by MORIOKA.
MORIOKA was born in Tottori Prefecture and came to Tokyo when he was twenty years old. He studied painting in KURODA’s private painting school, the Tenshin Dojo, and entered Tokyo Fine Arts School (Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko) in 1901. He also became a private student of KURODA earning his favor. He stayed in Paris for 3 years starting from 1922 and returned to Japan via the U.S.A, where he is thought to have collected the photos.
The collection is composed mainly of religious paintings by Renaissance painters such as Giotto and Raffaello, and all photos were produced by Fratelli Alinari, one of the world’s oldest photography companies, founded in 1852, which treats a large number of photos of Italian artworks . MORIOKA used to lend them to painters in Japan, and most of the photos have an ownership stamp on their reverse side, which suggests they were highly valued.
The materials are being kept at TOBUNKEN Library. We also plan to open their digital images for viewing, so that researchers can access them without causing stress on the original materials.
The author at the seminar.
The origin of the Yakushi Triad (consisting of Yakushi Nyorai, the Healing Buddha, flanked by two attendants, the Bbodhisattvas Nikko and Gakko) enshrined in the Kondo (Main Hall) of the Yakushiji Temple in Nara remains uncertain. Opinions are divided as to whether it was made at the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 8th century. To this end, it cannot be said that the issue of the background of the construction, such as how an example that shows excellent formality such as this statue was realized in Japan at the time, was not sufficiently examined.
In this regard, as an associate fellow of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, I conducted a presentation titled “About the Yakushi Triad Enshrined in the Kondo of the Yakushiji Temple: A View from the Relationship between Yakushiji Temple and the Shitennoji Temples in Gyeongju, South Korea on November 28, 2023.”
The Yakushiji Triad has attracted attention not only for its realistic physical expressions, but also for the various patterns on the box-shaped pedestal on which the central statue sits. This presentation focused on the deformed figures with curly hair and fangs, and on the similarity with demonic figures attached to the Wall Tile with the Guardian Deity Motif Covered in Green-glaze from the site of the Shitennoji Temple in Gyeongju, South Korea. Since the Shitennoji Temple was founded at the end of the 7th century, I assumed that the Yakushiji Triad was also produced at the end of the 7th century, and examined the background of the creation of the Yakushiji Triad by examining the relationship between the temples of Silla, a former kingdom within present-day Korea and Yakushiji in the same period.
The seminar was held in a hybrid on-site/online format. Experts on the history of Buddhist art from outside the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) also participated. They pointed out the need for further comparison with other objects of the same age. In the future, I would like to take a broader perspective and deepen my consideration of what concepts the pedestal was based on.
Lecture by Ms.HARUKI Shoko
Lecture by Mr. OKAMURA Yukinori
The “Public Lectures” organized by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, are held every autumn and present the research outcomes of the researchers to the public. From 2020 to 2022, to prevent the spread of the COVID-19, the lectures were held on a small scale with limited audiences and presented only by internal researchers on a single day. However, this year the lectures returned to the program design of four years ago, with external lecturers invited and the lectures held for two days.
On the first day, October 20, 2023, lectures titled Nishinoto’in Tokiyoshi’s garden: a study of the Hasegawa school’s wisteria screens by Ms. ONO Mayumi (Head, Japanese and East Asian Art History Section of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems) and Wish to protect the nation in the Ishūretsuzō depictions of Ainu chieftains by Ms.HARUKI Shoko (Curator, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum) were presented, demonstrating the latest knowledge and interpretations of Edo period paintings.
On the second day, October 21, the lectures were How to preserve and utilize art gallery materials, presented by Mr.KIKKAWA Hideki (Head, Archives Section of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems) and Connecting the history of Hiroshima Panels to the future, presented by Mr. OKAMURA Yukinori(Curator, Managing Director of Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels). These lectures provided concrete examples of how modern and contemporary materials and works should be passed down.
There were 139 participants from the public on both days. As a result of a survey of the audience, 86% of the respondents answered that they were “very satisfied” or “generally satisfied.”
Exterior of Palazzo delle Esposizioni, where the Roman Exhibition was held.
Exhibited Japanese-style paintings at tokonoma set in the gallery.
An Exhibition of Japanese Art held in Rome, Italy in 1930 (called the “Rome Exhibition”) can be called a “legacy,” as it influenced the following generations, while at present, exhibitions that introduce Japanese art and culture are more commonly held outside of Japan. This Rome Exhibition, held with full financial backing by Baron OKURA Kishichiro, the second president of Okura Zaibatsu (Okura conglomerate), is highly recognized by its size and uniqueness. It exhibited as many as 168 modern Japanese-style paintings, and had 16 tokonoma of various sizes, recessed spaces in Japanese-style reception rooms to show paintings in an original Japanese manner.
At a seminar on this Rome Exhibition, held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems on September 22, 2023, three researchers made presentations of the outcome of their research, which was conducted under grant by the Pola Art Foundation. Ms. TANAKA Sachiko of the Okura Museum of Art talked about Four Aspects of the Holding the Exhibition of Japanese Art in Rome in 1930, with details about the process of how the decision to hold the Rome Exhibition was made, and the involvement of the Italian contributors. Mr. YOSHII Daimon of the Yokohama History Museum presented Materials Related to the Exhibition of Japanese Art in Rome, owned by Okura Museum of Art, providing an overview of various materials, including minutes and reporting letters, held by the Okura Museum of Art. Mr. SHINOHARA, Satoshi Shinohara, of the Teaching Qualification Center and the Matsumae Commemoration Hall of Tokai University presented Japanese-style Painting Syndrome: Mainly on the works of KABURAGI Kiyokata’s Works discussing how the painters set their strategy to reach outside of Japan based on trend analysis of the painters whose works were exhibited, especially the works of KABURAGI Kiyokata.
Because of its importance, much previous research has focused on this exhibition. The research presented in this seminar demonstrated great progress in the aspect of the discovery of related materials owned by the Okura Museum of Art. We expect further utilization of these precious materials related to the holding of the Roman Exhibition.
Mr. KAWAI Masatomo (center, left) and Director General SAITO Takamasa (center, right)
Examples of the donated materials
Mr. MATSUSHIMA Ken (1944~1998) was the head of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems of Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN), known at the time as the “National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo.” Materials related to his work were donated to TOBUNKEN by his brother-in-law, Mr. KAWAI Masatomo., and we have begun to make some of the materials available to the public. Mr. MATSUSHIMA had worked for a long time in the cultural properties administration at the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and has been a lifelong researcher of Japanese Buddhist sculpture. The donated materials, including research documents, photographs, and restoration records of Buddhist sculptures throughout Japan, are extremely valuable. We have been in possession of some of the materials since 2015, and since then have made some progress in organizing them; finally, all of the materials were officially donated in September 2023. In response to the donation, Mr. SAITO Takamasa, Director General of TOBUNKEN, presented a letter of gratitude to Mr. KAWAI on 2 October 2023. We have posted a list of the materials on our website as “Materials of MATSUSHIMA Ken” (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/matsushima) and the materials are also available in our library. We will continue to add data as needed. Please make use of this valuable resource.
Prof. Yi Ki Sung, viewing the collection of books at the library of TOBUNKEN.
On September 1, 2023, a group of researchers and graduate students from Korea, including Professor Yi Ki Sung from the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, Department of Archaeology, visited the library of the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN). The group came to Japan for a research presentation at the Korea-Japan Cultural Properties Forum, held at Waseda University on August 31, and TOBUNKEN was selected as a destination to visit during their stay in Japan.
The library tour was followed by an explanation of the history of TOBUNKEN and the structure of its library collection provided by the staff. The institute’s collection of books, accumulated since 1930, contains valuable materials on Korean art history and archaeology, which attracted the group’s full attention.
One of the tasks of the Archives Section* is to provide information on cultural properties to professionals and students and to create an environment in which materials can be effectively used, including visitors from overseas. We hope that the priceless materials of our institute, which are highly valued worldwide, will be widely utilized and contribute to the research and development of our cultural assets, a common heritage of humankind.
*The Archives Section provides guidance sessions as occasion demands for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as museum staff. If you would like to participate in a session, please submit a request with reference to “TOBUNKEN Library Guidance for undergraduate/graduate students and museum staff.” : https://www.tobunken.go.jp/joho/japanese/library/application/application_guidance.html (Japanese only)
The seminar
At the 4th seminar of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, held on July 25, 2023, YASUNAGA Takuyo (Head, Trans-Disciplinary Research Section, Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems) gave an online presentation titled Reconstruction Research of the Kuwayama Gyokushū Collection.
Kuwayama Gyokushū (1746-99) was a literati painter who worked actively in Wakayama in the mid-Edo period. Gyokushū was largely self-taught, but developed his own painting style through interactions with literati painters such as Ike Taiga (1723-76) in Kyoto. He is also highly regarded for publishing excellent painting theories such as Kaiji-Higen.
Materials related to Gyokushū had been kept by members of the Kuwayama family in Wakayama who were his descendants, but unfortunately some were sold, and some of the remaining materials were temporarily lost after World War II. However, in recent years, several missing materials have been rediscovered as being held by relatives of the Kuwayama family. These materials are highly valued, because they include Chinese calligraphy and paintings formerly owned by Gyokushū, as well as painting tools and seals. In addition, The Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) holds a collection of photographs taken during a survey of the Kuwayama family collection in 1944, which show its contents before they became scattered.
In the seminar, the presentation began with a discussion of the art historical significance of the Kuwayama Gyokushū collection, with works selected from the present collection of the Kuwayama family. Based on this study, an attempt was made to reconstruct the lost parts of the Kuwayama family collection using the photographs and also auction catalogs of the TOBUNKEN archives. Such reconstruction research also revealed possibilities for future use of the TOBUNKEN archives.
In a question-and-answer session held after the presentation, discussions were held on the prospects for using materials of the TOBUNKEN archives such as cabinet cards, and the survey of the Kuwayama family collection of 1944. It is expected that such reconstruction research will lead to reconsideration of the value and meaning of not only the remaining materials, but also the lost materials, and to advance discussion on the significance of preserving these materials.
