| ■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 |
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Lecture by Mr. NAKANO Noriyuki
Lecture by Dr. IMAIZUMI Shoko
To obtain fundamental data for their research, protection, and utilization, the documentation of cultural properties and artifacts through both texts and photographs is an important activity for museums, fine art museums, and municipal governments managing cultural properties. The Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems is actively discussing methods for documenting cultural properties as well as the compilation of a database to organize and utilize these documentations. To this end, we conducted a seminar titled “Documentation of Cultural Properties for Protection and the Principle of Image Compression,” on September 21st, 2021, in the seminar room at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties while following the appropriate countermeasures against COVID-19 infection.
Mr. NAKANO Noriyuki (Senior Specialist of the First Cultural Properties Division, Agency for Cultural Affairs) delivered a lecture titled “Documentation of Cultural Properties for Protection.” He explained the importance of documenting cultural properties to ensure their protection and reiterated the areas of special care that must be taken into consideration during the documentation process, based on the abundance of materials with actual cases. In addition, Dr. IMAIZUMI Shoko (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University) delivered a lecture titled “Concepts and Basic Technologies of Image Compression” as the second session in the series on “Digital Image Compression from the Basics of Images to Moving Images.” She explained digital image compression, the processes involved, and finally, the basic technologies and techniques of major compression formats for still and moving images, such as JPEG and MPEG.
The significance of documenting cultural properties continues to increase as it is crucial to securing opportunities for research and appreciation in the current situation wherein it is difficult to access cultural properties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to actively disseminate useful information for documentation, preservation, and publication of cultural properties by providing lecture-style and hands-on seminars.
Lacquer Door Panels of Wat Rajpradit - mother-of-pearl with underpainting is seen in both the upper and lower parts, and cedar material decorated with colored lacquer maki-e is found in the middle portions.
Front Cover of the Report
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) has been conducting a joint study to preserve the cultural heritage of Thailand in collaboration with the Fine Arts Department, Ministry of Culture of Thailand (FAD), since 1992. As a part of this joint study, we have been providing technical support through related parties in Thailand, including the Temple and FAD, for the restoration project related to the lacquer door panels at Wat Rajpradit, the first-grade royal Buddhism temple built in 1864.
Restoration of cultural heritage requires devising a plan based on detailed research on materials, techniques, surrounding environment, and deterioration status of each cultural heritage, and the restoration work needs to proceed according to the plan. Hence, relevant scientific investigation on the cultural heritage in question is crucial. Lacquer door panels at Wat Rajpradit were believed to be made in Japan because they have designs of flowers and birds, landscapes, and figures wearing Japanese kimonos, and they feature work in mother-of-pearl with underpaint techniques, which were often used in lacquerware exported from Japan in the mid-19th century. However, there was neither concrete evidence nor clues regarding their producers and their positioning in the history of such techniques. Therefore, numerous experts in various fields from TOBUNKEN and other organizations conducted scientific investigations and research studies on the designs expressed in mother-of-pearl with underpainting and colored lacquer maki-e. According to these studies, the material ingredients, techniques, and design elements found in the lacquer door panels strongly suggest that they were made in Japan.
The report “Study of the Japan-made Lacquerwork found in Thailand – Lacquer Door Panels of Wat Rajpradit,” published in Japanese in March 2021 assists in understanding these research outcomes and provides an overview of the interdisciplinary research on cultural heritage. This report is accessible in the TOBUNKEN Library, public libraries in Japan, and some libraries in overseas museums that have collections of Japanese artworks. We hope that you will read it.
Damaged “Hanshan and Shide”
Investigation
Photographing
Myōhōji Temple, located in Marugame city, Kagawa prefecture, is known for the fact that Yosa Buson (1716-1783), a painter and haiku poet of the Edo era, visited it in 1768 and left many of his paintings there. His painting “Hanshan and Shide,” an Important Cultural Property, is damaged and Hanshan’s face is partially lost. Fortunately, the previous image including Hanshan’s face undamaged was retrieved from the monochrome films that were shot in the Myōhōji Temple by the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) in 1959. It was recently found that the films showed the painting in its undamaged form.
TOBUNKEN conducted an investigation, photography project, and research study to reproduce this damaged painting placed on sliding doors (fusuma-e) as digital images based on the existing monochrome films and new images produced through this project.
Four researchers from the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems—SHIRONO Seiji, EMURA Tomoko, YASUNAGA Takuyo, and MAIZAWA Rei—visited the Myōhōji Temple from August 24th to 28th, 2021 for this research investigation and photography with sufficient infection control measures against COVID-19. The investigation targets were “Hanshan and Shide,” “Cycad,” “Landscapes,” “Bamboo,” and “Jurō (God of longevity),” all works of Yosa Buson. All paintings were shot in color, while “Hanshan and Shide,” “Cycad,” and “Landscapes” were also shot using infrared (IR) imaging. Furthermore, experts of sliding door making and cultural property conservation measured “Hanshan and Shide” sliding doors because the reproduced image of “Hanshan and Shide” will be mounted on sliding doors and placed in the main hall of Myōhōji Temple.
There are still challenges such as finding a way to convert the monochrome image into a color image. We would like to explore new ways to utilize the image materials accumulated by TOBUNKEN through this reproduction experience.
On July 7th and 21st, 2021, we surveyed and photographed cultural properties at Baijōsan Kōmyōji Temple in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
On July 7th, SHIRNO Seiji, EMURA Tomoko, YASUNAGA Takuyo, and MAIZAWA Rei (who belong to the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems) conducted an optical survey of Rakan-zu (a painting of Arhat, an enlightened Buddhist high priest). In the previous fiscal year, we also surveyed and photographed the same painting and presented an overview, such as its history, at the eighth workshop of the Department of Art Research for fiscal 2020 (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/ekatudo/883416.html). In this latest survey, we used fluorescent photo shooting to check the storage conditions and expressions in more detail, such as the difference between the original portion and the portion touched upon later, which are difficult to detect with naked eye.
On July 21st, EMURA Tomoko, YASUNAGA Takuyo, and MAIZAWA Rei examined a painting of TAKEDA Unshitsu (1753-1827), a priest from Iiyama, Shinano Province. Unshitsu, the 26th head priest of Kōmyōji Temple, was a man of letters who excelled in poetry, writing, and drawing. He organized a poetry and writing association and interacted with many writers in the Edo period, including HIROSE Taizan and TANI Bunchō. Kōmyōji Temple has various works of Unshitsu, such as landscape paintings, paintings based on historical anecdotes, various written documents, as well and Sansuichō , a collection of his paintings. These are very valuable for learning about the activities and achievements of Unshitsu.
Founded in Kasumigaseki in the Kamakura period, Kōmyōji Temple relocated the building to its current location in the early Edo period. This ancient temple has a bell with an inscription, “Enpo 6” (1678), and a stone monument with an inscription, “Meiwa 9” (1772). Based on this survey, we will continue to conduct research on Rakan-zu and Unshitsu. We at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties will continue to actively conduct research on cultural properties that still remain in the community.
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Gunsen kitsuun zu,
(Immortals eating clouds)
by TAKEDA Unshitsu, Bunsei 8 (1825)
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Survey scene
A portion of the painting
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Pic 1 “Saddle with European Figures”, Tokyo National Museum Collection (H-1470), donated by SAWA Nobuyoshi in 1873. (from ColBase)
Pic 2 “Yamato-e Painting Study” 1-3 Cover 1.
KOBAYASHI Koji, Head, Trans-Disciplinary Research Section, Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems, gave a presentation titled “Emergence and Transformation of ‘Namban Lacquer’ in Modern and Present Japan – Through its Discourse” in the fourth seminar held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems on July 16th, 2021.
The presenter has been working on a comprehensive cultural property study, from the viewpoint of material and cultural history, about Namban Lacquer, which was produced in Kyoto in the early half of the 17th century and exported to Europe and Americas. He made this presentation as he believes that it is necessary to carry out recognition process tracing and explore reference studies to identify when the scholarly interest in “Namban lacquer” started and what path it has followed to the present.
Interest in “Namban lacquer” emerged as a result of the influence of the “Namban” trends in literature, drama, painting, and other fields around the Taisho era, inspired by the study of Japanese Christian history, which started in the early Meiji era. This interest led to the active collection of “Maki-e lacquer depicted Namban patterns” (pic 1) from the early Showa era until the beginning of World War Ⅱ (WWII), which depicted Namban (western) people on Japanese traditional objects. The interest in these “Namban lacquer for domestic use” continued even after WWII. However, when many of the “Namban lacquer for export” that had been exported to Europe started to be imported back into Japan after the 1960s, the interests of lacquer art historians and the exhibit trends were transformed from lacquer for domestic use to lacquer for export, and these trends persist in the present era. While these trends have been mentioned more broadly so far, this presentation delved into further details. For example, the study’s focus on Namban lacquer export was first pointed out by OKADA Jo in the paper titled “On Makie Lacquer Depicted Namban Patterns” in “Yamato-e Painting Study”(pic 2), a fine art history journal published exclusively during WWII. The fact that the interest in lacquerware emerged and expanded to popularity, shifting from domestic use to export, was corroborated by concrete evidence in lacquer exhibits in exhibitions held before and after WWII. Furthermore, he explained that the term “Namban-style export lacquer” used in parallel with the term “Namban lacquer” was proposed by researchers in countries such as UK or the Netherland, where Japanese lacquer was exported throughout the Edo era, while the term “Namban lacquer” was generally used in countries such as Portugal or Spain, to where they were exported mainly in the early Edo era. This means that these two terms are not used in a contradictory sense, but can be understood in comparative ways.
Mr. KOIKE Tomio of the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Dr. HIDAKA Kaori of the National Museum of Japanese History, and Mr. YAMASAKI Tsuyoshi, President of the Kanazawa College of Art, graciously participated in this seminar as commentators and facilitated a thorough discussion on this presentation, including insufficient points of explanation or contents of recognition. In fact, there are wide varieties of research materials on modern and present periods and we expect there to be more documents and items that are still undiscovered. He will continue to explore further and achieve a more persuasive understanding of the history of research on Namban Lacquer.
We are also continuing to develop databases for our internal work. The image shows the database we are developing to manage the photographic survey records by ODAKA Sennosuke, which are viewable online (
www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/odaka).
The Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties has released more than 30 databases related to cultural properties and made them available online. These databases contain a variety of data, such as painters’ diaries, monochrome photos of cultural properties taken in the 1930s, and art magazines published in the 1890s.
We operate two types of databases, one for releasing data to the public over the internet and the other for creating and storing data. The databases for public use do not require much functionality. However, they do require stability so that they can operate 24 hours a day, while security updates must be implemented frequently. On the other hand, the databases for internal work require advanced features such as special data manipulation for proofreading or batch replacement of specific character strings.
We have been operating databases for public use and databases for internal work since around 2014. During that time, various events have impacted the development and operation of these databases, such as software upgrades, hardware updates, the use of database services built by other organizations and personnel changes. At the 3rd seminar of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems in fiscal 2021, we reviewed the current status of the databases and examined how the development should be pursued. Following these discussions, we will not only continue to make these data bases available to the public, but also strive to develop new databases and improve user convenience.
Photo taken mid-presentation
The sixth volume of the “Shuten-dōji handscrolls” by SUMIYOSHI Hiroyuki (owned by GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig )
The Shuten-dōji picture scrolls depict an ogre named Shuten-dōji who once lived on Mt. Ōe or Mt. Ibuki and engaged in the wicked acts of capturing women and plundering treasures in the capital, being conquered by samurai such as Minamoto-no- Raikō. The character of Shuten-dōji is a popular theme and there are many works depicting him that remain in existence today. One famous work, a three-scroll piece by KANŌ Motonobu, which is owned by the Suntory Museum of Art, is well known. At this seminar, a presentation titled “Regarding the First Appearance of SUMIYOSHI Hiroyuki’s ‘Shuten-dōji handscrolls’ (owned by the GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig)” was given. This work consists of six volumes, and its existence was completely unknown after Heinrich Botho Scheube, a foreign physician hired by the Meiji Government, brought it to Germany in 1882. The presenter was able to inspect the pieces in this work at Leipzig in 2019, and in this presentation, she noted that the scrolls may have been painted by SUMIYOSHI Hiroyuki in 1786 as a trousseau when Tanehime (1765-94, her biological father was TOKUGAWA Munetake, the first head of the Tayasu branch of the Tokugawa clan and her biological brother was MATSUDAIRA Sadanobu) who was an adopted daughter of TOKUGAWA Ieharu, the tenth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, married TOKUGAWA Harutomi (1771-1853), the tenth head of the Kishū-Tokugawa family. The first half of this work was added to the content of KANŌ Motonobu’s three-volume work, and it can be said to be an important example of a body of work when moving forward with future research into Shuten-dōji handscrolls. In the future, we will continue to engage in research and utilize this work as a research material.
Photo taken mid-presentation
The last slide of the presentation
The effects of the novel coronavirus infection have persisted for a long time and this has meant that meetings and other events, which had previously been held with a large number of stakeholders, are now often held online. The annual meeting of the Art Libraries Society of North America was also held online on May 13, 2021, in collaboration with the Getty Research Institute, and was titled “Building Bridges: Working Together to Disseminate Japanese Art Literature.” This was the first time the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo (TOBUNKEN) gave a presentation at this conference. In 2016, we signed an agreement with the Getty Research Institute in the United States regarding collaborative research. In addition to the Meiji Art Journal “Mizue,” we digitized books in our library collection, including art magazines from the Meiji period, art exhibition catalogues from the Meiji period up to the early Showa period, and woodblock print books from the Edo period. We also provided information to the Getty Research Portal, a virtual library operated by the Getty Research Institute, and we are working to publish more information online. In the presentation, we introduced the history and results of our collaborative research projects so far, and specifically presented new perspectives that could be obtained by cross-searching the materials in the possession of each country. As global travel and excursions are restricted, virtual libraries where valuable research materials are freely available online are becoming increasingly important. We will continue to cooperate with research institutes in Japan and overseas to promote the dissemination of useful information for research on cultural properties.
National Treasure, God of Heavenly Punishment of Extermination of Evil, hanging scroll From the Collection of the Nara National Museum. Photograph courtesy of the Nara National Museum.
Online Q&A session
The paintings constituting the National Treasure Extermination of Evil, held in the collections of the Nara National Museum and others, are thought to have been created at the end of the Heian period around the time of Emperor Go-Shirakawa. Along with the Hell Scroll, these paintings are well known as works representing this period, but there is still room for examination regarding their subjects and the background to their production. In the first seminar of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems in 2021, Ms. UMEZAWA Megumi (chief researcher at Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa-Bunko Museum) gave a presentation titled “Restorative Consideration of the Subject of Extermination of Evil.” She has argued that the subject of this work is “hell for demon-gods” (UMEZAWA Megumi, “Ya o hagu bishamonten to ‘Hekijae’ no shudai” [Bishamonten fletching arrows and the subject of Extermination of Evil]. In Chūsei kaiga no matorikkusu II [Matrix of medieval paintings II], Seikansha, 2014). In this presentation, she conducted a detailed analysis including the newly discovered notes that seem to be part of the series of picture scrolls that have come to be known in recent years. She reexamined the ideas of the work as a whole and considered the religious thought and historical tastes underlying its expression. The seminar took place online with measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but remote participants also engaged actively in the Q&A session. Although human movement is restricted, we will continue our research activities after taking adequate measures.
Database of KUME Keiichiro’s Diary, Accounts on January 4th, 1899
The Portrait of SANO Akira by KURODA Seiki Possessed by the Tokyo National Museum
Western-style painter KUME Keiichiro (1866 – 1934) is known as an artist who strove to revamp Japanese modern western-style painting along with his close colleague KURODA Seiki (1866 – 1924). At Kume Museum of Art in Meguro, Tokyo, which is designed to praise his achievements as a painter, Kume’s diary titled “KUME Keiichiro’s Diary” is kept and was already published (by Chuo Koron Bijutsu Shuppan in 1990). As part of a collaborative project between the museum and Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN), we began publishing the content of the diary online in database format using WordPress Content Management System (CMS) via the following URL as of March 25:
https://www.tobunken.go.jp/
materials/kume_diary
The diary was written in part in French and the database contains the French text written until 1892 and its Japanese translation by visiting researcher SAITO Tatsuya. Further, it is linked with the database of KURODA Seiki’s diary, which had already been published online, and as for descriptions with the same dates, the two diaries can be cross-referenced. For instance, Kuroda and Kume celebrated the New Year in Numazu, Shizuoka, in 1899. In Kume’s diary on January 4th, he noted that “Kuroda portrayed Sano,” while Kuroda mentioned in his diary that “I portrayed Sano.” Sano is SANO Akira (1866 – 1955), a sculptor who enjoyed a close friendship with Kuroda and Kume.
The portrait of Sano painted by Kuroda is a collection that was housed in the Kuroda Memorial Hall (Tokyo National Museum) in 2019. It can safely be described as an interesting example in which Kuroda and Kume’s accounts in their respective diaries are linked with the existing piece of art.
For your information, also as a result of our collaborative study with Kume Museum of Art, we published an article, “Exchanges between KURODA Seiki and KUME Keiichiro Seen in Letters (I),” by SHIOYA Jun, ITO Fumiko (curator at Kume Museum of Art), TANAKA Jun (visiting researcher), and SAITO Tatsuya in The Journal of Art Studies Vol. 433. We compiled the letters exchanged between Kuroda and Kume as a comprehensive list to allow you to view its summary. It will be a real pleasure for us if it provides a means of looking at Japan’s modern western-style painting along with the database of Kume’s diary.
The front cover of the research report
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) owns a total of 2,565 auction catalogues published from the Meiji Era to the Showa Era, which is the largest collection among those owned by public organizations. We have digitized them in collaboration with Tokyo Art Club since 2015 (refer to the Research Report for April 2015 https://www.tobunken.go.jp/
materials/ekatudo/206112.html) and started publishing them as the Auction Catalogue Digital Archive on May 2019 (refer to the Research Report for April 2019 https://www.tobunken.go.jp/
materials/ekatudo/817176.html). Further, in order to publicize this digital archive widely, we organized a seminar titled “The Auction Catalogue Digital Archive: Exploring the Potential of Auction Catalogues in Art Historical Research” on February 25, 2020. In this workshop, four people who participated from and outside of TOBUNKEN made presentations and curators and researchers who participated from various regions nationwide held discussion and question and answer sessions, which received a strong response and good reviews (refer to the Research Report for February 2020 https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/ekatudo/823156.html).
Against this background, centered on what was discussed in the workshop, we published the results of our five-year efforts at digitizing the auction catalogues in the form of a research report by adding parts on the significance of the auction catalogues that have been offered for review over the years as one of TOBUNKEN’s important collections, and the background of digitization. This contains: “An Overview of the Auction Catalogue Digital Archive” by YASUNAGA Takuyo (senior researcher at TOBUNKEN) as a project overview; and “Research on the History of Sculpture and Auction Catalogues” by YAMAGUCHI Ryûsuke (senior researcher at Nara National Museum), “The Use and Development of Auction Catalogues in the Tôrei Hijikata: A Retrospective Exhibition Held at Tottori Prefectural Museum” by YAMASHITA Mayumi (curator at The Hosomi Museum), “How to ‘See’ and ‘Read’ Auction Catalogues: Decorative Arts as an Example of the Use of the Auction Catalogue Digital Archive by TSUKIMURA Kino (curator at Fukuyama Museum of Art), and “Various Issues Regarding Early Modern Paintings that Emerge from the Auction Catalogue Digital Archive” by YASUNAGA Takuyo as discussions; as well as “The Process of Making Auction Catalogues Available to the Public at the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties” by NAKAMURA Setsuko (former librarian at TOBUNKEN) and “The Function of the Systems Used in the Creation of the Auction Catalogue Digital Archive” By OYAMADA Tomohiro (researcher at TOBUNKEN) as reports.
We donated copies of the research report to major museums, art museums, libraries, and universities at the end of the last fiscal year. Let me encourage those who are interested to visit a library nearby to view the report.
The lecture
The satellite venue
YAMANASHI Emiko, Deputy Director General at Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) gave a lecture entitled “The project of compiling the Year Book of Japanese Art as a legacy of the Hakuba-Kai” on March 25th, 2021. Currently, the Year Book of Japanese Art (the Year Book ) that TOBUNKEN publishes compiles annual developments in the Japanese art world two years ago, which is made up of “annals,” “art exhibitions,” “bibliography of art literature,” and “the deceased.” We have published the Year Book since 1936, which was not disrupted by the difficult times during and after the war and has continued up until today. Its unique composition was invented by IWAMURA Tōru (1870 – 1917), an art critic who maintained close relations with KURODA Seiki and KUME Keiichiro. Regarding how it has developed and changed thereafter, she delivered a lecture from her viewpoint as a researcher of modern Japanese art history and based on a wealth of experience that she had accumulated. As the number of art exhibitions has risen and the scope of “art” has widened in recent years, there are various challenges. She concluded her lecture by emphasizing the importance of sharing common awareness of the issues to continue with its publication and the significance of a public institution like TOBUNKEN continuing to publish the Year Book. In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the lecture was conducted online while participants viewed her presentation from the seminar room at TOBUNKEN, which served as a satellite venue, their respective workplaces or homes. Further, the video of the lecture was published via TOBUNKEN’s YouTube channel for a limited period of time until April 30, 2021. Yamanashi resigned as Deputy Director General as of the end of March 2021 and assumed a role as a visiting researcher starting in April 2021 and continues to provide cooperation to our activities at TOBUNKEN.
Explanation of the point of attention in taking a picture of ishari
Hands-on practice of shooting spouted pottery
Hands-on practice of shooting shimacho
Documentation of cultural properties aims to obtain information needed to conduct research on cultural properties, and to protect or utilize them. In particular, photographs convey detailed information that words alone are unable to express fully, and by setting the appropriate shooting conditions, more information can be conveyed.
We organized a seminar on practical photographing for documentation of cultural properties with the title above, which was targeted at the staff of member museums of the Liaison Council of Museums in Miyagi Prefecture, at the Tohoku History Museum (Tagajo City, Miyagi Prefecture) on March 12th, 2021. Co-hosted by the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN), the Tohoku History Museum, and the liaison council, the seminar was the liaison council’s second workshop during fiscal year 2020. During the seminar, measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19 were taken, such as requiring participants to wear masks and ensuring social distancing and ventilation.
Following a lecture in the morning, hands-on practice of taking pictures of a variety of objects in the collection of the Tohoku History Museum, such as spouted pottery in the Late Jomon Period, ishari, a traditional lure for catching octopuses, and shimacho (a swatch book of stripe-patterned kimono fabrics), was conducted under the guidance of SHIRONO Seiji, an artificer at TOBUNKEN. All participants in the hands-on practice were requested to bring a camera with them and other equipment, such as lights and reflector boards, was provided by the museum. In the practice, we emphasized the importance of handling light. All the techniques were applicable using an existing or inexpensive device; one example was eliminating deep shadows that inhibit observation by illuminating the target object by projecting the light on a reflector board, which was hand-made by the staff at the museum. Participants worked on the practice with keen interest and many of them commented that they hoped to share what they learned with their colleagues or to use the techniques acquired in their work.
Let us take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone at the co-host organizations and all the participants that provided us with many useful suggestions. We hope to continue to organize seminars by taking advantage of this experience.
Special website
Production of Uda paper (video)
Production of a paper for repair and conservation (video)
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) has carried out the Cooperative Program for the Conservation of Japanese Art Objects Overseas since 1990. To date, it has conserved 385 pieces of paintings and crafts owned by art museums in many parts of the world, including Europe, North America, and Australia. According to the initial plan, the conserved works of art in this program were supposed to return home in fiscal 2020 and an exhibition was due to be organized, wherein restoration techniques, materials, and tools would also have been presented; we had accordingly made preparations. In order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19), however, we decided to postpone the exhibition.
Instead, we have recently launched a special website as something we can do even under constraints on the moves of people and goods. On this website, we introduce works of Japanese arts and crafts that we planned to exhibit, museums that own them in Europe and the U.S., and a list of works that have been conserved in searchable database format. As for those of which reports have already been published, you can read the text online as well. Further, there are a wide variety of traditional materials necessary to restore cultural properties. Moreover, a video is posted to explain, among others, Uda paper, which is used for the final and the backmost lining of a hanging scroll and a paper to be used to repair or restore the honshi (the paper on which a painting or calligraphy is drawn). These are designated as the national selected preservation technique for cultural properties. This video allows you to understand that various kinds of wisdom and ingenuity are brought together to hand down traditional techniques from generation to generation and conserve cultural properties amid Japanese traditional culture and natural environment. Let us take this opportunity to encourage you to visit the site. For your information, the preparations for the exhibition and production of the website were carried out as part of the Japan Cultural Expo.
https://www.tobunken.go.jp/exhibition/202103/
A scene from the seminar
Rakan-zu
On February 25th, 2021, the 8th Seminar of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems was held, where MAIZAWA Rei and YASUNAGA Takuyo of the Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems each gave their study reports on a Rakan-zu (a painting of Arhat, an enlightened Buddhist high priest) owned by Kōmyōji Temple (Minato-ku, Tokyo).
The Rakan-zu was discovered in a survey conducted last year. An article about the painting in “Kokka” No. 74, published in 1895, revealed that it was formerly owned by an art appraiser, KATANO Shirō (1867–-1909).
MAIZAWA introduced the painting with high-definition images and infrared photographs taken by SHIRONO Seiji of the same department, under the title “Rakan-zu, a former collection of KATANO Shirō-Consideration of its design and expressions.” Regarding the design, MAIZAWA reported that it depicts a Rakan and his followers worshipping the image of Tenbu (Deva) in the center, as well as Karyōbinga (Kalavinka, an imaginary creature in Buddhism with a human head and a bird’s torso) and Gumyōchō (Jivajiva, two-headed bird) that both symbolize the Pure Land of Amida Buddha (Paradise) at the top of the painting. MAIZAWA pointed out that the expressions are thought to have been created in mainland China and that the stylistic examination of the painting suggests the possibility that it was created during the Yuan Dynasty.
YASUNAGA gave a detailed report on the achievements of the former owner, KATANO Shirō and his father, KATANO Yūhei, and the people who interacted with them, under the title “Modern understanding of the Rakan-zu formerly owned by KATANO Shirō.” KATANO Shirō was born in the Kishū clan’s residence in Aoyama, Edo. He was deeply involved in the earliest days of the administration of cultural properties in Japan, through working in the art department of the Imperial Museum. He was also enthusiastic about collecting antique works. The sales list and comparison with other materials revealed that the Rakan-zu was sold after the death of his father, and then was purchased by Marquis INOUE Kaoru. Furthermore, YASUNAGA pointed out that the Rakan-zu was handed down as a work of KOSE no Oumi, a painter in the Heian period, based on its composition. YASUNAGA also added some consideration on the aspect of the modern understanding of the Rakan-zu, inherited from the early modern period.
The seminar was also held online, and Ms. UMEZAWA Megumi (Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa-Bunko Museum), Dr. TSUKAMOTO Maromitsu (University of Tokyo), and Dr. NISHITANI Isao (Sennyūji Temple) were invited as commentators. They gave valuable comments from their respective professional perspectives, and actively exchanged opinions during the question and answer session. Although there are still some problems related to the preservation state, the place of creation, and the age of the work, the seminar was very fruitful because, in addition to the examination of the design and expressions, various reports about how it came to Japan as well as the modern understanding of Rakan-zu were also given.
UENO Naoteru (left) and KO Yu-seop (early 1930s)
Complete Works of KO Yu-seop 3 (Discussion on the aesthetics of Korean art history) (Seoul, Institute of Eastern Culture, 1993) quote from the illustrations in the volume of illustrations
Scene from the seminar
UENO Naoteru (1882-1973) successively held important posts such as the Director of Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts and the President of Tokyo University of the Arts. He made huge contributions to the art world in a variety of ways such as teaching at universities, running museums such as art museums and protecting cultural assets, in addition to his research activities as an aesthetic and art historian. After the death of his second daughter UENO Aki (1922-2014), who was a researcher emeritus of the Institute, the materials related to Naoteru were donated to Tokyo University of the Arts, and they are currently managed by the Geidai Archives Center of Modern Art of the university.
At the seminar of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information System held on January 28th, Ms. ONISHI Junko (part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Cross-Cultural and Japanese Studies of Kanagawa University) and Mr. TASHIRO Yuichiro (curator at The Gotoh Museum), who have organized and researched the materials related to UENO Naoteru, each gave a presentation. Until the last fiscal year, Ms. ONISH worked in the Educational Materials Office, the predecessor organization of the abovementioned center, and her presentation titled “About the materials related to UENO Naoteru: A focus on the relationship with Japanese art history” provided an overview of the materials and presented the broad nature of Naoteru’s personal network as revealed through these materials. Also, Mr. TASHIRO’s presentation titled “Handwritten scripts of KO Yu-seop found in the materials related to UENO Naoteru” introduced the letters and handwritten scripts of KO Yu-seop (1905-1944), who is currently called the father of art history research in South Korea. UENO Naoteru was a professor at Keijo Imperial University from the last year of the Taisho era to the first year of Showa era, and KO Yu-seop studied under UENO while studying at the university. The materials introduced showed the exchanges between the two men and the early period of archaeology and art history research in South Korea. In particular, the presentation by Mr. TASHIRO indicated that the materials related to UENO Naoteru were important for tracking the development process of stone monument research into which KO Yu-seop put great effort.
Because a state of emergency was declared in response to the spread of COVID-19, the current seminar was held for the first time both in person and online. Researchers living in remote locations, including South Korea, were able to participate in the seminar, and the merits of holding a seminar online were realized.
Search screen of the auction artworks database
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (TOBUNKEN) has been working jointly with Tokyo Art Club to create a digital copies of the auction catalogue (art catalogue) (visit https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/ekatudo/206112.html to see the monthly report for April 2015). The result was initially made available from May 2019 only at the Library as Auction Catalogue Digital Archive (visit https://www.tobunken.go.jp/materials/ekatudo/817176.html
to see the monthly report for April 2019). Starting from January 15th, 2021, part of the text data of the Auction Catalogue Digital Archive is now available on the website within the Artworks on Japanese Auction Catalogues page on TOBUNKEN Research Collections (https://www.tobunken.go.jp/archives/information-search/auction-artworks/?lang=en).
The Artworks on Japanese Auction Catalogues makes public the text data of about 337,000 items listed in 2,328 catalogues issued prior to the end of World War II out of a total of 2,565 catalogues owned by TOBUNKEN. It is basically a database of text data from the artwork with pictures. The images of the items are not available, but searches can be done on the abundant text data included in the auction catalogue and are expected to be used for a variety of purposes.
The TOBUNKEN Library was normally open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, but from the standpoint of preventing the spread of COVID-19, the Library schedule was changed to Wednesdays and Fridays only for visitors with advance reservations from June 10th, 2020. Furthermore, following the state of emergency declaration on January 7th, 2021, the Library is now open only on Fridays since January 15th. Under these circumstances, the number of people who can use the Library is limited, resulting in increased needs for open access to the data. Going forward, we ask you to use both the Auction Catalogue Digital Archive for viewing images and Artworks on Japanese Auction Catalogues for text data accessible from all over the world in accordance with the purposes.
Lecture on digital image formats by Dr. Imaizumi
The documentation of cultural properties is indispensable for acquiring information about cultural properties such as their materials, forms, and colors, and for utilizing the collected information for research activities and preservation/restoration planning. The Cultural Properties Information Section of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems is responsible for communicating information about database compilation necessary for cultural property photographing in the course of documentation as well as data management/utilization. As part of the communication strategy, we held the seminar named in the title above in a seminar room at Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties on December 23rd, 2020 (COVID-19 infection control measures were taken).
We are scheduled to hold three sessions in total in the series on “Digital Image Compression from the Basics of Images to Moving Images,” and the program designed for participants to learn the basics about image compression was offered at the first session. As the first speaker, Dr. IMAIZUMI Shoko, Associate Professor of Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba University explained about the characteristics of digital images such as differences from analog images, file properties, and the amount of information that changes depending on the resolution. Her lecture was followed by a talk by Mr. SHIRONO Seiji, an artificer of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems which mainly discussed how to control light and color when taking a digital photo such as the spectral feature that varies depending on the light source, and the light sources and their appropriate placement for photographing cultural properties.
Currently, compressed image formats such as JPEG and MPEG-4 are commonly used around the world. However, when planning to photograph cultural properties or saving images in files, one may wonder which information will be lost due to image compression, or if everything will really be okay as long as images are saved in TIFF or RAW formats.
Through the seminars in this series, we will continue to communicate the information that will be useful for you to document and preserve cultural properties using imaging technologies and disseminate information about them.
Scene of the seminar
On December 21st, 2020, YASHIRO Kyoko, an associate fellow of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems presented her research findings under the title: “Report and Consideration on the Preservation of Art Works Including Outdoor Sculptures That Are Not Recognized as ‘Cultural Properties’ – Aiming to Hold a Symposium”
Outdoor sculptures can be easily found in public spaces across Japan. Each of them is an important and irreplaceable asset for the community that owns it. However, many of these outdoor sculptures are in a state of neglect due to lack of maintenance, and to make matters worse, some have been removed for good for safety reasons in recent years. Generally speaking, outdoor sculptures are not recognized as “cultural properties.” Therefore, there is no appropriate preservation system in place for them.
With an aim to solve such problems, the speaker talked about some actual cases and raised issues about the preservation of outdoor sculptures to discuss with participants at this seminar. Also, Dr. TANAKA Shuji, Professor of Oita University, and Mr. SHINOHARA Satoshi, Associate Professor of Tokai University, both of whom have been involved in the maintenance of outdoor sculptures in their communities for many years participated in the seminar as guest speakers this time and talked about the challenges faced by those engaged in preservation work.
The issues regarding the preservation of outdoor sculptures are entangled with other issues in a wide range of fields such as public administration, education, and history. Therefore, it is not easy to come up with a solution. We are currently discussing the possibility to hold a symposium going forward for the purpose of sharing information and exploring possible solutions for this matter.
Presentation through the online conference system
Screenshot of a slide used for the presentation “Potential of further development: GRP Digital Content of Japanese Art”
At the 13th JADS fall seminar held on November 28th, 2020, we made a presentation titled “The Open Access Project of the Oda Kazuma Collection with a Focus on Illustrated Books by Katsushika Hokusai: Disseminate Bibliographic Information Globally in Collaboration with Getty Research Institute: Standardization of Bibliographic Information and Preservation of Material”. This presentation was created by KIKKAWA Hideki; TAMURA Ayako; ABE Tomoe; EMURA Tomoko from Department of Art Research, Archives, and Information Systems; as well as YAMANASHI Emiko, Deputy Director General. On the day of the seminar, five members from Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties participated in the event through the online conference system. KIKKAWA Hideki and TAMURA Ayako, two of the five members, explained the preservation of material for the standardization and digitalization of bibliographic information, which were conducted during the project. They also suggested that the open access project has a lot of potential of further development. As part of the project, we developed an information channel to provide digitalized Japanese art material content to the Getty Research Portal (GRP: https://portal.getty.edu/). At the presentation, they mentioned that by making the channel available for all organizations concerned and by accumulating digitalized content related to Japanese art in the GRP, the global presence of Japanese art could be enhanced. Many specialists who handle museum library collections are members of the JADS. They provided us valuable feedback on our presentation, saying that it demonstrated a good example for handling archival material by focusing on the method of preserving the material and standardizing bibliographic information in a concrete manner.
As travel is restricted to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we are fully aware that the development and improvement of the online research environment is an urgent issue to address. We will disseminate information about Japanese art globally and improve the research environment to provide archival materials which would be beneficial for a wide range of research on cultural properties, while strengthening our partnership with other organizations.
Overview of the presentation is available on the URL below:（Proceedings of the 13th JADS fall seminar: http://www.jads.org/news/2020/jads_autumn2020.pdf#page=9）
