This database is a comprehensive collection of articles from Nihon bijutsu nenkan (Year Book of
Japanese Art), published by the Tokyo National Institute for Cultural Properties (Tobunken).
On December 11, the winners of the VOCA Prize, which encourages young artists who create two-dimensional artworks, were announced. The Grand Prize of the VOCA was given to USUI Yui (‘our crazy red dots’). FUJII Toshiharu (‘Kairaku nohakumaku’) and YAMADA Nanako (‘Iso’) jointly received the VOCA Encouragement Prize. UMEZAWA Kazuki (‘Subete o shirunomo’) and MORIMOTO Aiko (‘Karakusa moyō’) jointly received the VOCA Honorable Mention Prize. The Ohara Museum of Art Prize was given to URAKAWA Taishi (‘Fūkei to yūrei’). The VOCA exhibition 2018, where the winners’ works were exhibited, was held at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo from March 15 to March 30 in 2018. (Japanese)
On December 2, the winners of the ICOMOS Japan Prize 2015 as well as the ICOMOS Japan Honorable Mention Award were announced. The ICOMOS Japan Prize and the ICOMOS Japan Honorable Mention Award aim to encourage the preservation and conservation of structures, groups of historic buildings, cultural landscapes, monuments and historic ruins as well as historic sites. The ICOMOS Japan Prize was given to ŌTAKE Sachie (Curator at the Kokuyōseki Taiken Museum), who conducted systematic development activities on research, conservation, dissemination and experience learning at the Jōmon period obsidian mines. The ICOMOS Japan Honorable Mention Award was given to TOMINAGA Yoshiaki (CEO, Heritage Structure Engineering Design, Inc.), who contributed to the conservation and utilization of historical buildings as a structural designer. (Japanese)
On November 30, the Japan Art Academy (Director: KUROI Senji) announced that it had elected eight new members to the Japan Art Academy for their outstanding achievements in artistic activities. In relation to art, nihonga painter NISHIDA Shunei, yōga painter NEGISHI Yūji and architect ISOZAKI Arata were elected. The election was officially announced by HAYASHI Yoshimasa, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (Japanese)
On November 17, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on the following places to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty or Historic Sites to HAYASHI Yoshimasa, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes ten sites such as the remains of Inuyama Castle (Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture) to be designated as Historic Sites; two sites such as Enunkan Gardens (Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture), created in the residence of senior retainer of the Sendai Domain, to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty; two sites such as the Hozumi Bridge (Uwajima City, Ehime Prefecture) to be registered as Registered Monuments; and three sites such as the landscape of Katsushika Shibamata (Katsushika Ward, Tokyo) to be selected as Important Cultural Landscapes. The Council also suggested 188 structures to be designated as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, including the Former Shōunkaku Annex of Hanamaki Onsen (Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture), a large-scale inn building from the early Shōwa Period. (Japanese)
On November 10, the 39th Suntory Prize for Social Science and Humanities (sponsored by the Suntory Foundation) announced that, in relation to art, KATŌ Kōichi (Associate Professor, University of Tokyo) for his monograph titled ‘Toki ga tsukuru kenchiku (Architecture in Time)’ and KANEKO Yū (critic, film artist) for his monograph titled ‘Eizō no ryōiki’ were awarded in the Literary and Art Criticism category. (Japanese)
The Ringa Art Encouragement Award (organized by the Ringa Art Encouragement Fund), which publicly honors outstanding individuals for their exceptional achievements in the field of art criticism and art history research, announced the winners of the 29th Ringa Art Encouragement Prize. In the Art History Research Division, SHIOYA Jun (Head of Cultural Properties Information Section as well as Head of Modern / Contemporary Art Section, Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), MASHINO Keiko (Part-time Lecturer, Waseda University) and EMI Chizuko (Head of Hyaku-gojū-nenshi hensanshitsu, The Tokyo National Museum) were jointly awarded for their publication titled ‘Tennō no bijutsushi 6: Kindai kōshitu imēji no sōshutsu: Meiji Taishō jidai (Art History of the Imperial Court 6: The Meiji and Taishō Periods: Creating the Image of a Modern Imperial Family)’. In the Art Criticism Division, TSUZUKU Masatoshi (Curator, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art) received the prize for his curated exhibition titled ‘Spider’s Thread – Spinning images of Japanese beauty’ and the contribution of his essay to its exhibition catalog. (Japanese)
On October 24, the Japanese government announced five recipients of the Order of Culture and fifteen recipients of the Person of Cultural Merit for the fiscal year 2017. In relation to art, yōga painter OKUTANI Hiroshi was awarded the Order of Culture, and sculptor AMAMIYA Keiko and photographer SUGIMOTO Hiroshi were awarded the Person of Cultural Merit. (Japanese)
On October 20, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on two structures to be designated as National Treasures and seven structures to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to HAYASHI Yoshimasa, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the Mieidō and Nyoraidō Halls of Senjuji temple (Tsu City, Mie Prefecture), the head temple of the Takada School of Shinshū Buddhism, to be designated as National Treasures; and the Former Matsumoto Branch Court of Nagano District Court (Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture), a Japanese-style building constructed in the Meiji Period, to be designated as an Important Cultural Property. In addition to the list, two districts, including the scenic port town of Tomonoura (Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture), were also suggested to be the Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. (Japanese)
The winners of the 29th Kokka Prize, the award for remarkable research on Japanese and East Asian art, were announced. The Kokka Prize was given to a monograph titled ‘Chūgoku hangashi ron’ (published in 2017) by KOBAYASHI Hiromitsu. The Kokka Exhibition Catalog prize was given to an exhibition catalog titled ‘Kaihō Yūshō’ (The Kyoto National Museum, 2017) by YAMAMOTO Hideo. (Japanese)
On September 26, the exhibition ‘UNKEI – The Great Master of Buddhist Sculpture’ opened at the Tokyo National Museum (until November 26). The exhibition brought together works from the seated statue of Dainishi Nyorai at Enjōji temple, which Unkei is thought to have created in his mid-20s, to the seated statue of Daiitoku myōō at Kyōmyōin temple, which was created in his later years. It also traced how Unkei developed his unique style and how he was succeeded by his father, Kōkei, and handed down to his sons, Tankei and Kōben, through the works of the three generations. The exhibition also commemorated the reconstruction of the Central Golden Hall of Kōfukuji temple, where Unkei created his works in his youth. (Japanese)
On September 19, the Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum announced in Tokyo that a painting by Sesshū, a monk-painter of the Muromachi Period, whose whereabouts had been unknown, had been found for the first time in 84 years. The work was one of twelve fan-shaped ‘Landscape in Imitation of Xia Gui’ paintings by Sesshū. It was listed in the auction catalog of the Kyūshū Electric Railroad, the predecessor of the Nishi-Nippon Railroad, when it was put up for sale in 1933, after which it disappeared. The work was included in the exhibition ‘Sesshū hakken!’, held at the Yamaguchi Prefectural Art Museum (October 31. – December 10). (Japanese)
On September 12, the laureates of the 29th Praemium Imperiale in Honor of Prince Takamatsu (organized by the Japan Art Association), which publicly honors individual world artists, were announced. In relation to art, the laureates are Shirin NESHAT, a female filmmaker based in New York, who has poetically and provocatively depicted the state of women in contemporary Islamic society in photography, video installations and film, in the Painting category; El ANATSUI, a Ghanaian sculptor based in Nigeria, known for his majestic metal wall-hanging created from discarded metal bottle tops, woven together with copper wire in the Sculpture category; and Spanish architect Rafael MONEO, who designs buildings that blend into the urban space in harmony with the environment while emphasizing the historical background of the land in the Architecture category. (Japanese)
On September 10, the Japanese Council of Art Museums (Chairman: TATEHATA Akira), which has approximately 380 national, public and private museums as members, published ‘the Principles of Art Museums and Guidelines for the Conduct of Art Museum Staff’ on its website. Consisting of eleven principles and guidelines, it sets out the basic principles of art museums and the standards to which art museum staff should adhere in the face of difficult social situations surrounding art museums, and various problems and issues they face. It was adopted at the General Meeting of the Japanese Council of Art Museums in May 2017, after five years of review by its Art Museum Management System Study Group. (Japanese)
On August 26, the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design fully opened in Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, following the relocation and new construction of the Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, which opened in 1981 (closed in December 2016), due to its age, the partial opening on March 25, 2017, and the opening of the rooftop garden on April 29, 2017. Located in a corner of the Fugan Canal Kansui Park, the three-story building, designed by NAITŌ Hiroshi, has a site area of 12,500 m2. The museum aims to be a hands-on museum with the basic policy of ‘a museum that connects art and design’. The museum held the exhibitions titled ‘LIFE: In Search of a Paradise’ (August 26 – November 5) and ‘Art and Design, dialogue with materials’ (November 16 – January 8, 2018) to commemorate its opening. (Japanese)
On July 21, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on 244 structures to be designated as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties to MATSUNO Hirokazu, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes Sagae City Hall (Sagae City, Yamagata Prefecture), an early representative work by architect KUROKAWA Kishō, and Iiyama Resurrection Church, Diocese of Chubu, Anglican Church in Japan (Iiyama City, Nagano Prefecture), a wooden church building with a bell tower built in the early Shōwa Period. (Japanese)
On July 22, the exhibition ‘Fear in Painting’ opened at the Hyōgo Prefectural Museum of Art (until September 18). The exhibition commemorated the 10th anniversary of the publication of the bestselling book, titled ‘Kowai e’ (published in 2007) by German literature scholar NAKANO Kyōko. Focusing on ‘fear’, the exhibition stimulated the curiosity of the audience and was well received for its deciphering of the subjects and contexts of Western painting, which cannot be solely accessed through contemporary sensitivities, and the various meanings encompassed in each work of art. The exhibition toured to the Ueno Royal Museum (Taitō Ward, Tokyo) (Oct 7 – December 17) (Japanese)
In May, the international Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to the United United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that conducts preliminary inspections to determine whether a site should be inscribed on the World Heritage List, recommended the inclusion of the ‘Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region’, which had been nominated by the Japanese government, excluding Okinoshima Island and its surrounding reefs, on the World Heritage List. On July 9, the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, held in Krakow, Poland, overturned the advisory body’s recommendation and decided to inscribe all constituent assets on the World Heritage List as Cultural Heritage Sites. (Japanese)
The winners of the 12th Western Art Foundation Prize, which publicly honor individuals and organizations involved in curating exhibitions that have contributed to the understanding of Western art and academic research in the field of Western art, were announced. The Academic Prizes for individuals were given to TSUKADA Miki, Curator of the Setagaya Art Museum (for the exhibition ‘Manuel Álvarez Bravo Photographs: Mexico, Light and Time in Silence’) and MOTOHASHI Yayoi, Curator of The National Art Center, Tokyo, (for the exhibition ‘Alfons Mucha’). The Cultural Promotion Prize for institutions was given to INAX Museums for its 10th anniversary special exhibition ‘Making GAUDI’. (Japanese)
On June 16, ‘Revisions to the Basic Act on the Promotion of Culture and the Arts’ (the Basic Act on Culture and the Arts) was unanimously passed and enacted at an Upper House Plenary Session. It was promulgated and enforced on June 23. The revisions, not limited to the promotion of culture and the arts, but also further extended to incorporate measures in a wide range of related fields, such as tourism, town development, international exchange, social welfare, education and industry into the scope of the act. They also sought to utilize the various new values created through culture and the arts to further their succession, development and creation. (Japanese)
On June 16, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on the following places to be designated as Special Historic Site, Places of Scenic Beauty or Historic Sites to MATSUNO Hirokazu, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes Kasori Shell Mound (Chiba City), one of the largest Jōmon period settlement sites in Japan, was designated as a Special Historic Site; eleven places such as Miyakozuka Tumulus (Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture), confirmed to be an unprecedented pyramid-shaped mound, to be designated as Historic Sites; six places such as Yubatake, a source of hot spring water at Kusatsu Onsen, to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty. The list also includes five places such as the Okinawa Prefectural Railways Yonabaru Station site, ruins of the station building of light railways that operated in Okinawa from the Taishō to wartime periods, to be selected as Registered Monuments; and the Cultural Landscape of Aso (Aso City et al, Kumamoto Prefecture); and seven landscapes such as grasslands and farming village, in the area of Mount Aso, to be selected as an Important Cultural Landscape. This was the first new designation of a Special Historic Site in seventeen years. (Japanese)
