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 May 7, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that conducts preliminary inspections to determine whether sites should be inscribed on the World Heritage List, recommended that Hiraizumi (Hiraizumi Town, Iwate Prefecture), resubmitted by Japan, be inscribed as a World Heritage Site. In response, on June 26, the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee decided to inscribe Hiraizumi on the World Heritage List as a Cultural Heritage Site. ICOMOS had deferred the examination of the nomination of Hiraizumi in 2008 and the World Heritage Committee had also instructed a recommendation be made, leading to its registration being postponed. However, the Japanese government had resubmitted the nomination, clarifying that it represents the concept of Pure Land Buddhism. Meanwhile, concerning the buildings, including the main building of the National Museum of Western Art, designed by architect Le Corbusier that Japan had jointly nominated with France and others, ICOMOS recommended ‘non-inscription’, and their registration as a World Heritage Site was postponed. (Japanese)
On October 21, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: NISHIHARA Suzuko) submitted a report on six buildings to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to NAKAGAWA Masaharu, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the Old Sasebo Wireless Transmission Facility (Hario Transmitting Station) (Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture), used by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a communication facility during the Pacific War. In addition to the list, two districts, one of which was the Kaga Higashitani area in Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture, were suggested to be the Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Meanwhile, the Council also recommended the partial withdrawal of the designation for the portion of the grounds of Rokasensuisō (Ōtsu City), where a residence had been constructed, which had been designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1994. (Japanese)
On March 15, the exhibition titled ‘OBAKU: Kyoto Uji Manpukuji no meihō to zen no shinpū’ opened at the Kyushu National Museum to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the founding of Manpukuji temple, the head temple of the Ōbaku school of Zen Buddhism, established by Ingen Zenji who came from Ming China (until May 22). The exhibition featured 142 artefacts and materials preserved in Ōbaku temples, which brought the traditional Chinese Rinzai Zen teachings, Buddhist rituals, and life and culture in Ming China directly to seventeenth-century Japan. It consisted of five chapters: Chapter 1 ‘Hajimete no ōbakushū – mijikana ōbaku bunka (The First Encounter with Ōbaku – Ōbaku Culture Close at Hand)’; Chapter 2 ‘Tōjin tachi no Nagasaki (The Chinese in Nagasaki)’; Chapter 3 ‘Ingen tōrai (The Arrival of Ingen)’; Chapter 4 ‘Manpukuji no kaiso to kōryū (The Founding and Prosperity of Manpukuji Temple)’; and Chapter 5 ‘Ōbaku bunka (Ōbaku Cultural Renaissance)’. (Japanese)
On May 20, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: NISHIHARA Suzuko) submitted a report on four places to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty and four places to be designated as Historic Sites to TAKAKI Yoshiaki, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the Fuji Five Lakes (Yamanashi Prefecture), formed by volcanic activity of Mount Fuji, to be designated as a Place of Scenic Beauty; Umamukaiyama kofun (Shikokuchūō City, Ehime Prefecture), believed to be the largest rectangular burial mound in Shikoku, constructed in the seventh century, to be designated a Historic Site. The Fuji Five Lakes are deeply associated with the worship of Mount Fuji and have been the subject of numerous artworks, such as ukiyo-e prints, which are highly valued for their aesthetic appeal. In addition to the list, two places such as Kobe East Park (Kobe City), one of Japan’s oldest parks where memorial services for the Great Hanshin Earthquake are held, to be registered as Registered Monuments; and five places such as agricultural and mountainous landscape of Sado Nishimikawa trace back to Sado Gold Mine to be selected as an Important Cultural Landscapes. (Japanese)
On October 22, the exhibition titled ‘Goya: Light and Shadows’ opened at the National Museum of Western Art (until January 29, 2012). It featured the artistic career of Goya, Spain’s foremost painter, through 123 works and documents, which included 72 items from the Museo del Prado, such as the oil painting titled ‘La maja vestide (E: The Clothed Maja)’ alongside prints and letters. It consisted of fourteen chapters: I ‘Kaku aru watashi – Goya no jigazō (This is Me: Goya’s Self-Portraits)’; II ‘Sōi to jissen (Originality and Practice)’; III ‘Uso to musessō (Lies and Licentiousness)’; IV ‘Giga, yume, kimagure (Satire, Dreams, and Whimsy)’; V ‘Roba no shū: Gudon na mono tachi (The Donkeys: The Stupid Ones)’; VI ‘Mamono no mure (The Horde of Monsters)’; VII ‘Kokuō fusai ika, boku o shiranai hito wa inai (The King and Queen, and All Who Know Me)’; VIII ‘Hisan na nariyuki (The Tragic Outcome)’; IX ‘Fuun naru saiten (The Unfortunate Festival)’; X ‘Akumu (Nightmares)’; XI ‘Shinjin to danzai (Faith and Condemnation)’; XII ‘Yami no naka no shōki (Sanity in Darkness)’; XIII ‘Kikai na gūwa (A Strange Fable)’; and XIV ‘Itsuraku to bōryoku (Pleasure and Violence)’. The exhibition traced the work of artist who cast a profound gaze upon society and his own inner world during the turbulent period spanning the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries. (Japanese)
The year 2011 marked the 800th anniversary of the passing of Hōnen, the founder of the Jōdo sect of Buddhism, and the 750th anniversary of the passing of Shinran, the founder of the Jōdo Shinshū of Buddhism, prompting a series of commemorative exhibitions. On March 17, the exhibition titled ‘Shinran shōnin 750-kaiki shūkyōdan rengō 40-shūnen kinen Shinan ten shōgai to bijutsu’ opened at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art (until May 29) while on Mary 29, the exhibition titled ‘Honen: The Life and Art of the Founder of the Pure Land Buddhist Sect’ opened at the Kyoto National Museum (until May 8). The ‘Shinran’ exhibition displayed approximately 130 artworks, including 45 National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties, consisting of three chapters: ‘Shinran shōnin no oshie to shōgai (The Teaching and Life of Shinran)’; ‘Jōdo shinshū no hirogari (The Dissemination of Jōdo Shinshū)’; and ‘Denrai no meihō to bijutsu (Treasures and Artworks)’. The ‘Hōnen’ exhibition comprised two chapters: Chapter 1 ‘Hōnen no shōgai to shisō (The Life and Thought of Hōnen)’, centered around the National Treasure ‘Illustrated Biography of Master Hōnen (法然上人絵伝)’; and Chapter 2 ‘Hōnen e no hōon to nenbutsu no keishō (Gratitude to Hōnen and the Continuation of Nenbutsu)’, displayed artworks created from the faith that emerged after Hōnen’s passing. Both exhibitions provided a rare opportunity to see outstanding works kept at associated temples, gathered together in one place. (Japanese)
On May 25, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova announced that the approval of the registration of 697 items comprising annotated paintings and diaries of the Chikuhō coal mines by YAMAMOTO Sakubei as a UNESCO Memory of the World. Nominated by the local city of Tagawa City in Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka Prefectural University, this marks the first such registration in Japan. (Japanese)
On October 25, the Japanese government announced five recipients of the Order of Culture and fifteen recipients of the Person of Cultural Merit for the fiscal year 2011. In relation to art, potter ŌHI Toshirō was awarded the Order of Culture, and ceramic artist IMAI Masayuki, sculptor HASHIMOTO Kentarō, and calligrapher HIBINO Kōhō were awarded the Person of Cultural Merit. (Japanese)
On March 18, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: NISHIHARA Suzuko) submitted a report on 43 assets to be Important Cultural Properties to TAKAKI Yoshiaki, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes ‘Mother and Child (母子)’ by nihonga artist UEMURA Shōen (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). The Council for Cultural Affairs also recommended that 194 structures, including the Main Worship Hall of Tsukiji Hongwanji temple (Chūō Ward, Tokyo), as well as two artworks to be registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. (Japanese)
On June 1, the ‘Act on the Indemnification of Damage to Works of Art in Exhibition’, promulgated on April 4, came into force. This legislation enables the government to compensate for damage to exhibited artworks up to a maximum of ¥95 billion, allowing more citizens to appreciate outstanding artworks, which had been under consideration since the 1990s, against a backdrop of rising art valuations and soaring insurance premiums. Following the law’s implementation, the first exhibition to be applied was the exhibition titled ‘Goya: Lights and Shadows’ (National Museum of Western Art), opening in October, and the exhibition titled ‘Jackson Pollock: A Centennial Retrospective’ (Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art), opening in November. (Japanese)
On October 25, the exhibition titled ‘Honen and Shinran: Treasures Related to the Great Masters of the Kamakura Buddhism’ opened at the Tokyo National Museum (until December 4). It commemorated the 800th anniversary of the passing of Hōnen, founder of the Jōdō sect of Buddhism, and the 750th anniversary of the passing of Shinran, founder of the Jōdo Shinshū of Buddhism. It gathered outstanding works from related temples, displaying approximately 190 works and materials, including around one hundred National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties. It consisted of four chapters: Chapter 1 ‘The Founders and Their Teachings’; Chapter 2 ‘Illustrated Biographies of Honen and Shinran’; Chapter 3 ‘Honen and His Fellows, and Shinran and His Fellows’; and Chapter 4 ‘The Spread of Pure Land Teachings’. This exhibition marked the first occasion on which renowned treasures associated with the two founders were brought together in one place. (Japanese)
The winners of the 52nd Mainichi Art Award (sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers Co.), the annual award given to outstanding individuals in art and culture, were announced. In relation to art, the award was given to ceramic artist AKIYAMA Yō for his solo exhibition titled ‘Yo Akiyama’, held at Art Court Gallery, Osaka; and artist MORIMURA Yasumasa for his solo exhibition titled ‘A Requiem: Art on Top of the Battlefield’, held at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum and other venues. (Japanese)
