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 July 20, the Council for Cultural submitted a report on four people to be designated as Important Intangible Cultural Properties (Living National Treasures) to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes HAISOTO Tatsuya, who is highly skilled in the woodworking technique of bending thin sheets of wood into a circular shape, and FUJINUMA Noboru, bamboo craftsman who creates elegant yet original works applying a variety of techniques. (Japanese)
The winners of the 7th Western Art Foundation Prize, which publicly honor individuals and institutions 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 awarded to ŌSHIMA Tetsuya, Curator at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (for the exhibition ‘Jackson Pollock: A Centennial Retrospective’ held at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) and NIIMI Ryū, Professor at Musashino Art University (for the exhibition ‘Wiener Werkstatte 1903-1932, Multiplicative Decoration’ held at the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art). The Cultural Promotion Prize for institutions was given to DIC (formerly Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc.), which runs the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art. (Japanese)
On June 30, the exhibition ‘Masterpieces from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis’ opened at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (until September 17). The exhibition introduced the museum’s collection of seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish paintings while the museum had been closed for a long period of time from April for major renovation work. Vermeer’s ‘Girls with a Pearl Earring’, one of the stars in the collection, was being shown for the first time since it was exhibited at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts in 2000. The exhibition travelled to the Kobe City Museum (September 29 – January 6, 2013). (Japanese)
On June 15, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on seven places to be designated as Historic Sites and four places to be selected as Important Cultural Landscapes to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes Ōura Church Precinct (Nagasaki City) and former residence of TAJIMA Yahei (Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture) to be designated as Historic Sites; and steam and hot spring landscape in Beppu (Beppu City, Ōita Prefecture) be selected as Important Cultural Landscapes. (Japanese)
The dismantling and repair of the East Pagoda (National Treasure) of Yakushiji temple in Nara City was underway for the first time in approximately 110 years. On June 4, the work began in earnest with a memorial service that was held in order to remove hōju (a sacred gem) in the upper section of sōrin (literally, pagoda finial). After dismantling all the roof tiles, wooden parts and platforms, and conducting an underground excavation survey, the damaged parts would be repaired and reassembled. The repair had been scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2019. (Japanese)
On May 18, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on two assets and nine assets to be designated as National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The two assets to be designated as National Treasures are two old shibi, known as ‘Tenpyō no iraka (Roof Tiles of the Tenpyō period)’, which was a type of decoration placed at both ends of the tiled roof of the Golden Hall of Tōshōdaiji temple (Nara City); and Kaigiin Shōdendō (Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture), characterized by ornate decoration. The list for Important Cultural Properties includes the Ushibuse River Main Channel (Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture), a 141-meter-long stair-stepped waterway. In addition to the list, Kauemon-chō in Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture, which developed along the road to Nikkō Tōshōgū shrine was also suggested to be the Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings. (Japanese)
The winners of the 6th Yomiuri Aoniyoshi Prize (sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun with special support from the Japan Society for the Conservation of Cultural Property), which publicly honors individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievements in the fields of conservation science and restoration, were announced. The Aoniyoshi Prize was given to YAMAMOTO Tadayoshi, the only craftsman in Japan who consistently carries out the production of ‘suketa’, an essential part of hand-made Japanese paper making, from processing the materials to completion. The Encouragement Prize went to KUROSAKA Noboru, who has protected landscapes created by old cherry trees as a tree surgeon, and the Special Prize was given to Bijutsuin, which has been involved in the restoration of numerous Buddhist statues and craft works since its foundation in the Meiji period. (Japanese)
KŌNOIKE Tomoko’s ‘Shira – Spirit from the Wild’ and HAMADA Juri’s ‘Ru•Ten•Sei I’ were selected as the 5th Higashiyama Kaii Memorial Nikkei Nihonga Award, which was established to honor the achievements of nihonga artist, HIGASHIYAMA Kaii, and to recognize the next generation of nihonga artists. The Special Committee Award was shared by AZAMI Takako’s ‘Pine Tree: Muison-so’ and MISE Natsunosuke’s ‘Quest for mountain azalea’. The exhibition featuring these prize-winning works along with other selected paintings was held at the Ueno Royal Museum from May 19 to June 3. (Japanese)
On April 21, the special exhibition ‘KORIN: Irises and Eight Bridges: Masterpieces by Kōrin from the Nezu Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’ opened at the Nezu Museum. The exhibition featured two of OGATA Kōrin’s masterpieces, a pair of gold screens ‘Irises’ (National Treasure) in the museum’s collection and another pair of gold screens ‘Irises at Yatsuhashi’ in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This was the first time for them to be exhibited together since the 1915 commemorative bicentennial exhibition of Kōrin’s death. The exhibition had been originally scheduled to be held the previous year. However, it was postponed due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. (Japanese)
On April 20, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on two assets to be designated as National Treasures and 46 assets to be Important Cultural Properties to HIRANO Hirofumi, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The two assets to be designated as National Treasures are dogū, a clay figurine, from the mid-Jōmon period, excavated at the Nishinomae site in Funagata-machi, Yamagata Prefecture, known for its graceful female form; and Amida Triad, a triptych of hanging scrolls, painted by Pu-yue in the Southern Song dynasty in China and brought to Japan (Shōjōkein temple, Kyoto Prefecture). The list for Important Cultural Properties includes Wooden standing statue of Shukongōshin and Wooden standing statue of Jinja Daishō by Kaikei, sculptor of Buddhist statues in the Kamakura period (Kongōbuji temple, Wakayama Prefecture). The Council for Cultural Affairs also recommended that 166 buildings, including the main building of JR Kotohira Station (Kotohira-chō, Kagawa Prefecture), which serves as the entrance to the Konpira pilgrimage, as well as ‘Archaeological materials in the Suwa region’ collected by the late archaeologist FUJIMORI Eiichi from Nagano Prefecture, be registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. (Japanese)
The reconstruction of the Rokkakudō of the Izura Institute of Art and Culture, Ibaraki University (Kitaibaraki City, Ibaraki Prefecture) was completed, and its completion ceremony was held on April 17. The Rokkakudō, associated with OKAKURA Tenshin, was washed away by tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Under the direction of MIWA Isoji, Special Appointed Professor of Ibaraki University, the reconstruction was undertaken to reproduce the building as faithfully as it was when it was first built in 1905, including the importation of windowpanes, made using the same manufacturing process as used at the time of the construction, from the United Kingdom. The total construction cost was approximately ¥43 million, most of which was covered by donations. (Japanese)
On April 14, the exhibition ‘Matsumoto Shunsuke’ opened at the Iwate Museum of Art to commemorate the centenary of his birth (until May 27). Although a number of retrospectives of yōga artist MATSUMOTO Shunsuke, whose poetic works had attracted many people, had been held in the past, this exhibition focused more on introducing materials than previous exhibitions and provided more concrete information on the background to his work. The exhibition travelled to the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama (June 9 – July 22), the Miyagi Museum of Art (August 4 – September 17), the Shimane Art Museum (September 29 – November 11) and the Setagaya Art Museum (November 23 – January 14, 2013). (Japanese)
On April 5, the government budget for the fiscal year 2012 (Heisei 24) was passed. The budget for the Agency for Cultural Affairs was ¥107.447 billion (including ¥1.8 billion for Reconstruction Grant Project on the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster), 4.2% or ¥4.32 billion more than the previous year. The budget is divided into three principal projects as follows: 1. Creation and utilization of rich culture and arts and cultivation of human resources; 2. Preservation, utilization and succession of Japan’s precious cultural properties; and 3. Dissemination of Japan’s outstanding culture and arts / promotion of international cultural exchange. In particular, as Special Account for Reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake, ¥3.739 billion was appropriated for ‘Restoration of affected cultural properties’ and ¥507 million for ‘Restoration of affected museums’ in Project 2. In Project 3, ¥150 million was earmarked for ‘Collection and Preservation of Modern and Contemporary Architectural Materials’. (Japanese)
On April 1, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, which had been entirely closed for major renovations since spring 2010, reopened. The building, designed by MAEKAWA Kunio in 1975, was extensively renovated due to its age. It was added more elevators and escalators, and the exhibition spaces were improved by, for example, raising ceiling height of the main galleries. The renovation was also an opportunity to strengthen the art communication function, and to launch the ‘Tobira Project’, a joint project with Tokyo University of the Arts, in which members of staff from the university will conduct viewing programs and workshops. (Japanese)
On March 30, the exhibition titled ‘Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Itō Jakuchū (1716-1800)’ opened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. for the centennial commemoration of the donation of 3,000 cherry trees from Japan to the US capital (until April 29). It was the first time that ITŌ Jakuchū’s representative works, all thirty hanging scrolls of ‘Colorful Realm of Living Beings’ (The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shōzōkan) and his triptych of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Shōkokuji) were exhibited together outside Japan. At the same time, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery also exhibited KANŌ Kazunobu’s paintings ‘Masters of Mercy: Budhha’s Amazing Disciples’ (Zōjōji) and KATSUSHIKA Hokusai’s ‘Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji’. (Japanese)
The Domon Ken Award (sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers Co.), the award for a photographer who has made excellent achievements in the previous year, announced that the 31st winner was TAKANASHI Yutaka. The award was given for his photobook titled ‘IN’’(Shinjuku shobō), in recognition of his attitude of deep integration into the subject of his photographs and his sensitivity in intuitively capturing the city from its mundane everyday life through the scenes of a moment in time. (Japanese)
On March 20, the exhibition titled ‘Japanese Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’ opened at the Tokyo National Museum (until June 10). It displayed Japanese artworks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The two major illustrated handscrolls in foreign collections, ‘Minister Kibi’s Adventures in China’ and ‘Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace, from the Illustrated Scrolls of the Events of the Heiji Era’, which were shown in their entirety, while SOGA Shōhaku’s ‘Dragon and Clouds’, restored to its original sliding door appearance for the exhibition, was exhibited in Japan for the first time. The exhibition travelled to the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts (June 23 – December 9), the Kyushu National Museum (January 1, 2013 – March 17) and the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts (April 2, 2013 – June 16). (Japanese)
On March 16, the Japan Art Academy (Director: MIURA Shumon) announced the recipients of the 68th Japan Art Academy Prize. In the Fine Arts category, IKEGUCHI Chikako (for her yōga painting titled ‘Fukamaru aki’, exhibited at a Ryūkikai exhibition) received the Imperial Prize and the Japan Art Academy Prize. In the same category, YOSHINO Takeshi (for his sculpture titled ‘Natsu no owari ’11’, exhibited at a Nikakai exhibition), MIYATA Ryōhei (for his kōgei artwork titled ‘Springen “Shō”’, exhibited at a Nitten exhibition) and HOSHI Kōdō (for his calligraphy titled ‘Rikishi Chōkyoku ni okuru’, exhibited at a Nitten exhibition) received the Japan Art Academy Prize. (Japanese)
On March 13, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced the recipients of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize for the fiscal year 2011. The recipients of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize were photographer HAYAKEYAMA Naoya (for his exhibition ‘Natural Stories’) and architect BAN Shigeru (for his work ‘Paper Architecture’, which was used in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake) in the Fine Arts category; art historian SUZUKI Tokiko (for her monograph titled ‘The Body in Representations of the French Revolution’) in the Criticism category; and SATŌ Masahiko, Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts (for his TV programs ‘0655’ and ‘2355’) in the Media Art category. The recipients of the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists for the fiscal year 2011 were artist as well as sculptor ODANI Motohiko (for his exhibition ‘Phantom Limb’) in the Fine Art category; KAI Kenji, Artistic Director at Sendai Mediatheque (for his Great East Japan Earthquake recovery activities for ‘the Center for remembering 3.11’) in the Development of the Arts category; and visual culture researcher SATŌ Morihiro (for his monograph ‘Topography and Japanese Modernity’) in the Criticism category; and animation director NAGAI Tatsuyuki (for his animation ‘Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day’) in the Media Arts category. (Japanese)
On February 18, the winner of the 37th Kimura Ihei Award (sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun Publications), the award given to exceptional new photographers in honor to photographer KIMURA Ihei’s achievements, was announced. The award was given to TATSUKI Masaru for his photobook ‘Tōhoku’ (Little More), in recognition of his sincere attitude towards the activities of the Tōhoku people, which are rooted in the climate of the region. (Japanese)
