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 March 12, 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 2012. In the Fine Arts category, artist KAWAMATA Tadashi (for his exhibition ‘Kawamata Tadashi: Expand BankART’ etc.) and artist NARA Yoshitomo (for his exhibition ‘NARA Yoshitomo: a bit like you and me…’) shared the prize. TAMAMUSHI Satoko, art historian as well as Professor at Musashino Art University, was awarded for her monograph titled ‘Tawaraya Sōtatsu: kingin no kazari no keifu’ in the Criticism category. KAWAGUCHI Yōichirō, computer graphic artist, was awarded for his exhibition titled ‘Kawaguchi Yōichirō tokubetsuten’ in the Media Arts category. The recipients of the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists for the fiscal year 2012 were photographer KAWAUCHI Rinko for her exhibition ‘Kawauchi Rinko: Illuminance, Ametsuchi, Seeing Shadow’ in the Fine Arts category; SHIMIZU Emiko, scholar of comparative literature and art history, for her monograph titled ‘Okakura Tenshin no hikaku bunkashiteki kenkyū – Bosuton deno katsudō to geijutsu shisō’ in the Criticism category; and OKIURA Hiroyuki, animation director, for his animation work ‘A Letter to Momo’ in the Media Arts category. (Japanese)
On June 21, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on the following places to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty or Historic Sites to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. The list includes two places such as the Hiunkaku Garden (Takamatsu City) to be appointed as Places of Scenic Beauty; 11 places such as the Makimuku Site (Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture), which is considered to be the most promising site for the theory that states that the Yamataikoku was located in the Kinai region, to be appointed as Historic Sites; 13 places such as four buildings of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Sites, including the Former Shiroyama National School Buildings, (Nagasaki City), to be registered as Registered Monuments; and three places such as the Sakatani Sakamoto Terraced Rice Fields and Rural Landscape (Nichinan City, Miyazaki Prefecture) to be selected as Important Cultural Landscape. (Japanese)
On March 17, the Hyatt Foundation announced that ITO Toyo was chosen as a winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the annual award to honor outstanding architects, which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. His works were praised for their spirituality and poetic scope as well as for his attempt to expand the possibilities of architecture through such projects as Sendai Mediatheque. (Japanese)
On April 30, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which carries out a preliminary assessment of its inscription on the World Heritage List, recommended Mount Fuji (Yamanashi Prefecture, Shizuoka Prefecture), which has been an object of worship and art since the ancient time, be inscribed on the World Heritage List. In response to this, on June 22, the 37th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, decided to inscribe Mount Fuji on the World Heritage List as a Cultural Heritage Site. Miho no Matsubara, which had been recommended by ICOMOS for exclusion from the list because it could not be regarded as part of Mount Fuji, was also allowed to be inscribed as a constituent resource after a series of objections from member countries. As for Kamakura, the ancient capital of the samurai government, the Japanese government recommended that it be inscribed on the World Heritage List, however, it withdrew a bid to get the site from the World Heritage Committee since the ICOMOS rejected that it not be inscribed. (Japanese)
On March 19, the Japan Art Academy (Director: MIURA Shumon) announced the recipients of the 69th Japan Art Academy Prize. In the Fine Arts category, MAKI Fumihiko (for his architecture of the Toyama Auditorium at Nagoya University) received the Imperial Prize and the Japan Art Academy Prize. In the same category, NŌJIMA Kazuaki (for his nihonga painting titled ‘Kanemaki (Kurokawa noh), exhibited at a Nitten exhibition), SATŌ Tetsu (for his yōga painting titled ‘Natsu no owari ni’, exhibited at a Nitten exhibition) and TERAIKE Shizuto (for his kōgei artwork titled ‘Fukisō’, exhibited at a Nitten exhibition) received the Japan Art Academy Prize. (Japanese)
On July 8, as part of Phase 1, Project 2 of the Heisei Renovations (2013-2018), the restoration of the National Treasure, Yōmeimon Gate at Nikkō Tōshōgū began. The work involved repainting the sculptures, metal fittings and the exterior of the entire building. In July, the wooden panels, called hameita, on the east and west walls, which had been decorated with peony relief carvings, were removed to reveal tōyu makie on the wall beneath them. KANŌ Yūsei painted their sketches during the restoration in the Hōreki era. They were opened to the public in November. (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 32nd winner was KAMEYAMA Ryō. The award was given for his photobook titled ‘AFRIKA WAR JOURNAL’ (Little More), which was highly acclaimed for its new direction in photo-documentary, focusing on the suffering of people at the bottom of the pyramid in conflict zones across Africa. (Japanese)
On July 12, the winners of the 8th 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 HOSAKA Kenjirō, Curator at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (for the exhibition ‘Francis Bacon’) and JINGAOKA Megumi, Curator at the National Museum of Western Art (for the exhibition ‘Hubert Robert – Les jardins du Temps’). The Cultural Promotion Prize for Institutions was given to the Pola Art Foundation, which has supported a number of exhibitions by providing grants. (Japanese)
On March 26, the exhibition titled ‘Natume Soseki and Arts’ opened at the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum (until May 6). This exhibition featured works by artists who appeared in the literary works and art criticism of the great novelist NATSUME Sōseki, in an attempt to decipher the world of the art. It included works by the Pre-Raphaelites, modern Japanese art, bookbinding and illustrations by artists who associated with Sōseki, as well as literati paintings by Sōseki’s own hand. The exhibition travelled to the University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts (May 1 – July 7) and the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art (July 13 – August 25). (Japanese)
On July 19, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) 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 MAETA Akihiro, ceramic artist who creates white porcelain with a full of modern sensibility, and YAMASHITA Yoshito, lacquer artist who employs the technique of engraving patterns into the surface of lacquer work and filling them with colored urushi lacquer, called kinma. (Japanese)
On March 31, the special exhibition titled ‘Kano Sanraku and Sansetsu’ opened at the Kyoto National Museum (until May 12). This exhibition traced the life and work of Sanraku, the head of the Kyō-Kanō school line, and Sansetsu, the second head of the Kyō-Kanō school, through 83 works, including three from overseas. Based on painstaking research and study, the exhibition demonstrated how the two generations inherited KANŌ Eitoku’s splendid style of painting while they developed richer and more of their original styles. (Japanese)
On April 24, the exhibition titled ‘The Lady and the Unicorn from the Musée de Cluny, Paris, France’ opened at the National Art Center, Tokyo (until July 15). This exhibition featured six late medieval tapestries from the collection of the Musée de Culny – Musée national du Moyen Âge, Paris, France, including ‘The Lady and the Unicorn’. This was the first time they were exhibited in Japan, having been loaned out of the museum to coincide with a complete renovation of the exhibition space. The exhibition toured to the National Museum of Art, Osaka (July 27 – October 20). (Japanese)
The winners of the 7th 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 AWATA Junji, who carries on the tradition of Anōshū, a group of stonemasons who were highly respected by Oda Nobunaga and is engaged in repairing castle stonewalls. TORIHARA Yūji, who produces gold and silver threads for gold brocade and other materials used in the decoration of cultural properties, received the Encouragement Prize, and the Sumitomo Foundation (President: SUMITOMO Kichizaemon), which provides grants for the restoration of cultural properties, was selected for the Special Prize. (Japanese)
The National Archives of Modern Architecture opened in Yushima, Tokyo, to collect and preserve materials relating to pre-war and post-war Japanese architecture, which is under the direct control of the Agency for Cultural Affairs. ANDŌ Tadao was appointed to be Honorary Director. A special exhibition was held to celebrate its opening, titled ‘Tokyo Olympics in Architectural Documents from the 1964 Yoyogi National Stadium to the 2020 New National Stadium’ (May 8 – June 14), which included drawings of the Yoyogi National Stadium designed by TANGE Kenzō. (Japanese)
On April 15, the government budget for the fiscal year 2013 (Heisei 25) was passed. The budget for the Agency for Cultural Affairs became ¥103.342 billion, increased by 0.14%, which is ¥142 million increase compared to 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. Major categories whose budget increased in each project are as follows: in Project 1, ¥450 million for ‘Program for Cultural and Art Promotion Utilizing Universities’; in Project 2, ¥1.7 billion for ‘Project to Revitalize the Local Community by Cultural Property Buildings’; ¥3.2 billion for ‘Project to Promote Integrated Use and Support of Historic Landmarks that Utilize Local Characteristics’; ¥1.01 billion for ‘Project to Support Creative Activities at Art Museums and History Museums as the Core of the Local Community’; and ¥3.384 billion for ‘Project to Revitalize the Local Community by Using Cultural Heritage’. (Japanese)
On February 15, the exhibition titled ‘Gutai: Splendid Playground’ opened at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (until May 8). This retrospective exhibition of the Gutai Art Association, which was active in the Kansai region from 1954 to 1972, presented a comprehensive overview of the entire period of the Gutai’s activities from its early experimental works to its later intermedia works. It also provided an opportunity to review their highly acclaimed activities outside of Japan. (Japanese)
On May 17, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on one building to be designated as a National Treasures and nine buildings to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes Bannaji (Ashikagashi City, Tochigi Prefecture), a medieval esoteric Buddhist temple that represents East Japan to be designated as a National Treasure; and the Former Residence of the Maeda Family (Meguro Ward, Tokyo), built in the early Shōwa period by the former feudal lord of the Kaga domain, to be designated as an Important Cultural Property. In addition to the list, Tsuwano (Tsuwano Town, Shimane Prefecture) and Jōtō (Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture) were also suggested to be the Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings. At the same time, it also called for the lifting of the designation of the main hall of Kinzanji (Okayama City) as an Important Cultural Property, which burned down in 2012. (Japanese)
Regarding the Buddhist statue stolen from Tsushima City in Nagasaki Prefecture and found in South Korea, the Daejeon District Court in central South Korea issued a provisional injunction against the South Korean government returning the statue to Japan. Among the cultural properties stolen by Korean thieves from temples and shrines on Tsushima Island in October 2012 was a seated statue of Kanzeon Bodhisattva, designated as a Nagasaki Prefectural Tangible Cultural Property, owned by Kannonji temple. Buseoksa temple located in Seosan, central South Korea, claimed that the statue was produced at the temple in the 14th century but was looted by wakō (lit. Japanese pirates), and applied for a provisional injunction to prohibit the return of the statue until it could be determined how it had originally been brought to Japan. In response, the mayor of Tsushima City requested the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration to return the statue in June. (Japanese)
On May 18, the selection process of the Teijiro Nakahara Prize (sponsored by Asahikawa City, Hokkaido and its City Board of Education), which was established to contribute to the development of the Japanese sculpture world, took place. UEMATSU Keiji’s ‘Cutting – Axis・Latitude・Longitude’ was selected as the 38th prize winner. (Japanese)
On February 26, the Denchū Hirakushi Award (sponsored by Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture), established to commemorate HIRAKUSHI Denchū’s achievements along with the promotion of wood carvings in Japan, announced that the 26th winner was ŌHIRA Minoru. He was awarded for his sculptural forms that represent his broad perspectives and his experienced work to date. (Japanese)
