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 21, the Japan Art Academy (Director: MIURA Shumon) announced the recipients of the 70th Japan Art Academy Prize though the selection in the Fine Arts category was deferred. The selection results were only made in the categories of Literature as well as Music, Drama and Dance. This was due to concern surrounding the reform of Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition) after their past corrupt judgements were revealed in 2013. The voting was deferred at the behest of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The situation among others created considerable difficulties of selection in the Fine Arts category. (Japanese)
The winners of the 26 th Annual Kokka Prize, an award for remarkable research on Japanese and East Asian art, were announced. The Kokka Prize was given to a monograph titled ‘Chūsei byōbu-e kenkyū’ (Chūō kōron bijutsu shuppan, 2013) by IZUMI Mari (Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art) and another monograph titled ‘Nihon bijutsu ni okeru “sho” no zōkei shi’ (Kasama shoin, 2013) by KASASHIMA Tadayuki (Idemitsu Museum of Arts). The Kokka Encouragement Prize was given to an article titled ‘Myōe shōnin jujō zazenzu zō ni kansuru ichi kōsatsu’ (Bijutsushi, Vol. 175, 2013) by ITŌ Kumi (Tohoku University). The Kokka Exhibition Catalog Prize was given to an exhibition catalog titled ‘Toward the Modernity: Images of Self & Other in East Asian Art’ (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum et al., 2014) by RAWANCHAIKUL Toshiko (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum) et al. (Japanese)
On June 24, a special exhibition titled ‘Treasured Masterpieces from the National Palace Museum, Taipei’ opened at the Tokyo National Museum (until September 15). It was the first ever exhibition that introduced a collection from the National Palace Museum in Taipei on a full scale. Selections of masterpieces of painting, calligraphy, varieties of vessels and literature were exhibited. The exhibition toured to the Kyushu National Museum (October 7 – November 30). (Japanese)
On October 16, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei ) submitted a report on three buildings of the Tomioka Silk Mill (Tomioka City, Gunma Prefecture), included on the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in June, which are to be designated as National Treasures as well as nine buildings which are to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list of Important Cultural Properties designation includes Nagoya City Hall built in the early Shōwa era and the building of the Aichi Prefectural Government Office (both located in Nagoya City). The report also includes a request to select the Merchant quarter in Chikuma City, Nagano Prefecture, to be Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Building. (Japanese)
On June 20, 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 five places, such as the Honbō gardens at Tōfukuji temple (Kyoto), to be appointed as Places of Scenic Beauty; nine places, such as Takashima Coal Mine Sites including Hashima Island also known as Gunkanjima (Nagasaki City), to be appointed as Historic Sites; six places, such as the Imai Family garden (Nagano City), to be registered as Registered Monuments; and Lakefront village landscape of Sugaura located in the northernmost of Lake Biwa (Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture) to be selected as Important Cultural Landscape. Takashima Coal Mine Sites had already been a part of ‘Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining’ that the Japanese government endorsed to be registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. The Japanese government had already prepared to classify the sites as Historic Sites under state care before the UNESCO advisory committee conducted its field investigation. (Japanese)
On October 24, the Japanese government has announced seven recipients of the Order of Culture and 17 recipients of Person of Cultural Merit for the fiscal year 2014. In relation to art, NOMIYAMA Gyōji, yōga painter, was awarded the Order of Culture, and KUNITANI Kōji, another Western-style painter, as well as CHIBA Tetsuya, a manga artist, were awarded Person of Cultural Merit. (Japanese)
On April 25, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory organization of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that primarily judges whether to register sites on the World Heritage List, advised the addition of the Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites (Gunma Prefecture), which had been recommended by the Japanese government at the sites played an important role in the growth of silk industry around the world. Responding to the advice, the 38th World Heritage Committee, held in Doha, Qatar, on June 21, decided to register the Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites in the World Heritage List as a Cultural Site. (Japanese)
On November 12, the 36th Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities (sponsored by the Suntory Foundation) announced that, in relation to art, HONDA Akiko (Research Fellow at the Slavic-Eurasian Research Center, Hokkaido University) was awarded the prize for her monograph, ‘Tenkai kenchiku ron: Reodonifu to Sorenpō no shijō kenchiku jidai (Astroarchitecture: Ivan Leonidov and Unrealized Architecture Projects in the USSR between 1920s – 1950s)’ (University of Tokyo Press) in the Literary and Art Criticism category. (Japanese)
On July 4, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced that 109 items of fine art designated as National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties had gone missing, including a tantō (short sword) signed by Kunimitsu, a National Treasure. Among those, 33 items had been stolen and some were cases there their current owners could not be traced due to changing their address or their death. The Agency for Cultural Affairs announced their new policies that would be implemented from the fiscal year 2015, which includes sending the owners of those items a postcard or mail to check their current status once a year and examining the items themselves in cooperation with each prefectural Board of Education every four years from the fiscal year 2015. (Japanese)
The Ringa Art Encouragement Prize (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 26th Ringa Art Encouragement Prize. In the Art History Research Division, TANAKA Shūji (Associate Professor, Oita University) was awarded for his editorial publication titled ‘Kindai nihon chōkoku shūsei’ Volume 3 (published by Kokusho kankōkai). In the Art Criticism Division, ARAKI Natsumi (Curator, Mori Art Museum) received the prize for her curating exhibition ‘Go-Betweens: The World Seen through Children’ held at the Mori Art Museum and her essay in the exhibition catalog. (Japanese)
On July 9, the winners of the 9th 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 MAKIGUCHI Chinatsu, Researcher at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (for the exhibition ‘Reading Cinema, Finding Words: Art after Marcel Broodthaers’) and MORIZONO Atsushi, Curator at the Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum (for the exhibition ‘Antonio López’). The Cultural Promotion Prizes for institutions were given to Aichi Triennale 2013 as well as NEC Display Solutions that had recently been supporting many exhibitions with their video installations in Japan by supplying equipment and providing technical support. (Japanese)
On November 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 ten places such as the Kaitokukan Garden, formerly part of the residence of the Maeda Clan of the Kaga Domain (Bunkyō Ward, Tokyo) and currently used as a facility welcoming distinguished guest, to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty; 13 places such as two gun battery sites at the Tokyo bay Fortress Remains (Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture), built in the Meiji period to protect the capital, to be designated as Historic Sites; five places such as the Nashōsō Gardens (Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture) to be registered as Registered Monuments; and three places such as the Misumiura Cultural Landscape (Uki City, Kumamoto Prefecture) to be selected as Important Cultural Landscapes. (Japanese)
On July 16, the laureates of the 26th 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 Martial Raysse (France) in the Painting category, Giuseppe Penone (Italy) in the Sculpture category and Steven Holl (America) in the Architecture category. (Japanese)
On November 21, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on 133 buildings to be registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the former Sonoda Family Residence Studio, designed by modernist architect YOSHIMURA Junzō and built for pianist SONODA Takahiro and his wife in 1955. (Japanese)
On March 18, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on 154 buildings to be registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes Moji Golf Clubhouse (Kitakyūshū City, Fukuoka Prefecture), designed by Raymond Architectural Design Company, which is modernistic architecture adopting Japanese design. (Japanese)
On July 18, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on seven 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 IMAIZUMI Imaemon XIV, HON’AMI Kōshū, YAMAMOTO Akira and SUDA Kenji. IMAIZUMI Imaemon XIV broke new ground by adding new techniques such as developing a technique of applying platinum enamel onto traditional Iro-Nabeshima porcelain (porcelain with multi-colored overglazed enamel). HON’AMI Kōshū acquired traditional techniques that had been handed down in the HON’AMI family, the official sword appraisers and polishers of successive shogunates from the Muromachi period. He has polished swords designated as National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties. YAMAMOTO Akira has been highly recognized for his modern style metalwork skillfully made with a heat welding method with a cut-out inlay. SUDA Kenji is a master woodworker who creates his original style maximizing the material’s natural colors by employing a sophisticated ‘sashimono’ technique, the Japanese traditional woodworking joints technique to create boxes and furniture. (Japanese)
On November 22, the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum reopened after three years of major renovation work. The Main Building, the former Prince Asaka Residence, had an extensive refurbishment and updated facilities, and was also brought closer to the original built in 1933 by carefully researching the historical records. In the new Annex constructed next to the Main Building, a modern white cube exhibition space was created. Hiroshi Sugimoto, contemporary photographer as well as artist, joined the advisory board for its planning. The inaugural exhibitions titled ‘Architects / 1933 / Shirokane: Looking at Art Deco Architecture’ at the Main Building and ‘Rei Naito: the emotion of belief’ at the new Annex (both November 22 – December 25) were held to celebrate the reopening. (Japanese)
On January 1, the winners of the 55th 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, sculptor AOKI Noe won the award for her solo exhibition titled ‘Aoki Noe | All that floats down’ held at the Nagoya City Art Museum and the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.Mainichi Art Award Winners Announced (Japanese)
On February 5, the winner of the 39th Kimura Ihei Award (sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun Company and the Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc.), the award given to exceptional new photographers in honor of photographer KIMURA Ihei’s achievements, was announced. The award was given to MORI Eiki for his photo book ‘intimacy’. (Japanese)
On February 13, the exhibition titled ‘Toward the Modernity: Images of Self & Other in East Asian Art Competitions’ opened at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (until March 18). The exhibition introduced art through government sponsored art competitions (kanten) that took place in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Northeast China (former Manchuria) under the Japanese occupation. It revealed local trends where their own modernity was sought in connection with Japanese contemporary art. The exhibition travelled to the Fuchu Art Museum (May 14 – June 8) and the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art (June 14 – July 21). (Japanese)
