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 March 20, the government budget for the fiscal year 2014 (Heisei 26) was passed. The budget for the Agency for Cultural Affairs became ¥103.592 billion, increasing by 0.24%, which is a ¥250 million increase compared to the previous year. The budget is divided into four 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; 3. Dissemination of Japan’s outstanding culture and arts / promotion of international cultural exchange; and 4. Improvement / enhancement of the foundation for the promotion of culture. Major categories whose budget increased in each project are as follows: in Project 1, ¥584 million for ‘Development of Imagination and Creativity of children and young people through culture and arts’; in Project 2, ¥383 million for ‘Radical strengthening of restoration of cultural properties / enhancement of disaster prevention’; and in Project 3, ¥431 million for ‘Implementation of the promotion / exchange of Japanese culture’. (Japanese)
On July 18, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on 166 structures to be designated as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the Kobe Port Tower, completed in 1963, which is a sightseeing tower attracting popularity as a symbol of the port city of Kobe. (Japanese)
On November 26, the Japan Art Academy (Director: KUROI Senji) announced that four new members had been selected to join their ranks for their distinguished artistic achievements. However, no selection was made for the Fine Art category due to the past corrupt jury problems at Nitten. (Japanese)
The Domon Ken Award (sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers Co.), an award for a photographer who has made excellent achievements in the previous year, announced that the 33rd winner was KUWABARA Shisei. The award-winning works were his photographic exhibition, ‘Shiranui kai: The Minamata disease Disaster’ (held at the Nikon Salon), and his photography book, ‘Minamata jiken: The MINAMATA Disaster’ (published by Fujiwara shoten). KUWABARA has frequently visited Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture, since 1960s, and painstakingly recorded patients of Minamata disease along with their families, court cases, and activities in fishing communities for half a century, which were highly acclaimed. (Japanese)
On July 23, the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage established the National Task Force for the Cultural Heritage Disaster Risk Mitigation Network (CH-DRM Network). Based on experiences such as the Cultural Property Rescue Programme at the Great East Japan Earthquake, it builds up a network concerned with disaster prevention of cultural properties, fosters human resources and collects and analyzes information in order to secure the rescue and relief system for the cultural properties in large-scale disasters. The First Executive Committee of the National Task Force for CH-DRM Network was planned to be held at the Tokyo National Museum on October 21 in order to ask the participating organizations to establish networks and to share common understanding of its future activities. (Japanese)
On November 28, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced the winning works for the 18th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards that are given to excellent media artworks from inside and outside of Japan. The Grand Prizes were given to ‘Ingress’ a US mobile gaming application that merge GPS and a global mapping database in the Entertainment Division; ‘The Wound’ a Russian animation that depicts an emotional wound of a little girl in the Animation Division; and KONDŌ Yōko’s ‘Goshiki no fune’ (The Five-Colored Boat) based on TSUHARA Yasumi’s short story in the Manga Division. No Grand Prize was given in the Art Division. (Japanese)
On March 24, the Hyatt Foundation announced that BAN Shigeru had been selected as a laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, an annual award to honor outstanding architects, often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture. BAN’s design abounds in originality and ingenuity, which is reflected in his works such as the Centre Pompidou-Metz in north-eastern France. In addition, he has travelled to disaster-stricken areas over the world where he designed and constructed recyclable shelters and houses at low cost with local residents. As such his achievements were highly praised. (Japanese)
On July 29, the Nitten announced the final reform proposal of its organization, a panel of judges and judgement, and exhibition management after the previous year’s revelation of organizational corruption that led to a number of prizes in the Calligraphy section being distributed to dominant groups in advance. Impartial judgements, such as the introduction of external judges and recording the whole process of judging, were indicated and the title of the Nitten exhibition in the fiscal year 2014 would be renamed ‘the First Reorganized New Nitten’. (Japanese)
ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) Japan established the ICOMOS Japan Prize as well as the ICOMOS Japan Honorable Mention Award. The ICOMOS Japan prize aims 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 Honorable Mention Award is specifically aimed at young researchers and encourages their academic research. On December 13, the first winners were announced. The ICOMOS Japan Prizes were shared between TAHARA Yukio, who served as Project Architect for the preservation and restoration of the Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building Project; and the Cultural Asset Garden Conservation Engineer Council (President: MIZUMOTO Takanobu) which has protected gardens of Cultural Properties and continues to hand down maintenance techniques to future generations. SHIMIZU Atsunobu, whose monograph is titled ‘Kenchiku hozon gainen no seiseishi’ (published by Chūō kōron bijutsu shuppan, 2013), received the ICOMOS Japan Honorable Mention Award. (Japanese)
On March 27, regarding a preservation project of the Takamatsuzuka Tomb located in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture, the investigation committee of the Agency for Cultural Affairs decided that the murals of National Treasures would not be reinstated in the tomb for a while even after the restoration had completed, which had been expected to finish in the fiscal year 2017. Instead, they would be preserved and shown to the public outside of the tomb. Primary reasons given were failure to establish techniques to restrain molds as well as difficulties in reconstructing the stone burial chamber using damaged stones. (Japanese)
Welcoming the artist MORIMURA Yasumasa as Artistic Director, the fifth Yokohama Triennale was held from August 1 to November 3 at the Yokohama Museum of Art and Shinko Pier Exhibition Hall as its main venues. Titled ‘Art Fahrenheit 451: Sailing into the sea of oblivion’, 79 artists participated. With the concept of the picking up abandoned objects, people as well as places in modern society where wealth and information are unevenly distributed, the Yokohama Triennale raised questions about the current situation where the nation bristled with international exhibitions. (Japanese)
On December 24, 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 ONO Kōseki (‘Hundred Layers of Colors’). KISHI Kōta and MIZUNO Rina jointly received the VOCA Encouragement Prize. MATAUOKA Gaku and MATAUDAIRA Rina jointly received the VOCA Honorable Mention Prize. The Ohara Museum of Art Prize was given to KAWAKUBO Yoi. The VOCA exhibition 2015, where the winners’ works were exhibited, was held at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo from March 15 to March 30 in 2015. (Japanese)
On January 1, the recipients of the 55th Mainichi Art Award (sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers Co.), an 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. (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)