On September 3, renovation work began on the Phoenix Hall (National Treasure) of Byōdōin temple in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture, for the first time in 56 years. The renovation had been scheduled to be completed by 2014. The roof tiles would be completely replaced; the walls and pillars except for the interior would be repainted red; and the phoenixes (replicas) on the roof and the hōju (sacred jewel) would be gold-plated. (Japanese)
On August 1, rescue operations for cultural properties that had been left behind in the exclusion zone after the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant began. The operation was carried out by the Fukushima Prefecture Headquarters for Salvaging Cultural Properties, which was set up in May 2012, with support from the Committee for Salvaging Cultural Properties Affected by the 2021 Earthquake off the Pacific Coast to Tohoku and Related Disasters (Cultural Properties Rescue Programme). Packing was done in August and removal from the Exclusion Zone and storage were conducted from September to November. (Japanese)
On November 13, the 34th Suntory Prize for Social Science and Humanities (sponsored by the Suntory Foundation) announced that, in relation to art, MIZUNO Chiyori was awarded the prize for her monograph, ‘Imēji no chisō (The Strata of Images)’ (University of Nagoya Press) in the Literary and Art Criticism category. (Japanese)
On November 16, 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 TANAKA Makiko, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes eight places such as Dōjōji temple precincts (Hidakawa-chō and Gobō City, Wakayama Prefecture), which is the setting of the legend of Anchin and Kiyohime, to be designated as Historic Sites; three places such as the Former Sekiyama Hōzō-in temple Gardens (Myōkō City, Niigata Prefecture), to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty; three places such as Hyōtanjima (Onomichi City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture) to be registered as Registered Monuments; and the Circulation and Traffic Mogami River and scenery of Aterazawa town to be selected as an Important Cultural Landscape. (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 24th Ringa Art Encouragement Prize. In the Art History Research Division, KURAYA Mika (Chief Curator, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) was awarded for her curated exhibition ‘Undressing Paintings: Japanese Nudes 1880-1945’ and the contribution of her essays to its exhibition catalogue. In the Art Criticism Division, NARIAI Hajime (Curator, Tokyo Station Gallery) for his curated exhibition ‘The World of Ishiko Junzō: From Art via Manga to Kitsch’ that held in 2011 at the Fuchu Art Museum where he previously worked and the contribution of his essays to its exhibition catalogue. (Japanese)
On November 30, the Japan Art Academy (Director: MIURA Shumon) announced that eight new members had been elected to join their ranks for their distinguished artistic achievements. In relation to art, nihonga artist YAMAZAKI Takao, yōga artist IKEGUCHI Chikako, sculptor KANBE Mineo and calligrapher ISHIGE Keidō were elected. It was officially announced by TANAKA Makiko, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on December 15. (Japanese)
On December 10, 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 SUZUKI Sayaka (‘Ano hi no nemuri wa tashika ni netsu o obiteita’). SHIBATA Mai and HIRAKO Yūichi jointly received the VOCA Encouragement Prize. ŌSAKI Nobuyuki and YOSHIDA Shinnosuke jointly received the VOCA Honorable Mention Prize. The Ohara Museum of Art Prize was given to SATŌ Midori. The VOCA exhibition 2013, where the winners’ works were exhibited, was held at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo from March 15 to March 30 in 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)
On November 18, the exhibition titled ‘Tokyo 1955-1970: A New Avant-Garde’ opened at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (until February 25, 2013). The exhibition introduced the avant-garde experimentation that took place in Tokyo, mainly in 1960s, through works in a variety of media. It was a full-scale exhibition in the context of recent upsurge in interest and research in Japanese post-war art history, particularly in the United States. (Japanese)
Amid the deterioration in the relations between Japan and China following the nationalization of the Senkaku Islands in September, an exchange exhibition between Tokyo University of the Arts and Central Academy of Fine Arts, titled ‘Tōkyo Pekin Gendai āto zhi fei zhi（紙非紙）2012’, which had scheduled to open in October, was cancelled due to difficulties in transporting artworks from China and the visit of participating artists to Japan. Another exchange exhibition of artists from Japan and China, titled ‘Nicchū bijutsu ten’, which had been scheduled to open at the National Museum of China in Beijing on October 23, was also cancelled. (Japanese)
The recipients of the Asahi Prize for the fiscal year 2011 (sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun Foundation) were announced. In relation to art, artist YOKOO Tadanori received the prize for ‘creating innovative graphic designs and paintings that always resonate with the times.’ (Japanese)
On September 12, the laureates of the 24th 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 were Cai Guo-Qiang (China) in the Painting category, Cecco Bonanotte (Italy) in the Sculpture category, and Henning Larsen (Denmark) in the Architecture category. (Japanese)
On October 1, the Tokyo Station Gallery, which had been closed since 2006 due to restoration of the Marunouchi Station Building of Tokyo Station, reopened to coincide with the reopening of the station building. Moved to a location almost directly connected to the Marunouchi Station North Exit, the gallery consists of a third-floor exhibition rooms with white walls and a second-floor exhibition room with brick walls. The inaugural exhibition titled ‘Waiting for the First Train’, was held to commemorate its reopening (October 1 – February 24, 2013). (Japanese)
On October 8, the special exhibition titled ‘Ishin no yōgaka Kawamura Kiyoo’ opened at the Edo-Tokyo Museum (until December 2). It examined achievements of KAWAMURA Kiyoo, who produced Japanese-style yōga paintings rooted in Edo culture while studying authentic oil painting techniques abroad. The exhibition consisted of a vast amount of materials donated to the museum by his bereaved family, and also included his works from outside of Japan, such as a painting titled ‘Kenkoku (Founding of the Nation)’ in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay, France. The exhibition travelled to the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art (February 9 – March 27, 2013). (Japanese)
The winners of the 24th Kokka Prize, the award for remarkable research on Japanese and East Asian art, were announced. The Kokka Prize was given to a monograph titled ‘Shotō bukkyō bijutsu no kenkyū’ (Chūō kōron bijutsu shuppan, 2011) by HIDA Romi (Professor, Waseda University) and an article titled ‘Kōtei no bunbutsu to hokusō shoki no kaifū’ (in ‘Bijutsu kenkyū’ vols 404 and 406, Aug. 2011 and Mar. 2012) by TSUKAMOTO Maromitsu (Assistant Curator, Tokyo National Museum). (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)
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 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 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; 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)