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 February 11, the exhibition titled ‘Murayama Tomoyoshi: Get All of Me Seething’ opened at the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama (until March 25). It was the first large-scale solo exhibition to introduce the versality of MURAYAMA Tomoyoshi. Known as ‘da Vinci of Japan’, he was involved in plastic arts, dance performances, stage sets, architectural planning and design, as well as writing plays, novels and critiques from the late Taishō to the early Shōwa periods. The exhibition travelled to the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (April 7 – May 13), the Takamatsu Art Museum (May 26 – July 1) and the Setagaya Art Museum (July 14 – September 2). (Japanese)
On February 8, Chou Kung-shin, Director of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, conferred with SHIMATANI Hiroyuki, Deputy Director of the Tokyo National Museum, and reached basic agreement that an exhibition of artworks from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, would be held at the Tokyo National Museum in 2014. As the majority of the museum’s artworks were originally located in Beijing, there was a possibility that the Chinese government would seize them if an exhibition of artworks from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, was held in Japan. However, following the enforcement of the Act on Facilitation for Exhibiting Overseas Works of Art, etc. to the Public in Japan in September 2011, which prohibits third parties from seizing artworks on loan from overseas, the plan was launched in earnest. In May, it was also agreed in principle that the exhibition would tour to the Kyushu National Museum after it was held at the Tokyo National Museum. (Japanese)
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 Seia (‘E ga miru sekai 11_03’). KUWAKUBO Tōru and TAKESUE Kōichirō jointly received the VOCA Encouragement Prize. OHNARI Tets and KASHIHARA Yuka jointly received the VOCA Honorable Mention Prize. KASHIHARA Yuka also received the Ohara Museum Art Prize. The VOCA exhibition 2012, where the winners’ works were exhibited, was held at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo from March 15 to March 30 in 2012. (Japanese)
The winners of the 53rd 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, the award was given to architect BAN Shigeru for his exploration of new architecture on paper and its use in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake; painter KIKUHATA Mokuma for his exhibition titled ‘KIKUHATA Mokuma Postwar/Paintings’, held at the Fukuoka Art Museum and Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum; and calligrapher ISHITOBI Hakkō for his exhibition titled ‘ISHITOBI Hakkō sho ten 2011’. (Japanese)
On January 2, the special exhibition titled ‘Two Hundred Selected Masterpieces from the Palace Museum, Beijing’ opened at the Tokyo National Museum to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China (until February 19). The exhibition displayed 200 masterpieces from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. It included a handscroll ‘Life along the Bian River at the Qingming Festival’ by Zhang Zeduan from the Northern Song Dynasty, which attracted much attention since it was the first time it had been shown outside China. (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)
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 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 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 structures, 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 December 14, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on 126 buildings to be registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties to TANAKA Makiko, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the Tokyo Tower (Minato Ward, Tokyo), which has become a symbol of Japan’s post-war reconstruction and rapid economic growth; the former Okada Family Residence Main Building (Asahikawa City, Hokkaidō), an Art Deco style house built in 1933; the main hall of Renkeiji temple (Agui-chō, Aichi Prefecture), a Jōdo shinshū (known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism) temple completed in 1811; and Izumo Hinomisaki Lighthouse, the tallest working lighthouse in Japan at 44 meters high (Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture). (Japanese)
On December 23, 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 HISAKADO Tsuyoshi (‘crossfades #3’). SUZUK Nozomi (‘Other Days, Other Eyes’), and TANIHARA Natsuko (‘Edo’), jointly received the VOCA Encouragement Prize. ŌYAMA Enrico Isamu (‘FFIGURATI #117’) and SATAKE Maki (‘Shōzōki’) jointly received the VOCA Honorable Mention Prize. The Ohara Museum of Art Prize was given to OZAKI Shinpey (‘ceremony’). The VOCA exhibition 2016, where the winners’ works were exhibited, was held at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo from March 12 to March 30 in 2016. (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 27th Ringa Art Encouragement Prize. In the Art History Research Division, MIZUNUMA Hirokazu (Chief Curator, Chiba City Museum of Art), IWAO Yoshinobu (Specialist, Oita Art Museum) and MATSUOKA Takeshi (Curator, Oita Art Museum) shared the award for their curated exhibition titled ‘“The Principles of Art” by Akasegawa Genpei: From 1960s to the Present’ and for the contribution of their essays to its exhibition catalog. In the Art Criticism Division, EJIRI Kiyoshi (Curator, Ashikaga Museum of Art) received the prize for his work which includes the curation of the exhibition titled ‘The Coming of Susanoo: The Life, Anger and Prayer’. (Japanese)
The Committee for the Conservation of the Kondō Murals at Horyūji (Committee Chair: ARIGA Yoshitaka) was established with the cooperation of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Asahi Shimbun Company. Its first meeting was held on December 5. The latest scientific research project into the mural paintings of the Kondō Murals, which were severely damaged by a fire in 1949, will examine the potential for permanent conservation and use of the murals, including opening them to the public. An interim report on the survey is expected to be compiled in 2019, the 70th anniversary of the fire. (Japanese)
On December 12, the winners of the ICOMOS Japan Prize 2015 as well as the ICOMOS Japan Honorable Mention Award were announced. 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. The ICOMOS Japan Prize was given to YAMADE Tamotsu (Former Mayor of Kanazawa City), who has steadfastly maintained Kanazawa’s reputation as a city of history and culture through his outstanding achievements in promoting the city’s historical and environmental preservation measures. The ICOMOS Japan Honorable Mention Award was shared between TOYOKAWA Saikaku (Assistant Professor, Oyama National College of Technology), who has advanced his research in the history of modern architecture and urban planning, for his monograph titled ‘Architectural Theories and Practices by Kenzō Tange’ and his edited book titled ‘Tange Kenzō and KENZO TANGE’ and TORIUMI Motoki (Assistant Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University), who conducted a series of studies on the protection of cultural heritage in France. (Japanese)
On November 27, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced the winning works for the 19th Japan Media Arts Festival Awards that are given to excellent media artworks from inside and outside of Japan. The Grand Prizes were given to a graphic art titled ‘50. Shades of Grey’ by Chung Waiching Bryan (United Kingdom) in the Art Division; a music theater for children titled ‘Best way for counting numbers’ by KISHINO Yūichi (Japan) in the Entertainment Division; an animated short film titled ‘Rhizome’ by Boris Labbé (France) in the Animation Division; and a manga titled ‘So-and-so, Such-and-such’ by HIGASHIMURA Akiko in the Manga Division. (Japanese)
On November 25, the Japan Art Academy (Director: KUROI Senji) announced that six new members had been elected to join their ranks for their distinguished artistic achievements. In relation to art, yōga painter SATŌ Tetsu, architect MAKI Fumihiko and art critic and translator TAKASHINA Shūji were elected. It was officially announced by HASE Hiroshi, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on December 15. (Japanese)
