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 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)
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 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 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)
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 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 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)
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 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 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 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)
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 October 2, the Ueda City Museum of Art (Director: TAKIZAWA Masayuki) opened its doors in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture. It succeeded the Yamamoto Kanae Memorial Museum, which honored YAMAMOTO Kanae, local yōga painter as well as print artist. Ueda Santomyuze where the museum is located as well as the Cultural and Art Exchange Center that also opened on the same day, was designed by YANAGISAWA Takahiko. The museum comprises special exhibition space (424 m2), permanent exhibition space (272 m2) as well as local residents atelier gallery, atelier and children atelier, where creative activities will take place and artworks by local residents will be exhibited. The inaugural exhibition titled ‘Retrospective of Kanae Yamamoto’s œuvre’ (October 2 – November 9) was held to celebrate its opening. (Japanese)
On September 23, the exhibition titled ‘Hishida Shunsō: A Retrospective’ opened at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (until November 3). Commemorating the 140th anniversary of Hishida Shunsō’s birth, the exhibition consisted of 108 works of his artworks including his masterpieces of ‘Wang Zhaojun’, ‘Fallen Leaves’ and ‘Black Cat’. Research outcomes during the preparation period, such as scientific analysis of color materials and reconsideration of production dates for each work with assistance of newly discovered research materials, were reflected in the exhibition itself. (Japanese)
On September 13, Heisei Chishinkan Wing at the Kyoto National Museum opened its doors. Designed by TANIGUCHI Yoshio, it replaced the permanent exhibition building constructed in 1965. the building consists of four above ground stories and two below ground, which provide 3,600 m2 of exhibition space in total. The inaugural exhibition titled ‘Kyoto: Splendors of the Ancient Capital’ (September 13 – November 16) was held to celebrate its opening, which was composed of two installments: the first was titled ‘Portraiture’ and the second was titled ‘Momoyama: The Age of Hideyoshi’. (Japanese)
On August 11, part of a photographic artwork by TAKANO Ryūdai at the exhibition titled ‘Photography Will Be’ held at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art (August 1 – September 28) was classified as obscene and the artwork as ordered to be removed by the Aichi Prefectural Police. An anonymous tip to the Aichi Prefectural Police pointed out that male genitals were photographed in the artwork. Although the museum had already segregated the artwork and displayed notices, the exhibition continued with part of the photograph being covered with cloth-like material, which prompted a heated debate about freedom of expression at museums. (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 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)
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 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)
