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 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 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 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 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)
On April 25, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that conducts preliminary inspections to determine whether sites should be inscribed on the World Heritage List, recommended the inclusion of the Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites (Gunma Prefecture), which had been recommended by the Japanese government as the sites played an important role in the growth of silk industry around the world. In response, on June 21, the 38th World Heritage Committee, held in Doha, Qatar, decided to inscribe the Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites in the World Heritage List as Cultural Heritage Sites. (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 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 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)
On May 16, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on nine buildings to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes Goeidō (Founder’s Hall) and Amidadō (Hall of Amida Buddha) of Honganji temple in Kyoto which are to be designated as National Treasures, and the Kobe College (Nichinomiya City, Hyōgo Prefecture) and Former Baba Family Ushigome Residence (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo) which are to be designated as Important Cultural Properties. In addition to the list, two districts, one of which is the historic quarter of storehouses in Murata Town, Miyagi Prefecture, were also suggested to be Important Preservation Districts for Group of Traditional Buildings. (Japanese)
The winners of the 8th 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 Shōwa-mura karamushi seisan gijutsu hozon kyōkai, which have been not only growing a kind of grass, karamushi (false nettle), raw material of a type of cloth, but also handing down techniques of extracting fibers from false nettles for future generations. A lacquer brush maker, IZUMI Shinkichi (Saitama Prefecture) received the Encouragement Prize. The Special Prize was given to NPO Okinawa Denshōwa Shiryō Center. (Japanese)
A special exhibition titled ‘Mural Paintings of the Kitora Tumulus’ opened at the Tokyo National Museum on April 22 (until May 18). Mural paintings of the Kitora Tumulus located in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture, had been removed for conservation purposes whilst the restoration was being carried out. Among the four divine animals, three divine animals, Red Phoenix, White Tiger and Black Snake-tortoise, as well as Rat and Ox from the twelve zodiac animals were exhibited before the mural paintings that were removed would be restored into the walls. This was the first time that the mural paintings from the Kitora Tumulus were exhibited outside of Asuka Village. (Japanese)
On April 2, a memorial ceremony was held at the Phoenix Hall (National Treasure) of Byōdōin temple to celebrate the reconstruction of the hall after the completion of the first major repair work in 56 years. The inside of the hall was reopened to the public the following day after a period of almost a year and a half closure. The repair work that began in 2012 included exchanging damaged roof tiles to matte antique looking tiles and recoating doors and pillars with red ochre (nitsuchi). (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)
On March 24, the Hyatt Foundation announced that BAN Shigeru had been chosen as a winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, an annual award to honor outstanding architects, which is 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)
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 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 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 March 18, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on one asset to be designated as a National Treasures and 50 assets to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes a Jōmon dogū from the Late Jōmon period, called Masked Goddess (Kamen no megumi), which was unearthed from the Nakappara site in Chino City, Nagano Prefecture, to be designated as a National Treasure; and a pair of wooden statues of TOKUGAWA Ieyasu and his son Hidetada, which were housed in Chion-in temple (the head temple of the Jōdo sect of Buddhism), and Murakami Kagaku’s painting titled ‘Nude’(collection of the Yamatane Museum of Art, Tokyo) to be designated as Important Cultural Properties. (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 fiscal year 2013. In the Fine Arts category, artists OHTAKE Shinrō (for his exhibition ‘Shinro Ohtake: New New’) and FUKUDA Miran (for her exhibition ‘Miran Fukuda’) shared the prize. Manga artist MOROHOSHI Daijirō (for his manga ‘Princess Uriko’s Night, Cinderella’s Morning’) was awarded in the Media Arts category. The three recipients for the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists for 2013 were photographer YONEDA Tomoko (for her exhibition ‘We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness’) in the Fine Arts category; architectural critic and historian IGARASHI Tarō (for his curated work ‘Aichi Triennale 2013: Awakening’) in the Development of the Arts category; and curator of Yokohama Taikan Memorial Hall, SATŌ Shino (for her monograph ‘“Mōrō” no jidai – Taikan, Shunsō ra to kindai nihonga no seiritsu’) in the Criticism category. (Japanese)
ISHIUCHI Miyako was announced as the winner of the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography, hosted by the Hasselblad Foundation in Sweden, an international photography prize given to a photographer recognized for pioneering achievements. The award ceremony was held at the Embassy of Sweden in Tokyo on March 6. ISHIUCHI Miyako is the third Japanese winner, after HAYAMA Hiroshi in 1987 and SUGIMOTO Hiroshi in 2001. (Japanese)
