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 March 18, the restoration of the donjon of Himeji Castle (designated as a National Treasure), which began in June 2009, was finally completed, and the commemorative ceremony was held on March 26. This was the first major restoration since the last one, known as the Shōwa Restoration, was completed in 1964. The operation this time focused on the replacement of approximately 75,000 roof tiles, the reapplication of the castle’s signature white plaster that required approximately 100 tons of plaster, and the anti-seismic reinforcement. A part of its restored donjon was reopened to the public on March 27 after five years of lengthy work. (Japanese)
On March 25, the Japan Art Academy (Director: KUROI Senji) announced the recipients of the 71st Japan Art Academy Prize. In the Fine Arts category, MAKOSHI Yōko (for her yōga painting titled ‘Ningen no taiga: Inochi mau, fushi no ai’, exhibited at the Dokuritsu exhibition) and TŌKI Fumio (for his architecture of the Bunkyō City Mori Ogai Memorial Museum) received the Japan Art Academy Prize. (Japanese)
On March 17, the winners of the 40th 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, were announced. The awards were shared between ISHIKAWA Ryūichi for his photo books ‘Zekkei no porishī (A Grand Polyphony)’ and ‘okinawa portraits 2010-2012’ and KAWASHIMA Kotori for her photo book ‘Myōjō’. (Japanese)
On March 13, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on 171 buildings to be registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties to SHIMOMURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the main building of the Toyama Prefectural Government Office constructed in 1935 and the Hirosaki City Hall designed by architect MAEKAWA Kunio. (Japanese)
On March 13, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: MIYATA Ryōhei) submitted a report on one asset to be designated as a National Treasures and 39 assets to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to SHIMOKURA Hakubun, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the seated Miroku Bosatsu of Tōdaiji temple (Nara City) and the standing Kokūzō Bosatsu of Daigoji temple (Kyoto City) to be designated as a National Treasure; and the original glass photographic plates that were used to take pictures of the murals in the Kondō Hall of Hōryūji temple in 1935, and the port dues banners, called ‘kasho senki’, to be designated as Important Cultural Properties. (Japanese)
On March 12, 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 2014. In the Fine Arts category, SATŌ Tokihiro, photographer, artist as well as Professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts, (for his exhibition ‘Sato Tokihiro: Presence or Absence’) and NAKAMURA Kazumi, Professor at the Tama Art University, (for his exhibition ‘Nakamura Kazumi’) shared the prize. NOMURA Masato, Professor at the Gakushuin University, was awarded for his monograph ‘Fūshi gaka Guranbiru: Tekisuto to imēji no 19 seiki’ in the Criticism category. Artist TAKATANI Shirō was awarded for his solo exhibitions such as ‘Camera Lucida’ in the Media Arts category. The three recipients of the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists for the fiscal year 2014 were architect SAITŌ Tadashi for his architectural design ‘Hanchiku House’ in the Fine Arts category; MAEDA Kyōji, Deputy Editor of the Yomiuri Shimbun, for his monograph ‘E no yō ni: Meiji bungaku to bijutsu’ in the Criticism category; and manga artist KISHIMOTO Masashi for his manga ‘NARUTO’ in the Media Arts category. (Japanese)
On March 10, the Denchū Hirakushi Award (sponsored by Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture), established to commemorate HIRAKUSHI Denchū’s achievements along with the promotion of wood carvings in Japan, announced that the 27th winner was KUROWARABI Sō. The artist capitalized on the charm of wood carvings and his works represented his earnest efforts to seek a relationship between humans and carvings, which were highly acclaimed. (Japanese)
On March 4, Bijutsu Shuppan-sha Co., a publisher of art magazines and books such as the monthly magazine ‘Bijutsu techō’, applied to the Tokyo District Court for the bankruptcy protection under the Civil Rehabilitation Law. On top of their heavy financial debt, the publisher’s revenue dropped due to stagnant sales in the publishing industry as a whole. In May, Bijutsu shuppan-sha was able to continue its business under new administration, having Culture Entertainment, a Culture Convenience Club group company, as a new sponsor. (Japanese)
After the completion of the full restoration of the ‘Cypress Trees’ screen (National Treasure; Tokyo National Museum collection) that is believed to have been a work of KANŌ Eitoku, painter of the Kanō School, the work was displayed to the public at the Tokyo National Museum from February 17 to March 15. The restoration that took place for a year and half involved in an adjustment of unmatched design in the center part as well as remounting from a single eight-fold screen to a pair of four-fold screens in order to improve safety during storage. In addition, the screen had conventionally been presumed to have originally been decorated on sliding doors in the Hachijō no Miya residence that was constructed by TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi. The restoration this time revealed that kira-kiri-mon (paulownia crest with mica) on the back of the painted paper corresponds with karakami monyō (karakami patterns) of the family of Hachijō no Miya, which heightened the possibilities that it would have been a work created in 1590 (Tenshō 18) by Eitoku who suddenly died after the Hachijō no Miya residence was completed. (Japanese)
On the issue that fine arts designated as national important cultural properties had gone messing, on January 21, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced that the results of the second investigation revealed that 72 more items of fine art had gone missing, including National Treasures of a sword, ‘meibutsu Inabagō’, and a long sword (tachi) signed by Yoshihira. The total number of missing items reached 180, of which three are National Treasures, including the items missing from the first investigation that took place in July 2014. (Japanese)
On January 1, the winners of the 56th 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, ceramic artist KAKUREZAKI Ryūichi won for his exhibition titled ‘Kakurezaki Ryūichi: Serving for Integrity’ held at the Musée Tomo. In Art Category III (Calligraphy), calligrapher FUNAMOTO Sōun was awarded for his calligraphy exhibition titled ‘Shimiiru kokyō: Funamoto Sōun’ held at the Sogo Museum of Art. (Japanese)
The recipients of the Asahi Prize for the fiscal year 2014 (sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun Foundation) were announced. In relation to art, architect BAN Shigeru received the prize ‘for design activities based on fresh ideas and support to areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami through architecture.’ (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, who created ‘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)
