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 April 27, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced the ‘Implementation guidance for the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster-Affected Cultural Property Buildings Restoration Support Project’. In cooperation with education boards in the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Architectural Institute of Japan, and other relevant organizations, it launched the ‘Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster-Affected Cultural Property Buildings Restoration Support Project’ (Cultural Heritage Doctor Dispatch Project). This project involves dispatching specialists to assist with the restoration of disaster-affected cultural property buildings. (Japanese)
On April 26, the Japan Art Academy (Director: MIURA Shumon) announced the recipients of the 67th Japan Art Academy Prize. In the Fine Arts category, the Imperial Prize and In the Fine Arts category were given to YAMAZAKI Takao (for his nihonga painting titled ‘Kaikō’, exhibited at a Nitten exhibition). In the same category, the Japan Art Prize was shared between KURODA Kenichi (for his calligraphy, titled ‘Ogurayama’, exhibited at a Nitten exhibition) and FURUYA Nobuaki (for his architectural design ‘Chino Cultural Complex’). (Japanese)
On April 15, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: NISHIHARA Suzuko) submitted a report on eight assets to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to TAKAKI Yoshiaki, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes Yusuhara hachimangū (Ōita City), notable for its distinctive layout of buildings within the shrine precincts and the form of its main hall, and the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo), the central facility of the Meiji Jingū Gaien. In addition to the list, three districts, including the Asuke district in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, were also suggested to be selected as Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings. (Japanese)
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 25th winner was ODANI Motohiko. He was awarded for his international achievements, including representing Japan at the Venice Biennale, which were recognized for pioneering new frontiers in the field of sculpture for the new era. (Japanese)
Following the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ announcement on the ‘Project on Salvaging Cultural Properties and Other Materials from the Great East Japan Earthquake’ (Cultural Property Rescue Programme) on March 30, the Cultural Property Rescue Programme was launched to protect cultural properties damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake, with its secretariat established within the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties. Regardless of national or local designation status, this project targeted movable cultural properties and artworks, undertaking their rescue and emergency treatment, and providing temporary storage until they can be returned to their owners. The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage as well as nationwide organizations that own cultural properties and artworks participated in this initiative, conducting joint relief operations with the affected prefectures. (Japanese)
On April 1, KONDŌ Seiichi, Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, issued a message entitled ‘Call for your cooperation in saving and recovering cultural properties damaged by the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake’, calling upon the public to contribute through donations and other forms of support. (Japanese)
On March 29, the government budged for the fiscal year 2011 (Heisei 23) was passed. The budget for the Agency for Cultural Affairs was ¥103.127 billion, 1.1% or ¥1.13 billion more than the previous year. The budget is divided into three 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; and 3. dissemination of Japan’s outstanding culture and arts / promotion of international cultural exchange. In particular, as ‘Special Framework for Revitalizing a Vibrant Japan’, a total of ¥13.3 billion was allocated to the following items: Project 1 ‘Project for Cultivating Next-Generation Artists through Culture and Arts’; Project 2 ‘Projects for Tourism Promotion and Regional Revitalization Utilizing Cultural Heritage’; and Project 3 ‘Creative Japan Outreach Project’. (Japanese)
On March 25, the exhibition titled ‘AOKI Shigeru – Myth, Sea and Love’ opened at the Ishibashi Museum of Art (until May 15). Commemorating the centenary of the death of painter AOKI Shigeru, who left a significant mark on Japanese Romanticism in Modern Japanese art and died in 1911, the exhibition traced the full scope of his work and the transition of its reception to the present day, featuring 224 artworks as well as 61 related materials. It represented a project that drew upon the accumulated research on AOKI Shigeru into a single presentation, which consisted of five chapters: Chapter 1 ‘His Debut’; Chapter 2 ‘The Fertile Sea’; Chapter 3 ‘Mythology Depicted’; Chapter 4 ‘Wandering in Kyushu and Death’; and Chapter 5 ‘The Posthumous Legend Forms’. It subsequently toured to the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (May 27 – July 10) and the Bridgestone Museum of Art (July 17 – September 4). (Japanese)
On March 18, the Council for Cultural Affairs (Commissioner: NISHIHARA Suzuko) submitted a report on 43 assets to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to TAKAKI Yoshiaki, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes ‘Mother and Child (母子)’ by nihonga artist UEMURA Shōen (National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo). The Council for Cultural Affairs also recommended that 194 structures, including the Main Worship Hall of Tsukiji Hongwanji temple (Chūō Ward, Tokyo), as well as two artworks to be registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. (Japanese)
The year 2011 marked the 800th anniversary of the passing of Hōnen, the founder of the Jōdo sect of Buddhism, and the 750th anniversary of the passing of Shinran, the founder of the Jōdo Shinshū of Buddhism, prompting a series of commemorative exhibitions. On March 17, the exhibition titled ‘Shinran shōnin 750-kaiki shūkyōdan rengō 40-shūnen kinen Shinan ten shōgai to bijutsu’ opened at the Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art (until May 29) while on Mary 29, the exhibition titled ‘Honen: The Life and Art of the Founder of the Pure Land Buddhist Sect’ opened at the Kyoto National Museum (until May 8). The ‘Shinran’ exhibition displayed approximately 130 artworks, including 45 National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties, consisting of three chapters: ‘Shinran shōnin no oshie to shōgai (The Teaching and Life of Shinran)’; ‘Jōdo shinshū no hirogari (The Dissemination of Jōdo Shinshū)’; and ‘Denrai no meihō to bijutsu (Treasures and Artworks)’. The ‘Hōnen’ exhibition comprised two chapters: Chapter 1 ‘Hōnen no shōgai to shisō (The Life and Thought of Hōnen)’, centered around the National Treasure ‘Illustrated Biography of Master Hōnen (法然上人絵伝)’; and Chapter 2 ‘Hōnen e no hōon to nenbutsu no keishō (Gratitude to Hōnen and the Continuation of Nenbutsu)’, displayed artworks created from the faith that emerged after Hōnen’s passing. Both exhibitions provided a rare opportunity to see outstanding works kept at associated temples, gathered together in one place. (Japanese)
On March 15, the exhibition titled ‘OBAKU: Kyoto Uji Manpukuji no meihō to zen no shinpū’ opened at the Kyushu National Museum to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the founding of Manpukuji temple, the head temple of the Ōbaku school of Zen Buddhism, established by Ingen Zenji who came from Ming China (until May 22). The exhibition featured 142 artefacts and materials preserved in Ōbaku temples, which brought the traditional Chinese Rinzai Zen teachings, Buddhist rituals, and life and culture in Ming China directly to seventeenth-century Japan. It consisted of five chapters: Chapter 1 ‘Hajimete no ōbakushū – mijikana ōbaku bunka (The First Encounter with Ōbaku – Ōbaku Culture Close at Hand)’; Chapter 2 ‘Tōjin tachi no Nagasaki (The Chinese in Nagasaki)’; Chapter 3 ‘Ingen tōrai (The Arrival of Ingen)’; Chapter 4 ‘Manpukuji no kaiso to kōryū (The Founding and Prosperity of Manpukuji Temple)’; and Chapter 5 ‘Ōbaku bunka (Ōbaku Cultural Renaissance)’. (Japanese)
On March 12, the exhibition titled ‘Nagasawa Rosetsu: The Fanciful Painter’ opened at the Miho Museum (until June 5). The exhibition showcased 110 works by the painter NAGASAWA Rosetsu, who was active primarily in Kyoto during the late eighteenth century and painted works that astonish the eye with their bold compositions and brushwork. The exhibition consisted of six chapters: Chapter 1 ‘Learn from Ōkyo’, presented Rosetsu’s early works demonstrating his studies under his master Maruyama Ōkyo; Chapter 2 ‘Journey to Nanki’, featured works created in Nanki, where he travelled as Ōkyo’s representative; Chapter 3 ‘The Stranger is New’, gathered his innovative works produced after returning from Nanki to Kyoto; Chapter 4 ‘People Surrounding Rosetsu’, examined the environment surrounding Rosetsu; Chapter 5 ‘Interest in Light’, focused on his expression of light, which resonates with modernity; and Chapter 6 displayed the newly re-discovered ‘Five Hundred Arhats (方寸五百羅漢図)’, painted on a piece of paper approximately one-inch square. The exhibition re-examined Rosetsu’s artistic career, which made a break with tradition after mastering his master’s style. (Japanese)
On March 11, 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 2010. The recipients of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize were artist ONODERA Yuki (for her exhibition titled ‘Onodera Yuki: Into the Labyrinth of Photography’) and architect KUMA Kengo (for his architectural design ‘Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum’) in the Fine Arts category; and game designer MIYAMOTO Shigeru (for his game ‘Super Mario Galaxy 2’) in the Media Art category. The recipients of the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists were contemporary artist Tabaimo (for her exhibition titled ‘Tabaimo: Danmen’) in the Fine Art category; artist NAKAMURA Masato (for his direction of opening and management of ‘3331 Arts Chiyoda’) in the Development of the Arts category; KuroDalaiJee (aka KURODA Raiji), researcher of post-war Japanese avant-garde art, (for his monograph titled ‘Anarchy of the Body’) in the Criticism category; and multimedia artist KUWAKUBO Ryōta (for his artwork titled ‘The Tenth Sentiment’) in the Media Art category. (Japanese)
Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, numerous exhibitions that had planned to borrow artworks from overseas were cancelled or postponed. The exhibition titled ‘The State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow’, originally scheduled to run from April 2 to June 26 at the Yokohama Museum of Art, was postponed. This decision followed Russia’s assessment that the safety of the exhibition environment had not been ensured. Furthermore, the exhibition titled ‘La naissance de l’impressionnisme’, originally scheduled to open at the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum on April 5, was also cancelled due to the Directorate of Museums of the French Ministry of Culture advised a temporary suspension of art loans to Japan. Meanwhile, the exhibition titled ‘Genbaku o miru: 1945 – 1970’, originally scheduled to run from April 9 to May 29 at the Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo, was postponed following discussions between Meguro Ward and the Meguro Foundation of Art and Culture, which operates the museum. The decision was made out of consideration for the feelings of the people affected by the earthquake. (Japanese)
The Great East Japan Earthquake that struck on March 11 caused damage and collapse to numerous cultural properties in the Tōhoku and Kantō regions. The number of nationally designated cultural properties affected reached 744. At Zuiganji temple in Matsushima Town, Miyagi Prefecture, part of the wall of the temple’s living quarter (National Treasure) collapsed. At the former Kōdōkan in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture (Special Historic Site and Important Cultural Property), the student alarm bell was completely destroyed. Damage from the tsunami triggered by the earthquake was also extensive. The Rokkakudō, part of the Izura Institute of Arts and Culture at the Ibaraki University, in Kitaibaraki City, Ibaraki Prefecture (Registered Tangible Cultural Property), was swept away, leaving only its foundations. Art galleries and museums also suffered damage from the earthquake and tsunami. The Ishinomaki Cultural Center saw its first floor almost completely destroyed by the direct impact of the tsunami. The Rikuzentakata City Museum was left only its building structure standing, with all its collections suffering water damage from the tsunami. (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 30th winner was ISHIKAWA Naoki. The award was given for his photobook titled ‘CORONA’ (Seidosha), focusing on Polynesia in the South Pacific, was highly commended for in recognition of its consistent them exploring the new state of the world where countless centers coexist rather than a single, powerful central one, alongside his vigorous photographic endeavors. (Japanese)
On February 9, the winner of the 36th Kimura Ihei Award (sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun and Asahi Shimbun Publications), the award given to exceptional new photographers in honor to photographer KIMURA Ihei’s achievements, was announced. The award was given to SHIMOZONO Eiko for her photobook titled ‘Kizuna’ and the photographic exhibition of the same title. Her work, featuring women of her own generation, friends, and families as subjects, was highly commended for its style imbued with the sense of absurd. (Japanese)
On March 8, the exhibition titled, ‘Okamoto Taro – The 100th anniversary of His Birth’, opened at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (until May 8). Commemorating the centenary of the birth of OKAMOTO Tarō, renowned for works including the ‘Tower of the Sun’, known as the symbol of Expo ’70, the exhibition offered a retrospective overview of his entire oeuvre, featuring approximately 130 works. It consisted of nine sections: Prologue ‘Non!’; Chapter 1 ‘Confrontation with Picasso’; Chapter 2 ‘Confrontation with “Pretty” Art’; Chapter 3 ‘Confrontation with “Wabi-Sabi”’; Chapter 4 ‘Confrontation with “Progress and Harmony for Mankind”’; Chapter 5 ‘Confrontation with the War’; Chapter 6 ‘Confrontation with the Consumer Society’; Chapter 7 ‘Confrontation with Okamoto Taro’; and Epilogue ‘The Spirit of Okamoto Taro Inherited’. The exhibition traced his consistent challenge to established values chronologically. Amidst recent vigorous reappraisals, including the opening of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum and Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, this exhibition became an ambitious project seeking to reconsider Okamoto’s contemporary position. (Japanese)
On February 15, Kōzanji temple and the Kyoto National Museum announced that the third (hei) of the four-volume of emaki scrolls ‘Chōjū jinbutsu giga’ (so-called Chōju giga), owned by Kōzanji temple in Kyoto, had originally been ten sheets of washi paper with drawings on both sides, which was discovered during conservation work. These ten sheets then had been separated into twenty individual sheets and mounted into an emaki scroll. According to the temple’s records, it is believed that the scroll was assembled during the early Edo period. (Japanese)
The exhibition titled ‘Kansai Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Collections’, a collaborative project by nine neighboring exhibition venues to present an overview of Chinese painting collections located in the Kansai region, commenced with the exhibition titled ‘Celebrating Fifty Years of the Ueno Collection at the Kyoto National Museum: Spirit of Brush and Ink: The World of Chinese Paintings and Calligraphies’, held at the Kyoto National Museum from January 8 to February 20. The nine neighboring exhibition venues were Chōkaidō Museum; Kurokawa Institute of Ancient Cultures; Kampo Museum; Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi; Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum; Fuji Saiseikai Yūrinkan; Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts; and Museum Yamato Bunkakan. This series of exhibitions provided an opportunity to view outstanding Chinese artworks from the collections of UENO Riichi, ABE Fusajirō, YAMAMOTO Teijirō, KUROKAWA Kōshichi, FUJII Zensuke, YASHIRO Yukio, SUMA Yakichirō, SUMITOMO Kanichi, HASHIMOTO Suekichi, HARADA Kanpō, and HAYASHI Munetake. It also attracted attention as a collaborative project undertaken by neighboring institutions. (Japanese)
