On March 28, the Denchū Hirakushi Award (sponsored by Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture), established to commemorate HIRAKUDHI Denchū’s achievements along with the promotion of wood carvings in Japan, announced that the 28th winner was ANDŌ Eisaku. The artist was recognized for his pursuit of contemporary expression in large-scale wooden sculpture and his deepening of humanist figurative expression. (Japanese)
On March 28, the Denchū Hirakushi Award (sponsored by Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture), established to commemorate HIRAKUDHI Denchū’s achievements along with the promotion of wood carvings in Japan, announced that the 28th winner was ANDŌ Eisaku. The artist was recognized for his pursuit of contemporary expression in large-scale wooden sculpture and his deepening of humanist figurative expression. (Japanese)
On March 27, the government budget for the fiscal year 2017 (Heisei 29) was passed. The budget for the Agency for Cultural Affairs became ¥104.272 billion, increasing by 0.3%, which is ¥307 million increase compared to the previous year. The budget is divided into five 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. Promotion of cultural programs and improving the function of ACA for realizing the Nation Based on Culture and the Arts; 4. Dissemination of Japan’s outstanding culture and arts / Promotion of international cultural exchange; and 5. Improvement/enhancement of the foundation for the promotion of culture. A major category whose budget increased is as follows: in Project 3, ¥1.151 billion for ‘Promotion of cultural programs and improving the function of ACA for realizing the Nation Based on Culture and the Arts’. (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 36th winner was YANG Seungwoo. The award was given for her photobook titled ‘Shinjuku maigo’. (Japanese)
On March 22, the Japan Art Academy (Director: KUROI Senji) announced the recipients of the 73rd Japan Art Academy Prize. In the Fine Arts category, the Imperial Prize and the Japan Art Academy Prize were given to TAKAKI Seiu (for his calligraphy ‘Kyōriku’, exhibited at the third Kaiso Shin-Nitten). In the same category, NISHIDA Shunei (for his nihonga painting ‘Mori no sumibito’, exhibited at the Centennial exhibition of Japan Art Institute’s Revival (Saikō Inten)) and NEGISHI Yūji (for his yōga painting ‘Kotan fūsei’, exhibited at the third Kaiso Shin-Nitten) received the Japan Art Academy Prize. (Japanese)
On March 17, the winner of the 42nd 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, was announced. The award was given to HARA Mikiko for her photo book ‘Change’. (Japanese)
On March 16, the Agency for Cultural Affairs announced the winning works for the 20th 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 media installation titled ‘Interface I’ by Ralf BAECKER (Germany) in the Art Division; a video work titled ‘Shin Godzilla’ directed by ANNO Hideaki and HIGUCHI Shinji in the Entertainment Division; an animation titled ‘Your Name’ by SHINKAI Makoto in the Animation Division; and a manga titled ‘BLUE GIANT’ by ISHIZUKA Shinichi in the Manga Division. (Japanese)
On March 13, the Japan Academy (SHIONO Hiroshi) announced ten recipients of the Japan Academy Prize for the fiscal year 2017, the annual prize given to outstanding achievements in academic fields. In relation to art, NARASAWA Yumi, Professor at Jōsai University, received the prize for her detailed research and systematization of Christian alters from the fifth to twelfth centuries in southern Gaul, South France. (Japanese)
On March 10, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on seven assets to be designated as National Treasures and 37 assets to be designated as Important Cultural Properties to MATSUNO Hirokazu, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The seven assets to be designated as National Treasures are Bronze statue of Shakyamuni Buddha (銅造釈迦如来倚像) (Jidaiji temple, Tokyo); Wooden seated statue of Yuima (木造維摩居士坐像) (Hokkeji temple, Kyoto); Wooden seated statue of Dainichi Nyorai and Wooden seated statue of Fudō gōzanze myōō (木造大日如来坐像・木造不動降三世明王坐像) (Amanosan Kongōji temple, Osaka); Lotus Sutra, Kunōji kyō Sutra (法華経 (久能寺経)) (Private Collection); Issai kyō Sutra, Song Dynasty edition (宋版一切経) (Godaiji temple, Kyoto); Wooden tablets excavated from Heijōkyō (平城宮跡出土木簡) (kept at the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties); and Excavated artifacts from Tōdaijiyama Tumulus (奈良県東大寺山古墳出土品) (kept at the Tokyo National Museum). One of the 37 assets to be designated as Important Cultural Properties is Rhinoceros-shaped Incense Burner (三彩兕觥形香炉), a representative work of OKUDA Eisen (Kenninji temple, Kyoto). The Council for Cultural Affairs also recommended that 226 buildings, including the Shiriyazaki Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse (33m) in Japan, be registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. (Japanese)
On March 8, the exhibition ‘Alfons Mucha’ opened at the National Art Center, Tokyo (until June 5). The exhibition featured works by Alfons Mucha, a leading Art Nouveau artist. Among them, ‘The Slav Epic’, a series of 20 large-format canvases, created in his native Czech Republic, were exhibited for the first time outside the county. The exhibition highlighted Mucha’s patriotic side, which had rarely been introduced to the public. (Japanese)
On March 8, 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 2016. In the Fine Arts category, artist KŌNOIKE Tomoko for her exhibition ‘Tomoko Konoike: Primordial Violence Vol.2 A New Species of Bone’ and metal artist HASHIMOTO Masayuki for his live sculpting ‘Sunlight Penetrating Fruit’ shared the prize. In the Criticism category, art critic YAMANASHI Toshio was awarded for his monograph ‘Fūkei gakō: Sekai e no kōkan to shinkō’. In the Media Art category, manga artist AKIMOTO Osamu was awarded for his manga ‘KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops’. The three recipients of the Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists were architect TANE Tsuyoshi for his architectural design ‘the Estonian National Museum’ in the Fine Arts category; the founder of teamLab INOKO Toshiyuki for the exhibition ‘Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People – Infinity’ in the Development of Art category; and artist MŌRI Yūko for her exhibition ‘Pleated Image’ in the Media Art category. (Japanese)
The Daejeon District Court ruled in a lawsuit filed by Buseoksa temple in Seosan, central South Korea, which claimed ownership of the statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, a tangible cultural property designated by Nagasaki Prefecture, stolen from Kannonji temple in Tsushima City, Nagasaki Prefecture, in 2012 and brought to South Korea, that the Korean government should not return the statue to Japan but hand it over to the temple. The decision accepted the claim of Buseoksa temple that the statue had been looted by wakō, Japanese pirates in the 14th century. The South Korean government, which had stated that there was little evidence that the temple was the original owner, appealed the decision on the same day. (Japanese)
On January 1, the winners of the 58th Mainichi Art Award (sponsored by the Mainichi Newspapers Co.), the annual award given to outstanding individuals in art and culture, were announced. In Art Category I (Painting / Sculpture / Crats / Graphics), contemporary artist KAWAGUCHI Tatsuo won for his exhibition, ‘Tatsuo Kawaguchi: Location of Time’ held at Kawaguchi Art Gallery, Saitama Prefecture. (Japanese)
The recipients of the Asahi Prize for the fiscal year 2016 (sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun Foundation) were announced. In relation to art, art historian TSUJI Nobuo received the prize for ‘his significant contribution to the history of Japanese art, including reappraisal of “eccentric artists”’, while manga artist HAGIO Moto received the prize for ‘her innovation in manga expression and creating activities over many years’. (Japanese)
The construction date of the East Pagoda (National Treasure) of Yakushiji temple in Nara City, which had been dismantled for restoration, was identified by dendrochronological dating. Yakushiji temple and the Nara National Institute for Cultural Properties announced on December 19 that the central pillar and five members of the East Pagoda were made of cypress wood cut in the first half of the eighth century (the first half of the Nara period). There had been two theories concerning the East Pagoda since the Meiji period: one was that it might have been moved from Fujiwarakyō during the Asuka period whereas the other was that it might have been newly built after the capital was relocated to Heiankyō. The discovery proved that the newly built theory became now definitive. (Japanese)
On December 13, 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 KŌDA Chie (‘Futatsu no me o shugo ni shite’). UEDA Yaya (‘Yottsu no obuje to hitotsu no shiten’), and SUZUKI Motomasa, who created ‘Ghost #4’, jointly received the VOCA Encouragement Prize. AOKI Emiko (‘Mishiranu hate no‘ and ‘PRESENCE No40’) received the VOCA Honorable Mention Prize as well as the Ohara Museum of Art Prize. MURAKAMI Hanako (‘ANTICAMERA (OF THE EYE) #E1 ANTICAMERA (OF THE EYE) #P4’) received the VOCA Honorable Mention Prize. The VOCA exhibition 2017, where the winners’ works were exhibited, was held at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo from March 11 to March 30 in 2017. (Japanese)
On December 10, the winners of the ICOMOS Japan Prize 2016 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 winners were SAITŌ Kiyohide (Technical Advisor to Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture), who conducted excavation in Palmyra, Syria, for many years and promoted the conservation and restoration of cultural heritages threatened by civil war; and NPO Red Brick Club Maizuru, which had been conducting urban development utilizing brick warehouses in Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture, as well as Maizuru City. (Japanese)
On November 22, the Sumida Hokusai Museum (Director: KIKUTA Hiroshi) opened in Sumida Ward, Tokyo. As KATSUSHIKA Hokusai, ukiyo-e artist, spent most of his life in what is now Sumida Ward, the Ward build the museum as part of its regional development. It houses the collections of Peter Morse, the foremost collector of Hokusai’s work, and NARAZAKI Muneshige, ukiyo-e researcher. The building, designed by SEJIMA Kazuyo, consists of four stories above ground and one below, with a total floor area of 3,278.9m2. (Japanese)
On November 19, the Kurume City Art Museum (Director: NARAHARA Toshinori) opened in Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture, taking over the building and activities of the Ishibashi Museum of Art, which closed on August 28. The Ishibashi Foundation, which operated and managed the Ishibashi Museum of Art and housed the collection of ISHIBASHI Shōjirō, decided to centrally manage the collection in Tokyo, together with that of the Bridgestone Museum of Art, also operated by the Foundation. As a result, the Kurume City Art Museum would be operated by the Kurume Cultural Promotion Association. The exhibition titled ‘Western Painting in Kyushu’ (November 19, 2016 – January 22, 2017) was held to celebrate the opening of the museum. (Japanese)
On November 18, the Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report on the following places to be designated as Places of Scenic Beauty or Historic Sites to MATSUNO Hirokazu, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The list includes the former residence and garden of nihonga artist YOKOYAMA Taikan (Taitō Ward, Tokyo), to be designated as a Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty; ten places such as the moat around the Hashihaka Burial Mound (Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture), which is believed to have been the tomb of Queen Himiko of Yamataikoku, to be designated as Historic Sites; two places such as the Matsuya Hotel Garden (Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture), which was created in the early Taishō period, to be selected as Registered Monuments; and the terraced rice fields and rural landscape of Okuuchi (Matsuno Town, Ehime Prefecture), located in the mountainous Shikoku region, to be selected as an Important Cultural Landscape. The Council also suggested 177 structures to be designated as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, including the Tateishi Cape Lighthouse (Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture), a Western-style lighthouse built by Japanese engineers in 1881, and the Miyazaki Prefectural Government Office Main Building (Miyazaki City), built in 1932. (Japanese)