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Experiments for Permeability of Some Insecticides into Wooden Pieces from Historic Buildings in Nikko Damaged by Wood-boring Anobiids
Get PDFPermeability of insecticides by infusion treatment was tested with wooden pieces filled with insect feces or frass of Priobium cylindricum. Six types of insecticides (one water soluble, and five water insoluble［oil solution and emulsion］) commercially produced by two companies were selected.
Treatments were conducted in three ways. 1)Perforation hole with a 3 mm diameter and approximately 11 cm depth was prepared, and insecticides were injected into the hole with a high pressure injector. 2)Perforation hole with a 13 mm diameter and approximately 15 cm depth was prepared, and insecticides were directly poured into the hole. 3) Insecticides were applied to the surface of the radial section with a brush. Permeability of the insecticides was checked by cutting the treated wooden pieces with a horizontal plane and visually observing the area where insecticides had permeated.
When the insecticides were directly poured into the hole,oil solutions permeated faster than emulsions. Compared with emulsions, permeation of oil solutions was 2 to 3 times more in volume. Emulsions remained in the bottom of the hole after 2 to 3 hours. When a cross section was observed,it was found that the insecticides had spread approximately 2-3 mm around the hole. Even at places filled with insect feces or frass, the insecticides had also spread. When the insecticides were injected with a high pressure injector,the speed of permeability was faster than when the insecticides were directly poured. However, the insecticides overflowed from the insect holes. When a cross section was observed, it was found that the insecticides spread approximately 2-3 mm around the hole just as when insecticides were directly poured. Even at places filled with insect feces or frass, the insecticides had also spread. When the insecticides were applied to the surface with a brush, the insecticides permeated approximately 4-5 mm from the surface of the radial section. Permeability of the insecticides seems to be dependent on their chemical characteristics.
Further research is necessary to develop effective treatments using insecticides for conserving wooden historical buildings.journal articl
Methods for the Decision of the Original Coloring and Coloring Materials from Monochrome Photographs
Get PDFSince the dawn of history, a large number of cultural heritage have been lost or reported missing due to many reasons,including war and disaster. It is sure that clarifying the original coloring of such heritage will contribute to research in many fields such as
history and art history.
The aim of this study is to establish methods for deciding the original coloring and coloring materials of painted works from monochrome photographs taken as reference materials. Generally, the black and white contrasts of monochrome photographs are dependent on (i) the characteristic of photosensitive materials, (ii)illumination spectra of light source and (iii) characteristics of light reflection of subjects. Based on this assumption, it was found that taking monochrome photographs of coloring samples under the same conditions as the reference photographs and comparing the contrasts of both can lead to the decision of the original coloring. Using this method,decision of the original coloring of a portrait of a king of Ryukyu Kingdom, Sho-Iku (1813- 1847),which has been reported to have been lost during World War II, was carried out.journal articl
Features of Bio-degradation Found in the Roof Structures of Traditional Japanese Wooden Buildings
Get PDFFeatures of bio-degradation found in the roof structures of traditional Japanese wooden buildings are summarized. Bio-degradation such as those caused by insect and fungal attack is generated in association with rainwater permeation. The distribution and degree of bio-degradation is often influenced by the variation of the flow of rainwater on the roof which is closely associated with the shape and structure of the roof. Degradation is also influenced by the material and method of roofing. Fungal attack on the roofing and the framework sometimes becomes serious and is accompanied by termite attack which is caused by swarming rather than crawling up of termites from the ground. Insect attack caused by beetles is also found mainly in the sapwood of structural members.journal articl
Lichens Found in Ta Nei Temple and Its Adjacent Areas of Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Get PDFThe lichens flora of Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia was investigated from 2005 to 2011 with special attention to the Ta Nei temple. So far we have recognized 15 families (including two incertae sedis), 15 genera and 45 species of lichens from the area, and an annotated checklist of them is provided. Among them following 25 species are new records for lichen flora of Cambodia;Agonimia tristicula, Arthonia cinnabarina, Chapsa indica, Coccocarpia erythroxyli, Coenogonium pineti, Dictyonema moorei, Dirinaria consimilis, Fellhanera fuscatula,Flakea papillata,Hyperphyscia granulate,Hyperphyscia syncolla, Laurera benguelensis, Myriotrema compunctum, Nadvornikia sorediate, Parmotrema saccatilobum, Peltula omphaliza,Phyllopsora furfuracea,Porina mastoidea,Porina nuculastrum, Porina papuensis, Pyrenula quassiaecola, Pyxine coralligera, Pyxine meissnerina, Rinodina atrofuscata and Trapelia coarctara.journal articl
Inventory of Records Formerly in the Collection of Takeuchi Michitaka and Donated by Kunitachi College of Music Library（5）
Get PDFLists of records formerly in the collection of Takeuchi Michitaka and kept by Kunitachi College of Music Library have been provided in four previous volumes of Research and Reports on Intangible Cultural Heritage . The inventory in this volume is a supplement to the previous inventories, listing 320 records that were not included in previous volumes.
Also included in the inventory in this volume is a list of 248 records donated to the Institute by Asada Mayayuki, Hirezaki Eiho and Onishi Hidenori.departmental bulletin pape
Spatial Logic and Visual Meaning (Part I): A New Theory on the Furen Qimen Images in Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties Tomb Chambers
Get PDFThe furen qimen 婦人啓門image of a woman seen in half figure, either entering or departing a gate, in tombs of the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties has long attracted scholarly interest, but its meaning remains puzzling and elusive.
A further difficulty in its understanding is the presence of jiamen 假門, faux gate towers that imitated wooden structures in either relief or painting images, all closely linked to this image. This type of gate tower normally appears on the back wall of a tomb chamber.
The furen qimen iconography is widely distributed in tomb decoration of the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties. Regardless of period or locale, it usually maintains a set style and formal depiction. Thus with this image there must also have been a set formal code identifiable by everyone of the period. The author believes that an understanding of this iconography can be found in an understanding of why gate tower decoration imitating wooden architecture was popular in tomb chamber interiors during the period in question.
Up until now the study of the furen qimen motifs of the Song, Liao and Jin dynasties has not fully explained the symbolism of the motif in a tomb chamber interior or the formal code inherent within.
This article, through its analysis of this expressive motif will explore the spatial logic in Song, Liao and Jin dynasties tomb chamber adornment. In addition, the article will discuss how the iconographic expression of the furen qimen motif developed in the tomb decorations of these periods.
The motif vaguely described above as furen qimen can actually be divided into three types, furen jinmen 婦人進門, furen guanmen 婦人関門 and furen qimen. Of these three, although there are few known extant examples of furen jinmen and furen guanmen, the settings for these two motifs can be divided into a scene of a woman at her morning toilet after waking, and a scene of a woman lighting a fire. Thus these two can be thought to be separately depicted in either opening the gate scenes in the morning or closing the gate scenes at dusk. These two opening gate/shutting gate motifs are important compositional elements related to the activities of servants associated with the passing of time each day as would be carried out in a normal residence. These two motifs, opening gate and shutting gate, can thus be included under the furen qimen subject. However, this article focuses its investigation on the furen qimen as defined as the woman who appears with half her body concealed, behind the door of a gate tower, as depicted on the back wall of a tomb chamber.
This image is the most frequently used motif in Song, Liao and Jin tomb chamber decoration. It is characterized by the fact that it is unrelated to the content of the other wall paintings on the other tomb chamber walls. This motif is normally positioned opposite the entrance to the tomb chamber, and at the most visible, central position on the tomb chamber wall surface. Further, in all cases the figure of the woman is seen with one hand on the gate door, and half of her body hidden behind the gate, looking out through the gate. This suggests that another important space exists on the opposite side of the gate from the viewer, the side where the woman stands.
In the majority of Song, Liao and Jin tombs, the tomb is divided into a front and back tomb chamber, with the stand for the coffin, the guanchuang, or funerary couch, normally placed in the back chamber. Close examination of the wall paintings in the back tomb chamber indicates that they depict activities of normal life. Thus the back tomb chamber is made to resemble a living space for the normal everyday activities of the soul of the deceased. The gate on the back wall of that tomb chamber then could symbolize and suggest that the soul of the deceased rests behind that wall.
In the summer of 2000, the author was involved in an on-site survey of a Liao dynasty tomb in Xuanhua, and was able to confirm the traces of one wall painting in the already discovered No. 10 tomb that had not been previously published. Namely, there was one guanchuang (funerary couch) that measured less than 50 cm tall with one small gate depicted on the north face of the couch. The two small doors of that gate were opened inwards. It was fascinating to note that the funerary couch’s small gate and the gate doors on the bottom of the gate tower that appears on the back wall of the chamber are opposite each other. It as if they were positioned there for the deceased, as a passageway connection to a bedchamber. In other words, it is extremely easy to understand that this arrangement suggests that, as when he was alive spending his time in his home’s living room receiving the services of his various attendants, the person in the tomb would be seated on the guanchuang in the tomb, and then at night, would retire to his sleeping chamber to sleep.
More fascinating is that there is a clue to the nature of the “sleeping chamber” that can be imagined on the far side of the back wall of the tomb chamber, as suggested by the gate depiction. This is in a Liao dynasty tomb chamber discovered in Neimenggu Aohanqi Xiawanzi, where a gate door is depicted on the north wall, with both of its doors open and a woman looking out from inside the gate. It is not hard to imagine that a private space, a sleeping chamber, lies on the far side of that gate. Indeed, this depiction suggests that the private space on the far side of the gate is the “sleeping chamber” specifically prepared for the married couple that are the residents of the tomb.
The furen qimen image is one of the traditional iconographic motifs in tomb chamber art, and was originally one type of singular spatial expression. The appearance of this woman’s form on the back wall of Song, Liao and Jin tomb chambers is clearly linked to the gate tower which appears in the reliefs or paintings in that tomb chamber interior, thus creating a visual spatial logic that differs from that of earlier tomb chamber decoration. Based on this new visual spatial logic, the back chamber of the tomb is decorated, the deceased provided with everyday lifestyle items, and an interior living space complete with the services of various types of female attendants is conveyed. The presence of a “sleeping chamber” simply contrasts with this everyday living space as enlarged and developed within the surroundings of the furen qimen motif that appears on the back wall of the tomb interior. Its addition to the painted or relief decoration elements, such as a gate tower, clearly hints at the “sleeping chamber” that lies beyond the gate.
The artisans who created these Song, Liao and Jin tomb chambers, perhaps even all the painters who created wall painting decorations, employed these aids of visual expression and thus revolutionized the limited space of tomb chamber architecture. Indeed, the traditional furen qimen motif can be seen as the most appropriate symbol of that revolution.journal articl
Report on Kabuki Photographs Taken by Umemura Yutaka (4)
Get PDFThe Audio-Visual Documentation Section of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage continues the work of sorting out black and white photographs taken by Umemura Yutaka (1923.6.15 - 2007.6.5) that were endowed to the Department in fiscal year 2007. Tsuchida Makiko, the present author’s predecessor two generations ago, introduced an outline of the entire collection and a list of monochrome photographs of kabuki stages taken in the early 1950s in “Report on Kabuki Photographs Taken by Umemura Yutaka” in volume 3 of the present bulletin. Kaneko Takeshi, Tsuchida’s successor, introduced a list of additional photographs taken in the early 1950s and those taken in the latter half of the 1950s in “Report on Kabuki Photographs Taken by Umemura Yutaka (2)” in volume 4 and a list of photographs taken between 1965 and 1975 in “Report on Kabuki Photographs Taken by Umemura Yutaka (3)” in volume 5. During fiscal year 2012, black-and-white photographs taken between December 1981 and November 2003 which had not yet been sorted out, a total of 11,225 black-and-white photograph (including 5 whose date of photographing is unknown), were sorted. As a result, the total number of black-and-white photographs taken by Umemura Yutaka and endowed to the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage is now 95,890.
In this bulletin, a list of additional photographs from the late 1950s to the early 1970s that have been sorted and 597 black-and-white photographs of kabuki stages taken in January 1975. The Department will continue to sort endowed materials of Umemura Yutaka chronologically and to preserve them.departmental bulletin pape
Tolerance Test of Microorganisms Isolated from Kitora Tumulus against UV Irradiation
Get PDFIn the Kitora Tumulus,almost all of the paintings on the side walls and the star charts on the ceiling were relocated in 2008, except for those which might have been hidden by a thin layer of mud on the walls. Measures such as intermittent UV irradiation have been applied since March 2009 to control microoraganisms on the plaster. Growth of most fungal mycelia has been suppressed effectively. In the survey of 2010, dematiaceous fungi (e.g.,an anamorphic basidiomycetous fungus Burgoa sp.)were observed,but there was not much problem as a whole.
To evaluate the efficacy and influence of intermittent UV irradiation as a control measure against microbial damage of the tumulus, microbiota and microbial activities inside the stone chamber are being examined annually. This paper is a report on the tolerance test of the major microorganisms isolated from the stone chamber interior of the Kitora Tumulus conducted,especially aiming at comparison of UV tolerance between two groups of isolates:isolates before intermittent UV irradiation (2005 to 2007) and isolates during irradiation (2009 to 2011).
As bacterial species, isolates of Gluconacetobacter sp.,Stenotrophomonas spp.,Bacillus spp. and actinomycetes were tested. These bacteria were quite susceptible to UV irradiation and totally killed in a few minutes of irradiation in this experiment. No significant
difference was observed in UV susceptibility between the two groups (viz. isolates before and during irradiation, respectively).
The anamorphic basidiomycetous fungus Burgoa sp.forms bulbils (superficially similar to small sclerotia),and this structure enables significant tolerance against UV irradiation: the bulbils survived 6 days of UV irradiation. However,this does not mean UV irradiation
does not have any effect.Since the hypha are sensitive to UV irradiation,it seems that the treatment is effective in preventing the fungus from spreading out.
Other fungal isolates, such as Penicillium paneum, Fusarium solani (FSSC clade 3), Acremonium (sect. Gliomastix) murorum, Acremonium (sect. Gliomastix) tumulicola, Cladophialophora sp.and Phialophora sp.,were also tested. Most of the fungal isolates were completely killed by 30 minutes’UV irradiation, but small numbers of spores of some isolates survived 60 minutes of irradiation. However, the survival was 10-4 or 10-5 of the whole spores tested. Therefore, UV irradiation seems very effective as a whole.
One Penicillium paneum strain isolated in 2011 showed a bit more tolerance than the strain isolated in 2005. But in the case of Acremonium (sect.Gliomastix)tumulicola, there seemed to be no difference among the two groups of isolates. The dematiaceous fungus Phialophora sp.showed a bit more tolerance than other species tested. As a whole,the two groups of isolates (before and during treatment)did not show significant difference regarding tolerance against UV irradiation in this test.
Constant monitoring of microbiota inside the stone chamber and accurate identification with phenotypic and genotypic characterization of the isolates are important to assess intermittent UV irradiation as a control measure for such environment.journal articl
Case Study: Improvement Measures in Exhibition Cases with a Large Amount of Acetic Acid Emission from the Interior
Get PDFAcetic acid concentration in the exhibition cases of a certain museum did not fall for 15 years after its opening. There was no detailed information on the interior finishing material used at the time of its construction nor on the structure of the cases. There was only one door in each exhibition case and ventilation was difficult. When this door was repaired, a part of the wall was removed and pieces of the wall were used to plan a remediation measure. It was found that the wall was composed of 5 layers:steel,plywood, paper material, plywood with holes, and surface finishing cloth. Test pieces of each composing material of the wall were set in a material test chamber and clean air was pumped through it to collect emission gas in a TENAXTMtube.Gas-chromatograph/mass spectrometer was used for identification of the emission gases.
About 30 kinds of chemicals were identified from the surface finishing cloth. On the other hand, 52 kinds of chemicals were identified from the paper material. It was found that a large amount of acetic acid was stored in the paper material and emitted to the space in the exhibition case. After bake-out treatment,quantity of acetic acid decreased to 39% from the original. The same result was obtained when acetic acid removal absorbent of special activated carbon was placed on the test pieces. The latter method was thus applied to actual exhibition cases of similar size.
For evaluation of the effectiveness of the treatment, air from the two cases was sampled into TENAXTM tubes: one case was treated with absorbent 36 days before sampling and the other was treated 2 days before sampling. As for the case which was
treated 2 days before, the detected number of chemicals was less than that in the other case. Quantity of acetic acid decreased heavily in the case which was treated 2 days before, but a large amount of acetic acid was detected in the other case. It is suggested that there was a reservoir layer of acetic acid far from the surface. As a result, the source of the
acetic acid could be specified.
In conclusion,it was found that it is necessary to treat these exhibition cases repeatedly with acetic acid absorbent. It is thought that the fundamental solution for these cases is to peel off the cloth,install a covering material on the plywood and finally apply surface finishing cloth in order to avoid emission from the paper material.journal articl