Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties - Publications
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Series of instruments for protecting cultural property [27] Germany
No full textドイツ連邦16州の記念物保護法
Denkmalschutzgesetze der 16 deutschen Bundesländerboo
Exhibition Review : Tokyo: Art and Photography at the Ashmolean Museum
Get PDFFrom July 2021 to January 2022, a remarkable exhibition, entitled ‘Tokyo: Art and Photography’, was held at the Ashmolean Museum, the oldest museum in the world, located in Oxford, United Kingdom, to commemorate the 2020 Summer Olympics, known as Tokyo 2020. It was originally planned to open to the public at the time of Tokyo 2020 itself, however the coronavirus pandemic delayed it for a year along with the exhibition. Curators Lena Fritsch and Clare Pollard challenged themselves to represent Tokyo’s over 400-year history since the beginning of the Edo period using works of art. Their challenge was stretched far more than anyone expected due to the pandemic. All the works of art originally chosen for the exhibition needed to go through a further selection process to reduce the numbers of artworks on display due to new safety measurements that were put in place in order to reopen the museum. That is clearly evidenced in the accompanied exhibition catalogue in which works of art that were not on display were nevertheless included and discussed.
The city has grown significantly in every way since it became the de facto capital of Japan in 1603, and it is now one of the biggest cities in the world. How to illustrate such a massive city in all its diversity? The exhibition defined Tokyo as a city where natural and human disasters repeatedly occur, inspiring artists with creativity over the centuries.
The exhibition consisted of three themes: The Urban Environment; The People who Live in the City; and Artistic Innovation. However, each part was cleverly intertwined on topics such as ever-changing social issues. The first theme, The Urban Environment, was further composed of ‘City’ and ‘Destruction and Renewal’. The former mainly focused on famous places, so-called meisho, represented by Utagawa Hiroshige’s woodblock prints, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei) and drawings of later landmarks by contemporary artists such as Yamaguchi Akira whereas the latter’s focal point was historical natural disasters and reconstructions, also portrayed by woodblock prints of the time. The second theme, The People who Live in the City, put attention on the lives of people, especially everyday life. It portraited activities undertaken by a wide range of people from the Meiji Emperor, the first emperor ever who lived in Tokyo, to ordinary people from the Edo period to the present day. The last theme, Artistic Innovation, presented the way in which artists became innovative and pioneered in the art world. One of the notable displays was a series of woodblock prints, which rendered transitions of not only new techniques introduced at the time, but also new ways of artistic expression, yet the materials employed remained unchanged. Interestingly though, apart from woodblock prints, the rooms were filled with contemporary arts that often would have sent some sort of message to society. In other words, art has been used as a means of expressing opinions of artists, often subtly, yet sometimes explicitly.
It is obvious to imagine that everyone has their own view on Tokyo and its history and what representative or stereotypical works of art illustrate or even define the city. Yet, the Tokyo exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum certainly not only reintroduced their visitors to Japanese art and culture in general, but also introduced Tokyo’s lessknown history and social issues that are not so common knowledge. Unfortunately, the exhibition was mainly viewed by residents of the United Kingdom due to travelrestrictions. The richly illustrated exhibition catalogue with full scholarly essays will surely provide the essence of the exhibition.journal articl
Evaluation of the Effect of Purification on Characteristics and Mold Susceptibility of Funori
Get PDFFunori is a traditional material used for conservation treatments and production of
traditional craft objects for over a thousand years. Several kinds of red agars in Japan are classified as funori species and they are commercially distributed as “dried funori” after being harvested, dried, and bleached under sunlight with small amounts of bleaching agents. “Dried funori” is extracted with water and heat; after that, it is used as a facing adhesive because of its high water-solubility, and as a thickener. Current researches clarified that its viscosity changes depending on extracting condition, temperature, water hardness, species and other factors. While these facts make characteristics of extracts easy to control, molds tend to generate at areas where funori is used. It is an issue when Japanese conservators use funori.
The main components of funori extracts are funorans which are composed of sulphated agaroid chains and sulphated carrageenan chains. The ratio and structures of those polysaccharides are different in each species, and it is difficult for both agaroid and carrageenan to be degraded by microorganisms. On the other hand, it has been clarified that funori extract includes impurities, for example polypeptides which are easy to be degraded by microorganisms. Therefore, it was supposed possible to prevent from mold generation on the funori-applied areas by removing impurities in this research. The effects of funori purification were considered with two samples prepared in the laboratory by different methods and two commercial purified funori.
The evaluation was conducted by mold susceptibility test, gel filtration chromatography (GFC), and FT-IR. In the results of the mold susceptibility test, all samples kept under the condition without water vapors showed no mold; on the other hand, samples kept under the condition with water vapors showed various results. While two commercial products did not show any mold generation, the sample purified with reprecipitation showed mold generation significantly, and the sample purified with activated carbon showed some mold generation. In the results of GFC, the sample without TRI-funori showed only one peak under 10×103 molecular weight area. It is thought that there are two reason for this result; one is a fraction had been removed by purification, based on the fact that normal funori showed two peaks in the area according to previous research, and the other is that it was caused by differences in raw materials. In FT-IR results, the absorption band identified amid II was shown in only the sample purified with reprecipitation and unpurified sample. It seemed that the result was correspondent with the result of the mold susceptibility test. Based on these results, purification with reprecipitation has insufficient effects on funori to prevent mold generation. It was also considered that the funori extracted at 20℃ possessed lower mold susceptibility than the sample extracted with heating as was mentioned in a previous paper.journal articl
Tests for Influences of Volatized Detergent Products Containing Disinfecting Substances Alternatives to Alcohol on Cultural Properties
Get PDFDisinfection of high-frequency contact surfaces is one of the measures required to be taken for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in museums. As a general principle, disinfectantsshould not be us ed in spaces where cultural properties are displayed, but rather it is advised to wait for the virusto be inactivated through lockdown measures, and in case where disinfection should be needed, alcohol-based disinfectantsshould be used. On the other hand, some displaysuse acrylic plates instead of glass, and it is known that alcohols can cause cracking (environmental stress cracking), whitening or loss of surface gloss on acrylic resin (polymethyl methacrylate, PMMA). It isnecessary to consider disinfecting substances alternativesto alcohol-based disinfectants for acrylic display cases.
In the present research, the influences of volatiles from some of detergent products on cultural property materials were investigated by the modified Oddy test. The detergent productscontaining surfactants have been judged to be effective in disinfecting SARS-CoV-2 by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE).
The results show that one of the tested productsgenerated volatilesthat affect the
materials of cultural properties. Also, in the additional immersion test using the same metals with the Oddy test, all of the tested productsgenerated corrosion or discoloration different from the control (pure water). Using detergent products for disinfection on acrylic display cases should be carefully controlled.journal articl
Investigation Report on Techniques for Preserving Cultural Properties with Focus on Musical Instruments 5
Get PDFThe Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage considers the manufacture of musical instruments, techniques for their repair, the manufacture of tools necessary for the production of the instruments and repair techniques, as well as the manufacture of materials necessary for these as important restoration techniques to support the traditional performing arts of Japan and has been conducting investigation since 2017. Production of Noh stage costume was investigated for the first time as a technique for preserving the performing arts. In addition, as a report on the current situation regarding the stable securing of raw materials, the reeds of Kanmaki and Udono were included as a topic. The present report is a sequel to “Investigation Report on Techniques for Preserving Cultural Properties with Focus on Musical Instruments 1” and provides an outline of 7 cases of investigation conducted from June to December 2021.
Japan, according to the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, has a system by which preservation techniques are selected, and holders and holding groups of these techniques are recognized. However, the present investigation has been done on the holders and holding groups that are considered important regardless of selection or recognition. The content of investigation is arranged into the following 7 items and categorized according to instruments for ordering of information: 1. Name of the holder, 2. Date of birth, 3. Address or place of investigation, 4. Date of investigation, 5. Investigator, 6. Outline of the holder of technique, 7. Observation of the investigator.
This year, as in the previous year, many conservation techniques for cultural properties were greatly influenced by Covid-19, and the necessity for investigation was felt all the more. However it was not possible to investigate as scheduled due to the prevention of the wide spread of the pandemic. Continuous attention to both the current state of conservation technology and the impact of Covid-19 is needed.departmental bulletin pape
Investigating the Keeping and Archiving of the Records of Folk Entertainment Groups: A Case Study of Materials in the Care of the Preservation Society of Shikaodori in Kariyado-ku, Namie-cho, Futaba-gun, Fukushima-ken
Get PDFThe community in Kariyado-ku, Namie-cho, Futaba-gun, Fukushima-ken inherited the Shikaodori belonging to the Furyu-odori series and Kagura (Dai-kagura) that was introduced to the Somanakamura-han during the Edo period. It was preserved by the Young Men's Group, the Youth Association, the Youth League, and the subsequently established Preservation Society which originated in modern times. However, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident following the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, forced people living in Kariyado to leave their hometown and the community in which they had been born and raised, turning them into refugees. This created a crisis for the community’ s inheritance and its culture.
In these circumstances, people in the area have had to confront the urgent problem of how to preserve and hand on this culture. In recent times, Japan, concerned about the stagnation in the activities of preservation groups that curate an inheritance of folk entertainment, has urged counties and districts to investigate folk entertainment as a matter of urgency. Furthermore, the nation has adopted measures to protect historical records in the face of pressures such as recession and a major transition crisis. Despite the more obvious significance of the records of the inheritance and preservation of folk entertainment created by the state, local autonomous bodies and researchers, the importance of materials connected with the operation of folk entertainment preservation groups should not be overlooked, especially given the long history of these groups. The present study investigates the records that such folk entertainment preservation groups have made of their activities and tries to assess their value. It utilizes as archival data the records generated by the activities of the preservation groups that inherited the Kariyado Shikaodori. More particularly, it analyses the documentary records of the Kariyado Shikaodori Preservation Society that supports and curates intangible folk cultural relics. Additionally, through mastering and analyzing the content and structure of such document groups, with a focus on the documents of Kariyado Shikaodori Preservation Society, their basic nature is clarified. Finally, the open-source software AtoM (Access Memory) is employed to describe the “Documents of Kariyado Shikaodori Preservation Society,” which involves adopting the “International Standard: General Principles for Recording Historical Data Description ISAD (G)” formulated by the International Council on Archives (ICA). All this makes it possible to evaluate the significance of the archives of groups involved in preserving and making accessible intangible folk cultural property.departmental bulletin pape
