The Art Research Center (ARC) at Ritsumeikan University is pleased to announce that illustrated books, ukiyo-e painting manuals, and other early modern Japanese books in the collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History of Belgium (MRAH) have been made available online, complete with images for each page:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db1/books/search_belgium.php.

These works can also be found by searching for "MRAH" in the "Owner" field in the ARC Early Japanese Books Portal Database: https://www.dh-jac.net/db1/books/search_portal.php.

Takagi Yoko previously conducted a survey of the Museums' collection of early modern Japanese books, and published a simple listing of works in the collection in: "Berugii oritsu bijutsu rekishi hakubutsukan shozo wakan kosho ni tsuite," Bunka joshi daigaku kiyo: jinbun / shakai kagaku kenkyu, vol. 9 (2001 Jan), pp. 187-206. Click here to view or download the article: https://bunka.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/686.

The ARC has collaborated with the MRAH to digitize its extensive ukiyo-e collection since 2007, making 8,750 ukiyo-e prints accessible through the ARC Japanese Prints (Ukiyo-e) and Paintings Portal Database: https://www.dh-jac.net/db/nishikie/search_belgium.php.

Following the digitization of ukiyo-e prints, the digitization of early modern books also began, although the project faced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project was restarted in 2023, and 572 books, with images for each page, have now been released online in a single batch.

Plese note: While the size of the images made publicly available in the ARC databases are provided at a limited resolution, researchers seeking higher-resolution images of these works are advised to contact the Image Studio at the Royal Museums of Art and History of Belgium directly.