ARC-iJAC Activities

On June 20, 2024, a group of students and faculty members of National Chengchi University, Taiwan, visited the Art Research Center (ARC).

Besides a tour of the ARC building and digital archiving facilities, Dr. Travis Seifman (ARC Research Manager/Associate Professor, Kinugasa Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University) gave an introductory presentation on the DH research activities of the Center.

We are pleased to announce the second Joint Colloquium 'Japan Researched from the United States, and Japan Studies Research Communicated to the World,' co-organized by the Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), University of California, Berkeley, and the Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University on June 21, 2024.

Date: June 21 (Fri), 2024, 14:00-17:30 JST

Venue: Art Research Center (ARC) + online via ZOOM (※This is a non-public event.)

This colloquium is supported by the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University.

Program (tentative)

The 134th International ARC Seminar will be held as a webinar on Wednesday, June 12, from 18:00 JST.

The program is as follows:

1. Speaker: Kohei KONO (Professor, Department of Social Sciences, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ibaraki University)

Topic: On the 20^th century television commercials database (「20世紀のテレビCMデータベースについて」) (in Japanese)

Date: Wednesday, June 12, 18:00 - 19:30 JST

Participation: online via Zoom, free of charge (affiliated parties only, no reservation required)

*This is a closed event and YouTube livestream is not available.

As one of the ways to support the activities of international joint research projects, the Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, provides ArcGIS Online accounts that can be used with the GIS platform ArcGIS, a web-based mapping software of Esri, Inc. Members of international joint research projects can use the accounts issued by the ARC under the conditions as stated below. If you wish to use the account, please contact us at ml-tech-support[ at ]ml.ritsumei.ac.jp (replace [ at ] with @). Please state as the subject of the email 'Request for ArcGIS Online account' and include 1. full name, 2. registered project name, and 3. email address in the email.

- Researchers who are registered in an international joint research project (including co-researchers and graduate students).
Note: If you have not yet registered for an international joint research project, please first submit an application for International Joint Research to Utilize the Center's Facilities and Equipment [D]. If the purpose of your project is related to educational purposes, please apply for International Joint Research to Utilize the ARC System for Educational Purposes [E]. →Click here for details.
- One account will be issued per person.
- Each user can use 250 credits. Please contact us if you wish to use more.
- The account must be renewed each fiscal year.
- If the maximum number of registrants is reached, we may not be able to issue accounts or continue the use across fiscal years, even if an application is received.

The 133rd International ARC Seminar will be held as a webinar on Wednesday, May 22, from 18:00 JST.

The program is as follows:

1. Speaker: Akihiko TAKANO (Visiting Research Professor, Kinugasa Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University)

Topic: Creating Platforms for Discovery Learning using Digital Archives (「デジタルアーカイブを用いた探求学習のための教材作成について」)

Date: Wednesday, May 22, 18:00 - 19:30 JST

Participation: online via Zoom, free of charge (affiliated parties only, no reservation required)

*This webinar is open to everyone, and non-ARC members are invited to participate via YouTube.

The Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, is pleased to announce the release of a Database for Browsing Materials and a Material Retrieval System for the Shuichi Kato Collection held by the Ritsumeikan University Library.

The Shuichi Kato Collection Database for Browsing Materials
https://www.dh-jac.net/db1/resource/search_2023i05.php?lang=en　

The Shuichi Kato Collection Material Retrieval System
https://www.dh-jac.net/db1/resource/search_KSB2023i05.php?lang=en　

Shuichi Kato (1919-2008) was one of the leading international intellectuals in post-war Japan. He studied the history of Japanese art and literature based on his extensive knowledge and broad perspective that spanned Western and Eastern cultures.

Established in 2015, the Research Center for Shuichi Kato and the Japanese Contemporary Thoughts aims to research the vast number of books and manuscripts in the Shuichi Kato Collection of the Ritsumeikan University Library, disseminate and utilize the knowledge gained through this research, and foster international intellectuals.

Developed by the ARC, the Shuichi Kato Collection Database for Browsing Materials and the Material Retrieval System serve to further enhance online research activities.

Related links:

Research Center for Shuichi Kato and the Japanese Contemporary Thoughts: https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/organizations/research-center-contemporary-thoughts/

The Shuichi Kato Collection: https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/b07/020/

The Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, is pleased to announce that a one-year Special Display at the British Museum in London is currently showcasing the research outcomes of the international joint research project 'Creative Collaborations: Salons and Networks in Kyoto and Osaka 1780-1880 (上方文化サロン：人的ネットワークから解き明かす文化創造空間 1780-1880),' supported by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

This research project, led by the Principal Investigators (PI) Prof. Ryo Akama (Director of the ARC/College of Letters, Ritsumeikan University) and Dr. Akiko Yano (Curator, Department of Asia, British Museum), aims to investigate the cultural and social impact of art and literary salons and the collective creation of art (gassaku) in early modern Japan, particularly in the Kyoto-Osaka region circa 1780-1880 by analysing over 5,000 objects in collections at the British Museum and in Japan.

During the course of this project, these works have been digitally archived and their textual inscriptions transcribed into an extensive online research database--the 'Kamigata Bunkajin Sogo Database' (「上方文化人総合データベース」)--established and operated by the ARC, providing a new portal for research on early modern Japanese culture with the possibility of incorporating other collections on different themes in the future.

→ARC Virtual Institute: Salons and Networks in Kyoto and Osaka

Addressing the challenges presented by COVID-19, the project has been exemplary in how a Japan-UK collaborative research project, comprised of a team of researchers from the Art Research Center (ARC), Kansai University (KU), the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, the British Museum (BM), and SOAS, University of London, can be conducted efficiently using digital online technologies for remote collaboration.

The project has also fostered early-career researchers in Japanese studies by providing an opportunity for them to gain hands-on experience in the fundamental aspects of digital humanities within an international research environment.

This project was supported by the JSPS International Joint Research Programme (JRP-LEAD with UKRI) [JPJSJRP 20211708].

Project duration: December 1, 2021 - November 30, 2024 (3 years).

Related article: https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/projects/making-art-together-japan

Background:
The ARC-iJAC project Ukiyo-e, illustrated books, albums and painted books in Madrid Collections emerged as an initiative of Asia Research Group (GIA), attached to the Complutense University of Madrid in Spain, which has been collaborating with the Art Research Center (ARC) for about two years and thanks to which significant progress has been made in the analysis and cataloging of ukiyo-e albums and books that are part of the collections of the Complutense University Library and that have remained almost unknown and, in some cases, in a poor state of preservation.
Involved in this project have been the professors Pilar Cabañas, Matilde Arias, Aitana Merino, and Ana Trujillo with the new incorporation of the researcher Alba Finol.

Click here for the Japanese collection of the UCM:
→ARC Ukiyo-e Portal Database
→ARC Early Japanese Books Portal Database

Could you please tell us about your motivation and the purpose of conducting the ARC-iJAC research project on the ukiyo-e, illustrated books, and albums in Madrid collections?

Cabañas: What encouraged us to initiate this project was to give value to the collections of the Complutense Library. Due to a lack of resources, these books and ukiyo-e had remained uncatalogued in the university's collections.

This project has enabled us to study them in-depth and make them known, not only in the Spanish context as part of the heritage of our institution, but also internationally, since the ARC database is a platform of great diffusion for specialists in Japanese art from all over the world. We are delighted with this possibility. Moreover, thanks to this collaboration, being in a space of great specialists, we can compare our knowledge and expand it.

What is distinctive about the Madrid collections?

Cabañas: In Madrid, there are no large collections of Japanese art or a historical tradition of its study. In the absence of major collectors, this material is a unique example within the panorama of Spanish collecting. Through these pieces, we can study the motivations and interests of the Spanish artistic market of the time, determined by its particular historical context, both economic and cultural.

Although they are not numerous, they are interesting examples of costumes, kabuki plays, and other themes that make us wonder about how they were perceived at the time in the Spanish context. Given the importance of their authors, they also represent a re-evaluation of the heritage of Japanese art in Spain.

How has the ARC-iJAC supported you in realizing this project and which research objectives have you been able to achieve?

Cabañas: The collaboration with the ARC-iJAC has been fundamental in the work of cataloging these works, solving our doubts whenever we have had them, especially in the transcription of texts and in the cataloging of themes and artists, as well as in certain specificities related to the art history of Japanese antique books and ukiyo-e.

You have recently launched an online exhibition on shini-e. Can you tell us more about it?

Cabañas: The virtual exhibition of SHINI-E, hosted on the website of the Complutense Library of Madrid, was an initiative on our part to publicize our project. We decided to focus on a specific aspect of the collection that would be attractive to users, and it seemed to us that the shini-e genre was little known to the general public.

The preparation of this exhibition involved presenting the public with specific information, not only about shini-e but also about more general aspects related to shini-e. Some of the merits achieved have been the opportunity to study specific aspects of each print - not only technical data collected in the print;something that already appears in the ARC database -but also information about the characters depicted.The transcription of the texts that appear in the images is perhaps the most valuable information obtained through this process. This allowed us to translate them into Spanish, including linguistic decisions that we understand will be useful for future students and researchers of the collection.

Likewise, the presentation is made in a way intended to be clear, and useful, even for those uninitiated in the Japanese language. Another specific aspect is that each image shown is accompanied by a link that directs the user to the ARC database to access detailed information that appears in neither the interface of the Complutense Library collection nor in the virtual exhibition. In these cards, we have tried to include texts in English to facilitate communication with those users who are not familiar with either the Japanese or Spanish languages, although these are isolated cases and not the entire collection.

How do you feel about the execution of the ARC-iJAC project? Have you come across any particular challenges?

Cabañas: Thanks to the implementation of this project, detailed cataloging of part of the library's holdings has been carried out. This research has led to new discoveries within the collection itself, such as the existence of poems, characters, and kabuki plays not yet studied in the Spanish scene. It has also meant a clear dissemination of information that has generated interest among the general public and students of Japanese art. All this makes clear the importance of the ARC database as a working tool for researchers who want to specialize in Japanese prints.

As for the challenges, although the albums were already digitized, when we checked the original material we could see that some of the albums were in a poor state of conservation, discolored, and out of order. The lack of institutional funds for the project also contributed to the limitations in achieving and meeting deadlines.

How did you first connect with the Art Research Center (ARC) at Ritsumeikan University? How did you hear about the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC)?

Cabañas: It was through the collaboration scholarships offered on their web page. It seemed like just what we were looking for. In addition, the database is also well-known among specialists in Japanese art in Spain, so we were delighted to have been able to collaborate with the ARC-iJAC.

In our experience, collaboration with Japanese institutions has always been great. We have always learned a lot from them, and this was no exception.

Is there anything else you would like to comment on or highlight, for example, regarding the direction of future collaboration?

Cabañas: It is an honor for us to be part of this immense project, considering our small contribution. We are excited and look forward to moving forward in the future.

Activities carried out as a result of the collaboration with the ARC-iJAC during FY 2023:

- Virtual exhibition of SHINI-E, hosted on the website of the Complutense Library of Madrid, was an initiative on our part to publicize our project. Focused on the shini-e genre. (https://patrimoniodigital.ucm.es/s/shinie-en/page/welcome)

- Complu-Asia Seminar: Museums in Asia. With two lectures on: digital archives // our collaboration with the ARC-iJAC (https://f965c820-9ad9-444b-8c5c-fbd24bc1b6fb.filesusr.com/ugd/c52cf2_d87c32a19d334acfa7183dd43c82d393.pdf)

- Revista de museología: Spanish publication with upcoming issue dedicated to Japanese art collections and museums both in Japan and internationally, again paying special attention to the digital humanities (https://www.museologia.net/)

- International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC) & "Digital Humanities Center for Japanese Arts and Cultures"-Project, Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University FY2023 Annual Report Meeting: "Ukiyo-e, illustrated books, albums and painted books in Madrid Collections" conference (Aitana Merino)

The International Joint Workshop 'Practices and Challenges of Integrating GIS, VR, Metaverse in Digital Humanities Research,' co-organized by the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC) and the Research Center for Chinese Cultural Metaverse in Taiwan (CCMTW), National Chengchi University, in cooperation with the Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University, was held on March 25, 2024.

Conducted in a hybrid format--on-site at the Art Research Center (ARC) and online, the workshop was attended by Prof. Shi-Chi Mike Lan (Deputy Director of the CCMTW, National Chengchi University), and Prof. Chi Man Kwong (Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University) at the ARC together with Prof. Keiji Yano (Deputy Director of the ARC/College of Letters, Ritsumeikan University), amongst others.

The workshop comprised three presentations by the CCMTW and six presentations, including three case studies, by the ARC. Following the presentations, an exchange of opinions took place on various topics regarding the use of the metaverse in Digital Humanities (DH) research, including platforms suited for research use, methods for acquiring high-quality 3D data, and the application of digital technologies, such as Geographic Information System (GIS), to the metaverse.

The workshop provided a valuable opportunity to discuss the future collaboration between the ARC and the CCMTW.

Date and Time: March 25 (Mon), 2024, 10:00-16:50 (JST) / 9:00-15:50 (TST)

Please click →here for program.

Program