-
The ARC Autumn Newsletter is available (October 2025)October 30, 2025(Thu)
With the establishment of the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC) in 2019, the Art Research Center strives to push the internationalization of research activities that transcend disciplines and geographic boundaries.NEWS
Announcement! Call for Applications--FY 2026/27 International Joint Research Projects, ARC-iJAC
Deadline: Mon, 15 Dec. 2025, 12:00 JST
Note: Starting from FY 2026, we are introducing a new category--International Early Career Researcher Projects (with Research Fund).
August 2025: Prof. Ryo Akama and his team continued the digital archiving of the Japanese Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London.
We are truly grateful to Masami Yamada and Dr. Mary Redfern, Curators in the Asia Department at the V&A, for their generous support throughout the project.
September 2025: The 3rd Joint Colloquium of the Art Research Center (ARC) and the Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), University of California, Berkeley, was held at the C.V. Starr East Asian Library on September 17, fostering rich academic exchange.
A heartfelt thank you to Prof. Junko Habu and Prof. Jonathan E. Zwicker of the CJS.
Nathalie Vandeperre discusses the history and distinctive features of Japanese collection at the Royal Museums of Art and History (MRAH), which spans nearly two centuries and includes exceptionally well-preserved ukiyo-e prints. 
She also reflects on the Museum's ongoing collaboration with the ARC since 2007, which has greatly enhanced public access to the collection through large-scale digitization and online publication. >> Read interview.
>> Related article: 572 Illustrated Books from the Collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History of Belgium (MRAH) have been released (Jan. 20, 2025)MRAH Collection of Illustrated Books:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db1/books/search_belgium.php
MRAH Collection of Ukiyo-e Prints:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db/nishikie/search_belgium.phpDatabase News! Over 2,600 Ukiyo-e Prints from the Collection of the Tobacco & Salt Museum have been released
We are pleased to announce that more than 2,600 ukiyo-e prints from the collection of the Tobacco & Salt Museum (たばこと塩の博物館) in Tokyo are now publicly available in the ARC Database.
This remarkable collection, mainly consisting of materials collected by the Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, Japan, spans from the early Edo to the Meij period and offers rich insights into cultural, industrial, and commercial history. >> Read more.Tobacco & Salt Museum Database:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db/nishikie/search_tsm.php
Japanese Prints (Ukiyo-e) and Paintings Portal Database:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db/nishikie/search_portal.php
In addition to its world-renowned ukiyo-e collection, the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London also houses a long-overlooked collection of Japanese illustrated books (ehon), comprising over 1,700 volumes from the 17th to 20th centuries.
Previously only partially catalogued, this collection has now been the focus of a collaborative research and digitization project between the V&A's Asia Department, the Sainsbury Institute (SISJAC), and the ARC. Learn more in the V&A blog post "Revealing the V&A's Japanese Illustrated Book Collection" by Caroline Gill.
The Shinsō Culture Digital Archive, an ARC-iJAC joint research project, has been featured on the blog of the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC).
The Shinsō Culture Digital Archive explores Japan's modern clothing culture through the concept of shinsō--the integration of body and clothing. Developed as part of the Minpaku Costume Database Project (MCD), the archive is led by Dr. Haruko Takahashi (National Museum of Ethnology) in collaboration with Dr. Keiko Suzuki (Ritsumeikan University/ARC), alongside an interdisciplinary research team.
The NCC blog post highlights two key databases--Chronology of Japanese Clothing Culture in the Modern Age Database and Image Database of Japanese Clothing Culture in the Modern Age.
A dedicated portal site for the Shinsō Culture Digital Archive is available through the ARC Virtual Institute.
NCC Blog post:
bit.ly/ncc_shinsou_archive
ARC Virtual Institute portal site: www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/shinsou/Video News! RARA-Hosted Symposium Available on YouTube
The symposium "アート×テクノロジーが"可視化"する未来研究デザイン ── 異分野融合で挑むデジタル・パブリックヒューマニティーズ (Visualizing Art and Technology through Future Research Design: A Transdisciplinary Challenge in Digital Public Humanities)" was organized by the Ritsumeikan Advanced Research Academy (RARA) in collaboration with the ARC (→Program).
Part 1/2
Part 2/2 
Upcoming Events
To mark the launch of the College of Arts and Design/Graduate School of Science in Arts and Design at Ritsumeikan University's Kinugasa Campus in April 2026, the ARC began in October hosting a special seminar series featuring its faculty members who will be introducing their respective research themes.
How to join the seminar series:
→ Join via ZOOM. | → Join via YouTube.
November 19 (Wed), 2025, 18:30-20:00 JST
155. International ARC Seminar
Speaker: Kazushi MUKAIYAMA
(Professor, College of Arts and Design, Ritsumeikan University)
Topic: "Cultural heritage video mapping and Manga AI"
November 26 (Wed), 2025, 18:30-20:00 JST
156. International ARC Seminar
Speaker: Takashi KIRIMURA
(Associate Professor, Faculty of Cultural Studies, Kyoto Sangyo University/Professor, College of Arts and Design, Ritsumeikan University [from AY 2026])
Topic: "Digital Archive of Past Urban Landscape Using Photogrammetry"
December 10 (Wed), 2025, 18:30-20:00 JST
157. International ARC Seminar
Speaker: Sayoko UEDA
(Professor, Institute for General Education, Ritsumeikan University/Professor, College of Arts and Design, Ritsumeikan University [from AY 2026])
Topic: "From Exhibition to Exhibition: A Case Study of Ota Kijiro"
December 17 (Wed), 2025, 18:30-20:00
158. International ARC Seminar
Speaker: Ryoko MATSUBA
(Professor, College of Letters, Ritsumeikan University/Professor, College of Arts and Design, Ritsumeikan University [from AY 2026])
Topic: "Designing Connectives--Time, People, Skills, and Materials as Seen in Japanese Traditional Woodblock Printing"
view this email in your browser Copyright © 2025 Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University. All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
56-1 Toji-in Kitamachi, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8577 JAPAN
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
