The Art Research Center (ARC) and the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have launched a large-scale digitization project encompassing Japanese cultural resources held across the University of California system, including UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco. The project facilitates access to more than 30,000 early modern Japanese books, manuscripts, and ukiyo-e prints held across UC campuses. By digitizing these materials and making them publicly available online, the project seeks to establish a sustainable global digital infrastructure for research in Japanese studies. As its first phase, approximately 800 items from UCLA's collection were released on February 26, 2026, via the ARC website: https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/UCLA/Broader access will also be available through the Yanai Initiative's open-access platform, Japan Past & Present (JPP). Through this platform, researchers will have access not only to the digitized materials, but also to ARC's advanced digital research environment, including AI-powered tools for the analysis of historical materials. >>Read more. |
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As part of the FY2025 ARC-iJAC project, "Study on Theater-related Pictures Retrieval System using Record of Theater Play Database," pre-war performance programs from the Shinbashi Enbujo Theater--celebrating the 100th anniversary of its opening this year--have now been made publicly available.
The digital archive, "Shochiku Otani Library's Shibai Banzuke Browsing System," was developed and launched by the ARC, based on an agreement with the Shochiku Otani Library. This initiative enhances access to rare and historically significant theater materials, while providing an important research infrastructure for the study of modern Japanese performing arts. >> Read more.
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 Ako City and the ARC have launched their fifth digital exhibition of Chushingura Ukiyo-e, featuring works by the lyrical Hiroshige and the fantastical Kuniyoshi.
Building on four previous digital exhibitions, this installment highlights Chushingura-themed prints by the two leading Utagawa school artists of the late Edo period. >> Read more. |
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 On October 10, 2025, the ARC and Kawashima Selkon Textiles Co., Ltd.--a Kyoto-based textile manufacturer with a 182-year-old history--concluded a joint research agreement on the digital archiving and utilization of historical textile patterns and designs. Through this project, the ARC will digitize approximately 5,000 obi designs from the Meiji to mid-Showa periods, along with textiles housed at the Kawashima Textile Museum, thereby establishing a foundation for long-term preservation and scholarly research. The collaboration will also link directly with the new College of Arts and Design and Graduate School of Science in Arts and Design, providing students hands-on learning opportunities grounded in Kyoto's rich craft traditions. Together, the ARC and Kawashima Selkon Textiles aim to build an industry-academia partnership that balances the preservation of traditional culture with its creative application, further strengthening contributions to education, research, and the local community. >>Read more. |
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Video Release! International ARC Seminar Series:
In advance of the establishment of the College of Arts and Design and Graduate School of Science in Arts and Design on Kinugasa Campus in April 2026, the ARC hosted a series of seminars featuring newly appointed faculty members, who presented their research themes and projects.
Archived videos of the seminars are now available online:
https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/e/news/pc/026199.html
(Click on each seminar title to access the corresponding video.) |
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From December 1 - 6, 2025, the ARC hosted the fourth installment of its exhibition on hand-drawn movie posters from the early Showa period, when Japanese cinema was transitioning from silent films to "talkies" and weekly film releases generated a remarkable variety of poster art.
The exhibit featured roughly 80 posters made at the Shinko Kinema studios in 1936-1937, as well as maps and photographs of Kyoto cinemas from the 1950s-1970s, offering a nostalgic glimpse into the Kyoto's film culture of that time.
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Previous issues:
Autumn 2025, Summer 2025, Spring 2025, Winter 2024, Autumn 2024, Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Winter 2023, Autumn 2023, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, Winter 2022, Autumn 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, Winter 2021, Autumn 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Winter 2020, Autumn 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020 |
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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.
The Art Research Center (ARC) and the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have launched a large-scale digitization project encompassing Japanese cultural resources held across the University of California system, including UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.
From December 1 - 6, 2025, the ARC hosted the fourth installment of its exhibition on hand-drawn movie posters from the early Showa period, when Japanese cinema was transitioning from silent films to "talkies" and weekly film releases generated a remarkable variety of poster art.
