ARC-iJAC Activities

On November 6, 2023, Prof. Graeme Earl (Head of the College of Humanities, SOAS University of London) visited the Art Research Center (ARC).

Besides a tour of the ARC building and facilities, discussions and an exchange of opinions on collaboration in digital humanities research and education took place with Prof. Ryo Akama (College of Letters/Director of the ARC) and Prof. Keiji Yano (College of Letters/Deputy Director of the ARC).

Ako City Chushingura Digital Exhibition Room:
https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/akochushingura/

The Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, is pleased to announce that the 3rd digital exhibition in the Ako City Chushingura Digital Exhibition Room, Chushingura Ukiyo-e from Kamigata, is available.

Based on the special exhibition Chushingura Ukiyo-e from Kamigata held at the Ako City Museum of History in 2022, this digital exhibition includes works in the Ako City Chushingura Ukiyo-e Database, along with works in the collection of the ARC.

Single-page ukiyo-e prints began to be published in the Kamigata region of Osaka and Kyoto in the Kansei period (1789-1800). Over a period of 70 years from then until the end of the Edo period, plays related to Chushingura were staged more than 200 times. In conjunction with these productions, large numbers of actor prints were created.

Kamigata-e has distinctive characteristics that differ from Edo-e, and the unique world of these artworks is highly appreciated in Europe and the United States. Our exhibition showcases some aspects of the development of Chushingura culture in the Kamigata region, mainly depicted in yakusha-e, shibai-e, and omocha-e.

We also recommend you view this exhibition together with the first digital exhibition, Aspects of Images of the Raid, held in 2019, and the second exhibition, Head of the Loyal Warriors: Oboshi Yuranosuke, held in the following year.

On November 2, 2023, Russell Kelty (Curator, Art Gallery of South Australia) visited the Art Research Center (ARC).

Besides a tour of the ARC building and facilities, discussions and an exchange of opinions on a collaboration in research activities in digital archiving took place with Prof. Ryo Akama (College of Letters/Director of the ARC).

Related article → The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Collection of Ukiyo-e Prints and Japanese Old Books has been released

Related databases → Royal Ontario Museum Ukiyo-e Database / Royal Ontario Museum Japanese Old Books Database

Background:
Dr. Akiko Takesue joined the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in 2021 as the Bishop White Committee Associate Curator of Japanese Art & Culture, an endowed position, and is in charge of researching and developing the ROM's collection of Japanese art and culture that comprises approximately 10,000 objects.
Dr. Takesue holds a doctorate in Art History from York University and Master's degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of New South Wales. In addition to the ROM, she has broad curatorial experience at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Dr Takesue, thank you very much for your time today. What sparked your interest in Japanese art history?

Takesue: It is a long story since I left Japan almost 25 years ago. When I was younger and living in Japan, I was more interested in Western than Japanese art. Hence, I went to Sydney, Australia, to study art. At that time, I had the idea to work in an art gallery dealing with Western contemporary art.

Then, while I was doing an internship at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney under a Japanese curator, I discovered the beauty and excitement of studying and dealing with Japanese art. Interestingly, I realized the Japanese art collection there was different from what I thought of Japanese art, which was sort of a trigger for me to research the global circulation of Japanese art since the Meiji period.

As the Japanese collections overseas consist of many export arts, i.e., made in Japan but only for the Western market, I discovered many things I never knew about when I was in Japan. So, I became fascinated with the fact that Japanese art in Sydney was indeed different from my understanding of Japanese art. This interest continues even now.

I also investigated in my PhD dissertation how objects stay the same while their meanings shift from time to time, place to place.

The 124th International ARC Seminar will be held as a webinar on Wednesday, October 18, from 18:00 JST.

The program is as follows:

Speaker: Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko of Mikasa

Topic: Prince Mikasa and his times

Date: Wednesday, October 18, 18:00 - 19:30 JST

Participation: Those concerned will be informed separately by e-mail.

On October 17, 2023, the Tokyo Shimbun featured the article "デジタル化で今よみがえる往年の歌舞伎ブロマイド" on the Kabuki bromides in the collection of the Shochiku Otani Library which have been released in the ARC Shochiku Otani Library Theater Photos Search and Browsing System.

Digital Archive of Shochiku Otani Library's Collection of Valuable Materials "Theater Photos Search and Browsing System"
■ URL：https://www.dh-jac.net/db/butai-photo/search_sol.php

Related article＞＞https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/e/news/pc/019324.html

As part of the FY 2023 ARC-iJAC project 演劇上演記録データベースを活用した、演劇資料画像検索閲覧システムの構築に関る研究 (A Study on the Construction of a Search and Browsing System for Theater Photo Materials using a Database of Theater Performance Records), the Shochiku Otani Library has released a digital archive of Kabuki bromides (photographic portraits of Kabuki actors) from the Meiji era to the prewar period. Online public access to this archive is provided by the Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University.

The Shochiku Otani Library undertook a crowdfunding project in 2019 to raise funds for the digital photography and preservation of 12,000 Kabuki bromides.

Since launching the project, the construction of the digital archive, data entry, and other preparations for web release have progressed, and we are pleased to announce that a portion of the archive has now been made available to the public through the "Theater Photos Search and Browsing System" developed by the ARC-iJAC.

With this online release, users are able to search and view Kabuki stage photographs from the Meiji era to the prewar period, as well as photographs of famous actors of the past in costume. We hope that along with a greater number of people being able to make use of the Shochiku Otani Library Collection, greater contributions to the study of Japanese theater will be possible. We humbly ask your cooperation in sharing the announcement of this release.

Digital Archive of Shochiku Otani Library's Collection of Valuable Materials "Theater Photos Search and Browsing System"

■ URL: https://www.dh-jac.net/db/butai-photo/search_sol.php

Since 2013, the Shochiku Otani Library has been engaged in crowdfunding projects to digitize and preserve valuable materials and has achieved continued results every year.

The Shochiku Otani Library and the ARC have been working together on the construction of the digital archive and to make it available to the public through an online browsing system by preparing the input of bibliographic data (titles, dates of performances, names of theaters, names of roles and actors), and other information. Approximately 5,500 of 12,000 items in the digital archive have now been released as of October 17, 2023.

The Theater Photos Search and Browsing System allows users to search for photographs based on the program name or actor name. Clicking on a thumbnail image in the search results will open an information screen that displays detailed information such as program name, role, and actor name, as well as an enlarged image.

We hope that the release of the digital archive of Kabuki bromides--valuable materials that record Kabuki performances and famous actors of the time--will enable users to experience the appeal of Kabuki and contribute to the development of research by scholars and those associated with the theatre.

We will continue to investigate and verify the data to improve the digital archive beyond its release.

On October 15, 2023, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) featured the second part of a coverage on the research projects to digitize overseas museum collections, led by Prof. Ryo Akama, Director of the Art Research Center (ARC).

The 123rd International ARC Seminar will be held as a webinar on Wednesday, October 11, from 18:00 JST.

The program is as follows:

Speaker: Toshiyasu KAMOGI (Curator & Manager of Curatorial Div., Tokyo Fuji Art Museum)

Topic: The Achievements and Future Outlook of a Homemade Database by a Liberal Arts Computer Enthusiast Curator--From the Frontline of Digital Archive Operation for Streamlining and Enhancing Museum Curatorial Services--

Date: Wednesday, October 11, 18:00 - 19:30 JST

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

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