国際共同利用・共同研究拠点関連

Greetings from the Art Research Center at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.

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 New! ART RESEARCH vol. 26-2 is available International Collaboration to Accelerate Research on Japanese Culture--ARC and UCLA Launch Large-Scale Digital Archive 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. Now Available: RADIANT Vol. 7 "ART" Ritsumeikan University Research Report (English Edition) The latest English edition of Ritsumeikan University's research report, RADIANT, features three articles highlighting faculty in the field of art: "Art and Life Intersect" (Prof. Yumi Kim Takenaka); "Reconceptualizing Japanese Art for a Global Audience" (Prof. Sayoko Ueda and Prof. Ryoko Matsuba); and "History, Identity, and Cultural Revival in the Ryūkyū Islands" (Prof. Travis Seifman). Database News! Digital Archive of Pre-War Theater Programs from the Shinbashi Enbujo is now available online 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. Shochiku Otani Library Theatrical Programs Viewing System: https://www.dh-jac.net/db1/ban/search_shochiku.php Shibai Banzuke (Kabuki Playbills) Portal Database: https://www.dh-jac.net/db1/ban/search_portal.php Online Exhibit! Ako City's 5th Digital Exhibition: Chushingura Ukiyo-e by the Lyrical Artist Hiroshige and the Fantastical Artist Kuniyoshi 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. Ako City Chushingura Digital Exhibition Room: https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/akochushingura/ Ako City Chushingura Ukiyo-e Database: https://www.dh-jac.net/db/nishikie/search_ako.php The ARC and Kawashima Selkon Textiles Launch Joint Research to Build Intellectual Infrastructure for Traditional Textiles    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. 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.) Public Exhibit at the ARC: The World of Hand-Painted Movie Posters and Signboards IV 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. Upcoming Events March 14 (Sat), 2026 15th Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities Venue: Future Plaza Conference Room, Ritsumeikan University Osaka Ibaraki Campus → About this event → Apply as a participant (Deadline: Wed, March 11) 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 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.

The Art Research Center (ARC) at Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto, Japan; Director: Ryo Akama) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have on February 26, 2026 released the first batch of digitized books and prints produced under a comprehensive digital archiving project initiated last year, encompassing Japanese cultural resources held across the University of California (UC) system.

The University of California, widely recognized as one of the world's largest comprehensive university systems, holds more than 30,000 Japanese cultural materials--including ukiyo-e prints, classical manuscripts, and historical documents--across UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, and the other UC campuses. While these holdings constitute invaluable primary sources for research in the humanities and social sciences related to Japanese culture, access has to some extent been limited to on-site consultation, which has presented a significant barrier to their broader scholarly use.

To address these challenges, ARC and UCLA have launched a collaborative project to digitize materials and make them publicly accessible online, thereby establishing an environment in which they can be more widely utilized for research and education.

ARC has partnered with numerous museums and academic institutions in Japan and abroad--including institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum--to digitize approximately one million items of Japanese cultural materials to date. In the present project, ARC plays a central role, drawing on its high-speed digitization techniques, methods optimized to accommodate the distinctive characteristics of diverse materials, and the expertise of its experienced specialist team.

As the first phase of the project, approximately 800 digitized items from the UCLA collection have been made publicly available through the ARC website.

(Public website:  https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/UCLA/)

This project has been selected as one of the initiatives supported by UCLA's Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities,^※1 a program dedicated to advancing academic and cultural efforts that promote research on the preservation and dissemination of Japanese culture. The digitized materials will also be made available through the open-access platform Japan Past & Present (JPP),^※2 operated by the Yanai Initiative, further broadening public access and creating a more accessible environment for a broad and diverse range of users.

Moreover, this project extends beyond merely the digitization and online release of cultural materials. ARC will provide access, through the JPP platform, to its unique online research environment, the "ARC Research Space," enabling users to access ARC's extensive digital archive databases accumulated over many years, along with advanced tools such as AI-powered support for deciphering historical materials. Through these efforts, the project will help establish a new research environment open to the international scholarly community.

Ritsumeikan University also plans to closely integrate this project with the educational and research activities of its new College of Arts and Design and Graduate School of Science in Arts and Design, both scheduled to open in April 2026. Guided by the educational principles of "cultivating aesthetic sensibility" and "fostering individuals who connect creative practice with social implementation," the new college and graduate school will benefit from the ability to utilize the large archive of digitized cultural materials made available through this project as valuable teaching materials that significantly broaden the historical and geographical scope of classroom education.

ARC and UCLA will continue to build an environment in which valuable cultural resources can be freely accessed and utilized by scholars of Japanese studies around the world. By expanding and strengthening the research infrastructure, the two institutions aim to advance scholarship in the humanities and social sciences related to Japan and to open new possibilities for global research collaboration.

[About the Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University]

The Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, is dedicated to conducting historical and social research and analysis of both tangible and intangible human cultural properties--including the visual arts, performing arts, and craftsmanship--while also documenting, organizing, preserving, and disseminating the knowledge generated through its research activities, with the aim of transmitting the cultural heritage of humankind to future generations.

As a research institute within a comprehensive university, ARC promotes interdisciplinary integration across the humanities and sciences, bringing together the collective expertise of scholars from diverse fields. With Kyoto as its principal base, the Center advances collaborative and project-based research initiatives--an approach that remains distinctive within the humanities.

[Notes]

*1: The Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities
The Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities was established in 2014 through a philanthropic gift from Tadashi Yanai (Chairman, President and CEO of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.) to advance research dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of Japanese culture. It is a collaboration between UCLA and Waseda University in Tokyo. Professor Michael Emmerich (Dept. of Asian Languages & Cultures, UCLA)--who earned his Master's degree at Ritsumeikan University in 2001--serves as Director, facilitating support for large-scale international and interdisciplinary research and educational projects that examine Japanese history and contemporary society within an integrated framework.
Website: https://yanai-initiative.ucla.edu/

*2: Japan Past & Present (JPP)
Japan Past & Present is an open-access platform operated by the Yanai Initiative to advance research and education in Japanese humanities worldwide. It brings together information on Japanese humanities across disciplines and national contexts, connects scholars and institutions, and promotes the continued development of research and education. By expanding global access to scholarly resources and digital tools, the platform supports a more diverse, inclusive, and globally connected Japanese humanities community.
Website:  https://japanpastandpresent.org/en/about/mission/

The Call for Applications for 2026/27 International Joint Research Projects with Research Funds is open until 15 December (Mon), 2025, 12:00 noon (JST).

Beginning in FY 2026, we are launching the new category of International Early Career Researcher Projects in place of the International Joint Research Projects for which we have invited applications in the past (i.e., International Fixed Theme, International Open Theme, and Open Theme Projects). Meanwhile, we continue to welcome project proposals for International Joint Research to Utilize the ARC Research Space and for International Joint Research to Disseminate Research Through the Database System on a rolling basis year-round.

Call for Application: Categories of International Joint Research Projects

A) International Early Career Researcher Project (with Research Funds)
B) International Joint Research to Utilize the ARC Research Space (without Research Funds)
C) International Joint Research to Disseminate Research Through the Database System (without Research Funds)

N.B. The former 'International Joint Research to Utilize the ARC System for Educational Purposes' is integrated into B) International Joint Research to Utilize the ARC Research Space (without Research Funds).

How to Submit a Proposal

Please submit the application form for FY 2026 International Joint Research Project via the online platform below. After we have confirmed your submission, we will send you a confirmation of receipt by e-mail. If you do not receive the e-mail, please contact the Office of the Art Research Center.

Application Deadline for A) International Early Career Researcher Project (with Research Funds)

Monday, 15 December 2025, Noon (JST)　　Closed

Please see the Guidelines and apply though the online form, which are accessible here:

Guidelines.pdf
Online Application Form
　*If you are applying to A) International Early Career Researcher Project (with Research Funds), please download this Word file and upload it in the form of a PDF file on the Online Application Form: 
　Description of the Project and Research Expenses.docx
　*If you are applying to B) International Joint Research to Utilize the ARC Research Space (without Research Funds), and if there is a co-researcher(s), please download this Excel file and upload it in the form of a PDF file on the Online Application Form: 
　List of Co-Researchers.xlsx

Selection Process and Notification

Applications for A) International Early Career Researcher Projects will be evaluated by the International Joint Research Reviewing Committee of the Art Research Center. We will send out the evaluation results in mid-March 2026 by e-mail.

Applications for other Research Project categories will be evaluated by the International Steering Committee of the Art Research Center on a rolling basis. We will send out the evaluation results within 2-3 weeks. 

Contact

Takuya Shimada (he, his, him)
International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC)
Art Research Center, Kinugasa Research Office, Ritsumeikan University
E-mail：r-darc (at) st.ritsumei.ac.jp (change "at" to @)

Organized by the Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), University of California, Berkeley, and the Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, a joint colloquium was held at the University of California, Berkeley, on September 17, 2025.

Date & Time: Wednesday, September 17, 2025, from 3:00 PM
Venue: East Asian Library, University of California, Berkeley

Organizer: Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University; Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), University of California, Berkeley
Supported by: International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University

(This was a closed event.)

Program

The Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, is pleased to share that the Shinsō Culture Digital Archive--adopted as an international joint research project by the ARC-iJAC in FY 2024 and FY 2025--has been featured on the blog of the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC).  

The Shinsō Culture Digital Archive investigates Japan's modern clothing culture through the concept of shinsō--the integration of body and clothing. Developed as part of the long-term Minpaku Costume Database Project (MCD), the archive is led by Dr. Haruko Takahashi (Visiting Researcher, National Museum of Ethnology) and realized through a cross-disciplinary collaboration that includes ARC faculty member Dr. Keiko Suzuki (Graduate School of Letters, Ritsumeikan University).  

Among its four databases, the NCC blog highlights two in particular: the Chronology of Japanese Clothing Culture in the Modern Age Database, which reconstructs everyday dress and perceptions of the body from the Meiji Restoration to the end of World War II using contemporaneous newspapers, magazines, and catalogs; and the Image Database of Japanese Clothing Culture in the Modern Age, which leverages detailed illustrations from serialized novels and other materials to provide rare visual insights into styles and appearances of the time.  

The ARC has supported the project by launching a dedicated portal site within the ARC Virtual Institute to enhance accessibility to these interdisciplinary resources both in Japan and internationally, aiming to broaden global engagement with Japan's clothing history and material culture. 

Learn more about the project in the NCC's blog post "Japanese Studies Spotlight: Decoding Clothing Culture with the Shinsō Digital Archive," co-authored by Dr. Haruko Takahashi and Dr. Keiko Suzuki.

Explore portal site of the Shinso Culture Digital Archive in the ARC Virtual Institute: https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/shinsou/

We are pleased to announce the 3rd Joint Colloquium co-hosted by the Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), University of California, Berkeley, and the Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University.

Date & Time: Wednesday, September 17, 2025, from 3:00 PM
Venue: East Asian Library, University of California, Berkeley

Organizer: Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University; Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), University of California, Berkeley
Supported by: International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University

(This is a closed event.)

Program

In addition to its world-renowned, extensive collection of ukiyo-e prints, the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London also holds a significant, yet long-overlooked collection of Japanese illustrated books (ehon).

Originally part of the National Art Library before being moved to the V&A's Asia Department, this collection comprises more than 1,700 volumes across approximately 500 different titles, spanning the 17th to 20th centuries.

Until recently, the collection had only been partially catalogued, with no comprehensive resource available. An ongoing research and digitization collaboration between the V&A's Asia Department, the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC), and the Art Research Center (ARC) is addressing this gap.

The project involves digitizing the books, compiling catalogue entries, and producing bilingual records (Japanese and English) for the V&A's Explore the Collections database.

Learn more about the collection, the project's background, and its achievements in the V&A blog post "Revealing the V&A's Japanese Illustrated Book Collection" by Caroline Gill.
URL: https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/museum-life/revealing-the-vas-japanese-illustrated-book-collection

London, August 2025: Prof. Ryo Akama and his digital-archiving team with
Masami Yamada (Curator, Asia Department, Victoria & Albert Museum)

Day 1: Friday, August 1, 2024 10:30-17:30（tentative）
Day 2: Saturday, August 2, 2024 10:00-18:30（tentative）

Hybrid event (ARC, ZOOM, YouTube)

Please attend both days as long as time permits. Also, we will hold a WORKSHOP on August 2nd starting at 13:30. We hope you will participate. *Workshop (Kuzushiji Course, Video Archive Course)

ARC members will be informed of the ZOOM URL via e-mail.

Non-ARC members can participate von YouTube via the following link.（※一部配信出来ないプログラムもございます）

For inquiries, please contact the Office of the Art Research Center: arc-jimu@arc.ritsumei.ac.jp

Organizer: International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University and Program for Supporting Research Center Formation, Ritsumeikan University

ARC Days2025_プログラムEN.pdf

The 33rd Special Exhibition "川を描く、川をつくる―古地図で昔の堤をさぐる―" is held at the Lake Biwa Museum, supported by the FY 2024 ARC-iJAC project "Development of a database on traditional river management information in the Echi River, Shiga Prefecture, Japan."

Date: July 19 (Sat) - November 24 (Mon), 2025
Hours: 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM (last admission at 4:00 PM)
Venue: Special Exhibition Room, Lake Biwa Museum, Shiga Prefecture

Details: https://www.biwahaku.jp/event/2025/07/33.html

The Art Research Center (ARC) at Ritsumeikan University is pleased to announce that more than 6,400 nōsatsu and senshafuda votive images in the University of Oregon Library's Gertrude Bass Warner Collection of Japanese Votive Slips (nōsatsu) have been made available online.

The Nōsatsu & Senshafuda University of Oregon Database can be accessed here:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db/nishikie/search_oregon.php

The collection is also integrated into the ARC Nōsatsu Portal Database, here:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db/nishikie/search_Nosatsu.php.

The University of Oregon Libraries' collection is the largest collection of Japanese shrine and temple votive slips in North America. They range in date from the 1850s to the 1930s and feature images representing a wide range of themes, from seasonal celebrations and observances, historical and fictional figures, and scenes of everyday life to objects, buildings, and landscapes. Some depict pilgrims or members of nōsatsu collecting & exchange clubs (nōsatsu-kai).

Senshafuda and nōsatsu are believed to have originated in the 18^th century, as printed slips of text or images purchased by pilgrims and plastered onto walls or pillars at shrines and temples as a devotional act. They later became collectors' items, and by the end of the 19^th century were actively traded in nōsatsu-kai not dissimilar to surimono poetry prints circles which were also vibrantly active at the time. (For more on the latter, see the ARC Virtual Institute "Salons and Networks in Kyoto and Osaka": https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/Salon/)

Most of the votive slips in the University of Oregon's collection today were originally acquired in the 1910s to 1920s by Frederick Starr (1858-1933), a professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago who reportedly became so active and prominent in nōsatsu-kai collecting & exchange clubs that he came to be known as "O-fuda Hakushi" (Dr. Votive Slips).

This digitization and database construction effort was initiated by Kevin McDowell, Japanese Studies Librarian at the University of Oregon, in 2015 and continued as an International Joint Research Project under the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC) in 2020. Though the project was placed temporarily on hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors, we are glad to now make this significant resource available to the public. We hope this database will support future research in art history, material culture, religious studies, and related fields.

For image use beyond personal research, please consult the Reproductions and Permissions policies and contact information for Special Collections at University of Oregon Libraries: https://library.uoregon.edu/find-materials/special-collections-and-university-archives/reproductions-and-permissions.

(Some information above is drawn from: https://oregondigital.org/collections/gb-warner-nosatsu, as well as from Kevin McDowell, "Echoes of Edo in the University of Oregon's Japanese Votive Slips Collection," presentation at European Association of Japanese Resource Specialists annual conference, 2024.)