国際共同利用・共同研究拠点関連

The 14th Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2025. We are now calling for presenters to join this event.

■ Date: March 22 (Sat), 2025

■ Participation method:
Venue: Future Plaza Conferece Room, Ritsumeikan University Osaka Ibaraki Campus
(https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/futureplaza/conferencehall/)

*The time will be adjusted depending on the number of presenters.

*Depending on the situation of the spread of COVID-19, the event may be held in a hybrid format or entirely online via ZOOM.

■ Registration:

Please register via →Google Forms.

Registration deadline: February 3 (Mon), 2025

■ Presentation time: 20 minutes including Q&A (to be adjusted according to the number of presenters).
(Presentation time and instructions for submitting presentation materials will be sent to the presenters after the deadline.)
Participation is free of charge. A reception is scheduled to be held after the presentations.

■ Research fields:
1. Research in the arts and culture and other fields using information technology
2. Research in information technology that can be applied to arts, culture, and other fields

■ Samples of research presentation content:
1. Structural analysis, modeling, visualization, and knowledge discovery of information and knowledge in the arts and other fields
2. Representation, production, organization, database construction, search and provision of information and knowledge in the arts and other fields
3. E-publishing, digital libraries, digital museums and art galleries
4. Terminology in the arts and other fields, thesaurus
5. Information and knowledge distribution and intellectual property rights in the arts and other fields
6. Open data, data publishing, linked data
7. The internet, semantic web, web x.0, etc.
8. Other research and developments related to information and knowledge for culture at large

Organizer: The Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities

Facilitators: Ryo Akama (Ritsumeikan University), Mamiko Sakata (Doshisha University), Naoki Takubo (Kindai University), Takehiko Murakawa (Wakayama University), Ryosuke Yamanishi (Kansai University)

Co-organizers: The Kansai Division of the Art Documentation Society and the Kansai Division of the Japan Society of Information and Knowledge

In cooperation with: International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC), Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University.

Inquiries: kacimeeting+2025■gmail.com (please change "■" to "@")

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About the Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities

 Along with the rapid development of the digital and information environment in recent years, we are seeing more and more cross-disciplinary research in academic fields with an awareness of "information" and "digital". This trend is gaining momentum in higher education and research activities as well, and educational programs and course activities related to this trend are being enhanced.

　The need for opportunities for academic exchange among undergraduate and graduate students and young researchers studying in such programs under new research themes in line with the times is ever increasing.

　For this reason, the Forum for Knowledge, Arts, and Culture in Digital Humanities was established in 2011 as a place for presentation and exchange, with a focus on graduate students and young researchers interested in information and knowledge research in arts, culture, and other related fields, and 13 research meetings have been held to date.

　This meeting is positioned as a place where participants can mutually discover new research themes and methods through human exchange in different fields, and we also welcome exploratory and adventurous presentations that are slightly different from conventional conference presentations.

■ Related links:

→Japan Art Documentation Society

Nearly 1,850 picture postcards, bromides, etc. from the Kaigetsu Shoya collection have been digitized and made publicly available online. The images, chiefly depicting Kabuki actors, are from the late Meiji through Showa periods.

Kaigetsu Shoya picture postcards database:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db/butai-photo/search_kgt.php

The images can also be viewed via the Special Event Photographs portal site:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db/butai-photo/search_portal.php

This collection focuses primarily on photographs of individual actors. One can search by the actor's name and ordinal numbers, play titles, date of the photograph, and other search terms.

This is an important collection, containing not only typical Kabuki picture postcards, but also picture postcards with illustrations of actors' faces, actors from smaller (koshibai) theatres, the fukuro wrappers that picture postcards or bromides were originally sold in (some featuring the name of the shop), and other materials.

A specially made album, "Hyakumenso ehagaki cho," collecting one hundred images from the late Meiji period to the early Taisho period, is also included in this collection. Made by the Ginza Kamigata-ya, it consists of picture postcards of enlarged images of actors' faces, and includes actresses from the Imperial Theatre (Teikoku gekijo), Shinpa actors, and others alongside those from Kabuki.

Accurate metadata will continue to be added for this collection going forward. Please let us know if you notice any errors or missing information. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

The Ritsumeikan University Saturday Seminar Series will be planned by the Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumeikan University, in the month of November 2024.

3416th Session (Planning: Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University)

Date: November 16 (Sat), 2024, 10:00-11:30 JST
Venue: Suekawa Memorial Hall, Kinugasa Campus, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto (online streaming available via ZOOM)

Topic: 仮想空間における文化交流とデジタルアーカイブの活用例 (held in Japanese)

Speaker: Yuzu MINASE (Representative Director, Plepla General Incorporated Association)

Participation is free of charge. Advance registration is required.
　＞＞Register here.

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　＞＞Website of the Ritsumeikan University Saturday Seminar Series

On October 28, 2024, the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA), whose members are affiliated with various art libraries and university libraries in the U.S. and Canada, visited the Art Research Center (ARC) as part of its first study tour to Japan.

Besides a tour of the ARC building and facilities, discussions and an exchange of opinions on collaboration in digital humanities took place with Prof. Ryo Akama (College of Letters/Director of the ARC) and Dr. Travis Seifman (Associate Professor, Kinugasa Research Organization/ARC Research Manager).

The 140th International ARC Seminar will be held as a webinar on Wednesday, November 13, from 18:00 JST.

The program is as follows:

Speaker: Satoru NAKAMURA (Assistant Professor, Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo)

Topic: Efforts to Support Historical Compilation and Research at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo (「東京大学史料編纂所における史料編纂・歴史研究支援に関する取り組み」）

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Date: Wednesday, November 13, 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.

赤穂市「忠臣蔵」浮世絵デジタル展示室:
https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/akochushingura/

The fourth online exhibition of Chushingura Ukiyo-e co-organized by the Art Research Center and Ako City, entitled "Unique Chushingura, This and That," is now open online.

Prior to this, Ako City organized three digital exhibitions using the Art Research Center's electronic exhibition systems. This fourth exhibit is not limited to actor prints (yakusha-e), images of stage plays, narrative images, or warrior prints (musha-e). We introduce various perspectives through 68 unique works, produced by ukiyo-e artists who were able to use their rich creativity to create new, imaginative, works because this was a story that almost everyone was familiar with.

These include works which reflect the lavish staging of actual stage plays; works which attempt to represent the entire story of Chushingura in a single image; and works which reimagine the story in a Western-style mode; as well as mitate-e which require considerable knowledge on the part of the viewer to interpret; humorous images that inspire laughter; and toy images that not only children but adults too will enjoy. It is no exaggeration to say that this "world" of diverse works is the material embodiment of the breadth of Chushingura culture.

Please enjoy the diversity and variety of these Chushingura prints into which ukiyo-e artists poured their creativity and talent, and which entertained the common people.

Ako City Chushingura Ukiyo-e Digital Gallery:
https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/j/report/v_museum/

Ako City Chushingura Ukiyo-e Database:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db/nishikie/search_ako.php

Entrance through Ako City's website:
https://www.city.ako.lg.jp/edu/shougai/akoukiyoedatebase.html

第４回展覧会「ユニークな忠臣蔵浮世絵あれこれ」がオープンになりました。

　これまで、赤穂市では、アート・リサーチセンターの電子展示システムを活用して、3回のデジタル展覧会を実施してきました。第四回目となる今回は、役者絵・芝居絵・物語絵・武者絵にとどまらない、だれもが知っている物語であればこそ浮世絵師たちが豊かな発想力をもって工夫を凝らしたユニークな68作品を、さまざまな切り口で紹介し、解説します

　実際の芝居の豪華な演出を反映させたものや、『忠臣蔵』全段を１つの画面に巧みに描いたもの、洋風表現を取り入れたもの、読み解くのに相当の知識量が求められる見立絵、見れば思わず吹き出してしまいそうな戯画や擬人絵、子どもに限らず大人も十分楽しめるおもちゃ絵など、その多彩な作品世界はまさに「忠臣蔵文化」の広がりを具現化しているといっても過言ではありません。

　浮世絵師が趣向を凝らし、それを庶民が喜んで享受した多種多様な忠臣蔵浮世絵をどうぞご堪能ください。

赤穂市「忠臣蔵」浮世絵デジタル展示室
https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/j/report/v_museum/
赤穂市「忠臣蔵」浮世絵データベース
https://www.dh-jac.net/db/nishikie/search_ako.php
赤穂市HPからの入り口
https://www.city.ako.lg.jp/edu/shougai/akoukiyoedatebase.html

Background:
Kazuko Kameda-Madar completed her PhD in Japanese Art History at the University of British Columbia in 2011. She has taught at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, University of Hawaiʻi - West Oʻahu, and Hawaiʻi Pacific University for many years. Currently, she holds the position of Visiting Professor of Japanese Art History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel (HUJI). She is also a Visiting Researcher at the Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University. Her research interest is in Edo-period Japanese art and visual culture based on Chinese pictorial themes and episodes, especially visual representations of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering that took place in 4th century China.
Her publications include Imagery of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering (Leiden: Brill, 2022); "An Iconology of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering: Image, Text, and Communities in Tokugawa-Era Japan" in The Tokugawa World (London: Routledge, 2021); and "Copying and Theory in Edo Period Japan" in Theorizing Imitation in a Global Context (London: Association of Art Historians, 2014). She is a co-editor of an anthology Power of Utsushi: Matrix of Creation and Continuity (Kyoto: Shibunkaku Press, 2014), and Sino-Japan Code and the Representation of Nature: Art and Literature of Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries (Tokyo: Bensei Press, 2019).

Thank you very much for your time today. What sparked your interest in becoming a researcher in Japanese art history?

Kameda-Madar: Although I was always interested in art as a child in Japan, I took it more seriously when I began my formal education abroad - at the University of Hawaiʻi. Upon starting my studies, I realized how rich and wonderful Japanese art is, and I wanted to learn more about it. Prof. Mariko Inoue was my first mentor, greatly influencing my academic direction. I was fortunate to be surrounded by specialists in Chinese art. When I was seeking a topic for my MA thesis, Prof. James Cahill--who was in Hawaiʻi at that time--kindly introduced me to Prof. Hironobu Kohara in Kyoto. Under his guidance, I chose to study the theme of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering. This theme, which I believe embodies a strong, yet very subtle, implicit anti-war sentiment, captivated me, and I began to focus my research on the Sino-Japanese cultural relationship.

I continued to explore the Orchid Pavilion Gathering theme for my doctoral dissertation. While in the doctoral program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, I was fortunate to study with Prof. Joshua Mostow, who directed me to examine the relationship between literary and visual representations. In addition to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, I also began to pay scholarly attention to pictures of the Party at a Meandering Stream, which derived from those of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering. The Chinese theme was nativized through the waka Japanese poetry. Since numerous artists from diverse schools produced these pictorial themes, my study did not focus solely on individual artists or schools. I enjoyed covering all the different types of paintings and prints created by many artists and schools throughout the Edo period. To complete such a versatile project, I consulted with many mentors and colleagues who inspired me and continue to do so.

After earning my doctoral degree, I returned to Hawaiʻi and worked as a researcher for the Kaikodo Gallery of Chinese and Japanese Arts. For many years, I taught Japanese visual culture at the East Asian Languages and Literature Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the University of Hawaiʻi - West Oʻahu, as well as Japanese art history at Hawaiʻi Pacific University.

Could you please tell us about your motivation to start this research project?

Kameda-Madar: I have been affiliated with the Israeli Association of Japanese Studies since 2013. In 2017, I was invited by Prof. Nissim Otmazgin, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, to assess a newly acquired collection of Japanese art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel (HUJI). It was a two-week project, so I could not investigate each item in depth. Since then, I have returned to HUJI almost every summer, where I have also engaged in other projects, such as the Green Tea for Peace workshop.

I moved from Hawaiʻi to Israel last year, just a couple of months before the current conflict started, and joined HUJI as a visiting professor and research affiliate. This situation naturally brought me back to the Japanese art collection that I had worked with in 2017.

Can you please tell us about the Japanese Art Collection at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, such as its significance and distinctiveness?

Kameda-Madar: The Japanese art collection is housed within the Department of Asian Studies at HUJI, which is the oldest of its kind in Israel and one of the largest departments in the Faculty of Humanities, with nearly 300 students specializing in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Indian & Indonesian Studies. Its mission is to provide students with advanced knowledge about the culture, history, language, society, politics, and various other aspects of East and South Asian countries. The department offers introductory and advanced seminars, guided reading classes, workshops, and other courses, as well as field trips to Asian destinations. Approximately 15 - 20% of students at HUJI are Palestinians.

The HUJI Collection, most of which has not yet been digitized, includes the Shagan Collection of Japanese Art, donated by Mr. Ofer Shagan, an art collector and long-term resident of Tokyo, in 2016. It was a special donation in memory of his sister, Ms. Oranit Shagan-Talmor. Most of the works date back to the Edo and the Meiji periods. Studying this collection deepens our understanding of Japan's changing sociopolitical and cultural atmosphere in the 18th and 19th centuries. The collection consists of various media, including wahon (woodblock-printed illustrated books), paintings, ukiyo-e prints, calligraphy, masks, and metal and wood sculptures.

It is not yet an extensive collection: about 200 paintings are divided into the Kano School, Literati, Yamato-e, Otsu-e, Zenga, and other Buddhist themes. The formats are also diverse, including hanging scrolls, handscrolls, Nara ehon, etc. For example, one notable painting from the early 17th century representing an iconography of "Kikujidō" (Chrysanthemum boy) has a signature "Dasoku," a name for Kano Sansetsu. While it requires more examination, there are some exciting discoveries to be made within this collection. Additionally, the collection contains over 200 prints, featuring works by artists like Utagawa Kunisada, Toyohara Kunichika, Toyohara Chikanobu, Morikawa Chikashige, and others.

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

Kameda-Madar: I first connected with the ARC in 2007 by regularly participating in the 'Fuzokukaiga Kenkyukai' (Genre Paintings Research Group) led by Drs. Ikuyo Matsumoto, Sachiko Idemitsu, and Princess Akiko of Mikasa. During that time, Dr. Ryoko Matsuba introduced me to Prof. Ryo Akama, and we organized and participated in various academic activities, including the 'Kinsei Shikakubunka Kenkyukai' (Early Modern Visual Culture Research Group). Through these events, I learned about the International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC). I believe it would be valuable to connect the Japanese art collection in Israel with the ARC-iJAC, contributing academic resources to the international research community.

How would you like to utilize the ARC Research Space (including the database system, digital tools, such as the ARC Kuzushiji Transcription Support System, etc.) to facilitate research and education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem?

Kameda-Madar: The resources available at the ARC Research Space are enormous. I would like to utilize them to conduct our research and enhance the database of the Japanese art collection in Israel. For the Spring Semester of 2025, I will be teaching a course for MA students in the Asian Studies program, entitled "Research Methods in Art of Edo Japan."

In this course, we will archive the transcriptions and bibliographical introductions of materials within the HUJI collection using the ARC database system's built-in functions. We aim to gather a significant amount of data and plan to create an online exhibition at the end of the semester.

What are your thoughts on the importance of digitizing university collections, and how does it align with the long-term goals of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem?

Kameda-Madar: The digitization of the HUJI collection represents a transformative step that will allow for efficient database searches and significantly enhance its utilization in our education and research activities. It provides a digital environment with facilities that cater to a diverse range of research needs. This initiative encourages humanities scholars of Japanese culture at HUJI to conduct their research using Digital Humanities approaches. The wealth of digitized and scientifically managed academic information in the digital archives will serve as a valuable resource, adding depth to and opening up new horizons for research in the humanities at HUJI and worldwide.

Is there anything else you would like to comment on or highlight?

Kameda-Madar: I am still learning how to utilize the advanced technology available at the ARC and hope to receive further instruction. As I work on this project, I plan to recruit some co-researchers, including colleagues and graduate students. Using this collection, I plan to organize a mini-exhibition at the gallery in front of the Central Library at HUJI. The exhibition catalog will feature captions and entries written by the graduate students under my guidance. I am genuinely looking forward to collaborating with the ARC-iJAC this semester, starting in November 2024.

Furthermore, I am assigned to teach a course of the history and philosophy of the Japanese tea ceremony at HUJI this semester. As I mentioned earlier, I have been organizing "Green Tea for Peace" workshops, in which my Israeli and Palestinian students participate together. I was inspired to establish this workshop--set to take place for the fourth time in January 2025--by Dr. Genshitsu Sen, the former Grand Tea Master of Urasenke, who advocated for "Peacefulness through a Bowl of Tea." I hope to contribute to achieving peace through Japanese art, including the HUJI collection.

(This interview was conducted by Yinzi Emily Li)

As part of the International ARC Seminar series, a special seminar will be held to mark the start of the 'FY 2024 Training Course to Decipher Japanese Cursive Script (Kuzushiji) with the ARC AI Transcription Support System.'

The program is as follows:

Speaker: Ellis TINIOS (Honorary Lecturer, University of Leeds, United Kingdom and ARC Visiting Collaborative Researcher)

Topic: 'Understanding Edo period books as material objects and bibliographic entities'

This seminar will be held in English.

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Date: Wednesday, November 6, 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.

Kiyomoto-bushi is a style of narrative music traditionally performed as accompaniment for Kabuki theater. Alongside Tokiwazu- and Tomimoto-bushi, it belongs to the Bungo-bushi lineage of joruri narrative music and emerged out of Tomimoto-bushi as an independent style unto itself in the Bunka period (1804-1818). Known for its lighthearted and sophisticated storytelling, Kiyomoto-bushi has gained widespread popularity and includes numerous iconic pieces for Kabuki dance.

In addition to Kiyomoto-bushi Shohon, the collection also includes Shohon for Nagauta, Gidayu-bushi, and Tomimoto-bushi, making a total of 8,455 lyric booklets (Shohon) now available for viewing.

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Kunitachi College of Music Library Takeuchi Dokei Collection--Japanese Lyric Booklets (Shohon) Viewing System:
https://www.dh-jac.net/db1/books/search_kunishohon.php?lang=ja

ARC Virtual Institute The World of the Takeuchi Dokei Collection:
https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/lib/vm/kunitake/