This research project conducted jointly by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC) and Art Research Center (ARC), forms part of a larger project to gain new insights into Japanese arts and cultures by cataloguing all public (and some private) Japanese collections in the UK. While some preliminary surveys have been undertaken of the collections of Japanese artefacts, there still is no satisfactory overview of the breadth of UK collections. As the UK's dedicated research centre for Japanese Arts and Cultures, SISJAC will be a key institute in developing the digital archive, as well as in raising awareness about its utility within the British and global academic communities, as well as in public outreach.

Alongside these digital archiving projects, we will organise workshops with curators from UK museums with Japanese collections and students from local universities to enrich understanding of Japanese collections in the UK.