ARC-iJAC Activities

On December 6, 2024, a group of faculty members and students of Korea University, led by Prof. Byeong-Ho Jeong (Department of Japanese Language and Literature, College of Liberal Arts, Korea University), 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 took place with Prof. Satoshi Tanaka (College of Information Science and Engineering) and Dr. Travis Seifman (Kinugasa Research Organization/ARC Research Manager).

The 141th International ARC Seminar will be held as a webinar on Wednesday, November 27, from 18:00 JST.

The program is as follows:

Speaker: Eiji ARAKAKI (City History Editorial Team, Cultural Division, Nanjo City Board of Education)

Topic: 沖縄県南城市におけるデジタルアーカイブ事業 (The Digital Archiving Project in Nanjo City, Okinawa)

Date: Wednesday, November 27, 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.

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 We express our sincere gratitude to HIH Princess Akiko of Mikasa who gave a talk on 'A Tale of the Royal and Imperial Households: The Trajectory of UK-Japan Relations' on October 23 as part of the International ARC Seminar series. Furthermore, we were delighted to welcome members of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) to the ARC who visited us as part of the society's first study tour to Japan. ARC-iJAC Project Spotlights: An Interview with Kazuko Kameda-Madar (Visiting Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Striving to contribute to achieving peace through Japanese art, Dr. Kameda-Madar talks about the Japanese art collection held by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her related ARC-iJAC project to digital archive this collection. >> Read more. New! ART RESEARCH vol. 25-1 is available Release of the Digitally Archived Materials of the Tsukiji Sugoroku Museum A database containing 650 Sugoroku items, representing about 500 different kinds of Sugoroku game boards dating from the Edo period to the early 1950s, collected by Osamu Yoshida, President of the Tsukiji Sugoroku Museum, has been released in the ARC Database System. >> Read more. >> Database. Launch of the Shahon Mokuroku (写本目録)/Manuscripts (Bibliographic) Database for the Japanese Manuscripts Collection of the C.V. Starr East Asian Library, UC Berkeley We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Shahon Mokuroku 写本目録/Manuscripts (Bibliographic) Database, which includes over 3,400 bibliographic records for Japanese handwritten manuscripts held by the C. V. Starr East Asian Library, University of California, Berkeley. >> Read more. This database can be accessed through the Library's Japanese Special Collections portal provided by the ARC. The Symposium 'Creative Collaborations in Kyoto, Osaka and Beyond, 1770-1900,' jointly organized by the British Museum and the ARC-iJAC, was held on Sep 10-11, 2024 On September 10 and 11, 2024, the British Museum and the ARC-iJAC jointly hosted a symposium at SOAS University of London as part of the 3-year international joint research project 'Creative Collaborations: Salons and Networks in Kyoto and Osaka 1780-1880 (上方文化サロン：人的ネットワークから解き明かす文化創造空間 1780-1880),' supported by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). >> Read more. A Special Display, showcasing the outcomes of this joint research project, is up at the British Museum until March 2025. >> Details. Release of the Shochiku Otani Library's Browsing System of Takemoto Yukahon (松竹大谷図書館 竹本床本検索閲覧システム) A digital archive of Takemoto yukahon theatrical chanters' books has been released as part of the FY 2024 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.' >> Read more. >> Database. The National Diet Library's Historical Recordings Collection (Rekion) is available at the ARC We are pleased to announce that we offer access to the National Diet Library's Historical Recordings Collection (Rekion) streaming service as one of its partner institutions. If you would like to listen to the recordings at the ARC, please refer to the link below for the application process. → https://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/e/application/ New! Recommended Publications by ARC-Affiliated Reseachers 'Salon culture in Japan: making art, 1750−1900' (hardback) by Akiko Yano (editor/ARC Visiting Collaborative Researcher) Publisher: British Museum Press ISBN: 9780714124964 'Fashion and the Floating World: Japanese ukiyo-e Prints' (hardback) by Anna Jackson (author) and Masami Yamada (author/ARC Visiting Collaborative Researcher) Publisher: V&A Publishing ISBN: 9781838510503 Upcoming Events November 20-22, 2024, 10:00-17:00 JST Exhibition '手書き映画ポスターと看板の世界' 第三回 ～松竹蒲田撮影所制作作品より～ Venue: Multi-Purpose Room, Art Research Center, Kinugasa Campus, Ritsumeikan University Free entry. November 27 (Wed), 2024, 18:00-19:30 JST 141. International ARC Seminar Speaker: Eiji ARAKAKI (City History Editorial Team, Nanjo City Board of Education, Cultural Division) Topic: The Digital Archiving Project in Nanjo City, Okinawa (held in Japanese) Live stream available via >> YouTube. Previous issues: 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 © 2024 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 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 "@")

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 Shooku collection have been digitized and made publicly available online. The images, chiefly depicting Kabuki actors, are from the late Meiji through Showa periods.

Kaigetsu Shooku 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 ehagakijo," 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.

　＞＞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」）

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.

Ako City Chushingura Digital Exhibition Room:
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