The Cooperative Program for the Conservation of Japanese Art Objects Overseas

The role of "Japanese cultural ambassador" to other countries and cultures has long been played by antique Japanese art in overseas collections. However, quite a few of these works are in bad repair, due to climatic conditions in their overseas homes that differ from those of Japan or from damage that has occurred to the works while they were on public display.

In 1991, the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs began The Cooperative Program for the Conservation of Japanese Art Objects Overseas in order to bring such art works in need back to Japan for conservation treatment. The Program began with paintings, and in 1997, the focus was expanded to include decorative art works, such as lacquer ware. In 2001, the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, became the principle Japanese organization handling the actual conservation work involved.

While this Program has always involved bringing Japanese art works back to Japan for conservation, in 2006, a lacquer ware conservation studio was established in the Museum of East Asian Art in Köln, Germany, and similarly in 2008, a painting conservation studio was established in the German Museum of Technology in Berlin. Japanese conservation specialists have been dispatched to these two studios to carry out conservation work onsite.

This display features one painting and two lacquer works whose conservation work has been completed under the Fiscal 2009 installment of the Program. These works were brought back to Japan for treatment in Japanese conservation studios. It is our hope that viewers of this display will gain an understanding of one aspect of the efforts of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, in the field of international cooperation.