ARCHAEOLOGIA JAPONICA

Overview
TAKAKURA Hiroaki1
Japanese Archaeological Association took great leaps forward in ﬁscal 2013. The
largest progress was publication of an electronic journal in English, Japanese Journal ofArchaeology. Japanese archaeology had achieved many results in the past, but books,
theses, and excavation reports have been published in Japanese, so that they were unable
to reach the English-speaking world. Information provided by the Association wasalso limited to partial information in English through the internet. The publication ofan online English journal has an epoch-making signiﬁcance because it will allow fordispatch of results of archaeological study in Japan overseas. At the same time, this wasjust an example to indicate the high ability of the Association, since it was a response
to a system change in the Grant-in-Aid for Scientiﬁc Research, from ‘Publication of
Scientiﬁc Research Results’ to ‘Reinforcement of International Information’ and grants
were given only to electronic journals in English, and many academic societies wereunable to make appropriate adjustments. Sending archaeological information to the world
through an electronic journal will convey the state of archaeological study in Japan, andit will stimulate international exchanges.
The second great leap was completion of the organizational restructuring of theAssociation. The Japanese Archaeological Association became a general incorporated
association in June 2009, but its articles of incorporation were based on when theAssociation was an intermediate corporation. There were many discrepancies andrevision was necessary. Therefore the board of trustees has been preparing for revision,and the new articles were organized at the 80th General Meeting, in ﬁscal 2014, atthe end of the term of the present board of trustees. To comply with the enactmentof the association articles, regulations of the Japanese Archaeological Association
were drastically revised. Although organization of secretarial rules, and Association
regulations and bylaws were postponed to the next board of trustees, this ﬁscal year saw
a completion of the Association as an organization conforming to the law.
Although it did not take place in ﬁscal 2013, it is important that the problem of donatedbooks at the Association was ﬁnally solved by donating the books to Nara University
Library, thanks to the sincere efforts of ‘Special Committee for the Association Books’
1 5–6–1 Kanzeonji, Dazaifu City, Fukuoka 818–0101, Japan(rinsho.takakura@gmail.com)

JAPANESE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 3 (2015): 44–45© Japanese Archaeological Association44

JAPANESE JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 3 (2015): 44–45

TRENDS IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Title
IN JAPANand examination by the board of trustees. It was meaningful that ideal future states of
the Association were repeatedly discussed through the problem solving.
The Association is conducting various activities under seven standing committees.
Their activities should be introduced brieﬂy. Editorial Committee for Association Journal
published Nihon Kokogaku: Journal of Japanese Archaeological Association, No. 35
and 36, which reﬂect archaeological research activities. It is regrettable that there are
only a few contributions compared to the large number of association members, andactive contributors are desired. The newly formed English Journal Editorial Committee
has begun publication of the English electronic journal. Committee for Examinationof Research Environments promoted organization of research environments to enrichresearch activities, such as research environments at work, certiﬁcation problems
regarding research of buried cultural properties, inﬂuences of TPP (Trans-Paciﬁc
Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement), and problems of elimination andconsolidation of museums. Committee for the Protection of Buried Cultural Properties
contributed to the preservation of Takakura Gunga in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa
Prefecture, as well as research/protection and utilization of buried cultural properties.
Committee for Discussion of Social Studies/History Textbooks continued their effort
to include a description of the Paleolithic in social studies textbook at elementaryschools, as revision of government curriculum guidelines is coming up. Furthermore,
the Association is conducting various activities, such as measures for the Great East
Japan Earthquake, efforts towards the royal tomb problem, as well as providing research
results to the public through open lectures. Although their research environment was notnecessarily favorable, the Association members have conducted their research sincerelyin ﬁscal 2013 and their research results were published through books, theses, andexcavation reports. Their results were discussed in this annual report.

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