FY2021 Annual Report for International Joint Research with Research Fund（様式）International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC),Art Research Center, Ritsumeikan University
Date (year/mm/dd): 2022/05/10
1. Title of the Research Project
Digitisation of the British Museum’s Japanese painting collection: focusing on late Edo period Kyoto-Osaka
painted works

2. Research Leader
Name

Organization and title

Dr. Akiko Yano

Mitsubishi Corporation Curator (Japanese Collections),
British Museum

3. Co-researcher (Total：4 persons)

Name

Organization and title

Dr. Rosina Buckland

Curator (Japanese Collections), British Museum

Dr. Alfred Haft

JTI Curator (Japanese Collections), British MuseumProf. Ryo Akama

Professor, Ritsumeikan University

Dr. Ryoko Matsuba

Lecturer in Digital Japanese Arts and Humanities, Sainsbury Institute for the Study ofJapanese Arts and Cultures

4. Overview of the Research Project (About 150 words) Note: If you have changed your project since the time ofapplication submission, please write clearly where you made changes.
Building on the continuing research partnership between the Art Research Center (ARC) and the British Museum(BM) in the past fifteen years, we conducted a digitisation project, aiming 1) to facilitate the public’s digital accessto the British Museum’s Japanese collection images and 2) to support the ongoing international research project
begun in February 2022 ‘Creative Collaborations: Salons and Networks in Kyoto and Osaka 1780-1880’, led by
the Principal Investigators Akama and Yano. The focus of the digitisaion was on the painted works in the BM
collection by the Maruyama-Shijo artists in Edo-period Kyoto and Osaka.
The initial plan was to invite two staff members from the ARC to the BM to digitise 100 hanging scrolls and 80
albums. However, the Covid-19 restrictions in the UK hindered their visit. An alternative plan was promptly
proposed and facilitated by Matsuba by employing graduate students in Japanese studies at the University of East
Anglia and SOAS University of London. To accommodate graduate students’ level of digitisation skills andexperience, the hanging scrolls were replaced by handscrolls while albums remained as planned.

（様式）5. Overview of the Research Results Note: We may use this section for the Center’s PR.
The digitisation has been successfully conducted despite the various difficulties posed by the Covid-19 restrictions.
The fact that the ARC, BM and Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC) amongst
themselves maintain long-term research partnerships has made it possible for us to make changes necessitated by
the pandemic swiftly and flexibly. The ARC and SISJAC are in partnership in training graduate students in the UK
in digitisation. The BM and ARC are in digitisation partnership. The BM and SISJAC collaborate as two of themajor UK centres of Japanese studies.
For 15 days over 6 weeks in January and February 2022, at the British Museum, the photography of in total 24
titles of handscrolls (29 items) and 91 titles of albums (107 items) was completed as expected. The image data havebeen processed at the ARC, and the digital images are due to be delivered to the BM, which will then be uploaded
onto the Museum’s internal database. Subsequently, the images will be shown on the Collection Online for public
use as well as on the ARC’s portal database.
As a result of the plan change, this project was able to serve as an educational opportunity for the graduate students
in Japanese cultural studies in the UK. The students, supervised by Matsuba, worked hard. They appeared toappreciate having a hands-on experience with museum objects, putting in practice what they have learnt in training.
6. Research Activities(1) Books
・ Title; date of publication; publisher; names of co-authors and editors, if any; and page numbers.
(2) Articles
・ ”Article title”; date of publication; publisher; name of journal; volume number (issue); names of co-authors,
if any; page numbers; and peer-reviewed or not.
(3) Presentations
・”Presentation title”; date; conference name; venue; names of the co-presenters; and peer-reviewed or not.
(4) Symposiums and/or research meeting you organized・ ”Name of symposium/meeting”; venue; date; number of participants; names of co-organizers (institutions), ifany.
(5) Other research activities (Lectures to the general public, and appearances in/contributions to mass media)
・ Achievement; venue; and date.
(6) Academic awards
・ Granting institution; name of award; title; and date awarded.
(7) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research -KAKENHI
・ Research title; type of grants programs; starting year-ending year; and principal investigator or not.
(8) Competitive grants other than KAKENHI
The images resulting from this project will support the new international research project ‘Creative Collaborations:
Salons and Networks in Kyoto and Osaka 1780-1880’, funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and theJapan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), for three years 2022-2025. Akama and Yano are the Principal
Investigators on the Japan and UK side respectively.
(9) Other achievements
The images will be published on the BM’s Collection Online and the ARC’s ukiyo-e portal database. Both areaccessible by the public.