Presentation 2

Distinctive Yet Connected:
Displaying Japanese Culture
at the British Museum
国際シンポジウム

Mitsubishi Corporation Curator: Japanese Collections, Japanese Section, Department of Asia,British Museum, UK

ProfileAkiko Yano joined the British Museum in 2015 as a Mitsubishi Corporation
Curator, Japanese Collections, in the Department of Asia. She received a PhD
in aesthetics (Japanese art history) from Keio University, Tokyo. Her researcharea is early-modern Japanese painting. Before joining the British Museum,
she worked as a AHRB Research Assistant and Leverhulme Research Fellow
at SOAS, University of London, and she co-curated and co-authored two special exhibitions at the British Museum and accompanying catalogues: Kabuki
Heroes on the Osaka Stage: 1780-1830 (2005) and Shunga: Sex and Pleasure inJapanese Art (2013). Her most recent curatorial team project was the renewalof the Mitsubishi Corporation Japanese Galleries in 2018.

Introduction
I would firstly like to raise five questions related to today’s theme. I would then like tomake a comprehensive contribution to the discussion using examples of how Japaneseculture is exhibited at the British Museum.
1. When reconsidering ‘Orientalism’ and ‘Occidentalism’ from a modern perspective, what happens if we view this issue from the perspective of how Japanese people
understand and view Japanese culture or how they want this culture to be perceived, forexample, or if we view this issue as a problem of bidirectional politics?
2. Japanese art history has been established based on the systemized knowledge
framework of Western civilization, but can we reframe this history based on the actual
state of Japanese or East-Asian art?
3. In the age of globalization, with the relation between culture, borders and nationalities becoming more fluid, more Japanese artists are viewing Japan from an outside
perspective, with more non-Japanese artists also creating works based on traditional
Japanese ‘idioms.’ How will ‘Japanese art’ be defined in the future?
4. Identity has become the source of much debate nowadays. The idea of ‘the correct
propagation of Japanese culture’ has become somewhat antiquated, yet the idea stillholds weight in Japan. What is the goal of this concept for Japanese people?
5. The day may be coming when people question the raison d’être of cultural institutions like museums. If a museum collection contain artifacts from across the world,are these objects owned by the museum or are they just in the museum’s custody. Whatis the social mission of our economically-squeezed museums?
The British Museum’s Japanese collection and exhibitions
Around 6 million people visit the British Museum each year. Less than 25% of thesecome from the UK. There is a limitless diversity in the relation between exhibits andvisitors. Our museum currently stages regular exhibitions in Room 3 and we also stage
three types of special exhibitions
Distinctive Yet Connected: Displaying Japanese Culture at the British Museum

29International SymposiumDr. Akiko Yano

The foundation of the British Museum’s Japanese Collection was established at theend of the 19th century, but the first Japanese gallery opened in 1990. The regularexhibition rooms have now become the Mitsubishi Corporation Japanese Galleries. The
exhibition format was renewed in 2006, with the regular exhibition now using objects topresent an overview of Japanese history from prehistoric times to the present day. Rather
than simply displaying the objects in chronological order, the exhibition displays historical artifacts next to modern objects based on certain key themes. This helps people tounderstand Japanese culture as a living entity. The curation and translation departments
discuss the information panels and try to come up with the most effective transmission
method. The entire collection can also be viewed from the British Museum’s ‘Collection
Online.’Room 3 (The Asahi Shimbun Display) focuses on one topic at a time. If often features experimental displays. A recent display used the Brexit issue as the backdrop to a
discussion about how Europe is seen through Asian eyes. Another exhibition in 2017
looked at the woodblock print techniques behind ukiyo-e while also explaining theconcept of ‘mitate’ allusions. There have also been hugely popular manga exhibitionsin 2009 and 2015, with another special manga exhibition scheduled for early summer
2019.
A recent trend has seen special exhibitions held to display the results of externally-funded international joint-research projects. These include the ‘Kabuki Heroes on
the Osaka Stage,’ ‘Shunga’ and ‘Hokusai’ exhibitions. These were all the result of joint
research by institutions and researchers from Japan, the UK and other regions. Severalyears of research can result in challenging special exhibitions. 2013’s ‘Shunga’ exhibition
met with some vague unease on the Japanese side with regards to ‘the understanding ofJapanese culture,’ but it ended up being a huge success. It also received a lot of enthusiastic praise within the UK for how it tackled the universal theme of sex from a new angle.
Conclusion
The British Museum is a ‘global museum for the whole world.’ We operate based on anawareness that our collection belongs to the whole of mankind. From here on, we need
to work hard to promote an understanding of the history of the objects in our collection;
to diversify the range of narrative perspectives; and to establish effective communication
mechanisms between the exhibition curators and visitors. Museums will continue tohave a reason for existing if they can play a social role supporting the ideal developmentof the human intellect while acting as a ‘crossroads’ and a ‘forum’ connecting the globe.

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International Symposium: The Arts of Japan in a Global Context: Beyond Orientalism and Occidentalism