Collaborative Cataloging JapanEIN 47-3235939

Collaborative Cataloging Japan

FY16 Annual Report
The three main programmatic areas planned for FY16—Collection Survey, Professional
Exchange & Workshop, and Public Programs—gained tremendous momentum withpresentations of 11 artists’ works in 4 Public Programs, 2 artists focused in research
trips, 2 professional invited from New York to Tokyo, and 4 distinct programs presentedin Tokyo including Collection Survey at artist Takahiko Iimura’s studio, Community
Archiving Workshop, Lecture at Mori Art Museum, and Panel Discussion between
Professor Mona Jimenez of Moving Image Archiving Program at New York University
and Curator Akira Tochigi of National Film Center.
In addition, CCJ grew is administrative and strategic capabilities with inclusion of theobtainment of its 501(c)3 status, initiation of part-time paid position for the Executive
Director, first meetings with Japanese Advisory Group members in Tokyo, business plan
consultation with Philadelphia Business Volunteer for the Arts, and consultation withdevelopment professional and accountants.
The key development in FY2016 is the refinement of CCJ’s missions, its role in the field,and its directions. The three definitive areas of its mission—documentation,preservation, and dissemination/access—were articulated with its programs in FY16:
The Collection Survey concerns with documentation; dissemination was accomplishedby the Public Programs as well as with the conversations with the Japanese Advisory
Group members who discussed the potential of CCJ’s Digital Platform project;preservation projects are discussed in FY17’s research project on Japanese ExpandedCinema.
The following is a report of the activities of Public Programs, Collection Survey,
Professional Exchange & Workshop, and the questions that were brought to the fore
within the process of executing these programs.
*In addition to this printed report, many documentations of the activities are captured on
CCJ’s website: www.collabjapan.org. Please visit the website for videos, interviews,artist profiles and other reports.

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PUBLIC PROGRAMS (SCREENINGS)
The public programs organized by CCJ
are aimed to introduce
underrepresented works to theaudiences in the U.S. As CCJ is basedin Philadelphia, one of the goals for
FY16 was to begin growing local
supporters and audiences interested inthis subject, who will continuously
return to our programs in the future.
Important partnerships wereestablished through these programs,
allowing CCJ to reach to a wide
audience through the partners’
constituents. Developing a presence in
Still from: Mako Idemitsu, Inner-Man, 1972, 3:40 min
Philadelphia also allows CCJ to qualify
for numerous grant programs made available tocultural nonprofits in the city, as well as develop personal relationships with potential
individual donors.
2016, February 18, Philadelphia
Screening: Experimental Films of the 1960’s from Nihon University
Venue/Partner: International House Philadelphia
Organized by: Collaborative Cataloging Japan (Ann Adachi-Tasch); Copresented with IHP
Description: Screening of 16mm films made by three Japanese Nihon University
students: Masao Adachi, Motoharu Jonouchi, and Katsuhiro Tomita.
Curated by: Go Hirasawa; Organized by Ann Adachi-Tasch
Partially funded by: Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, PPA grant2016, March Philadelphia
Lectures at University of Pennsylvania and Temple University
Lecturer: Ann Adachi-Tasch2016, March 3, Philadelphia
Screening: Video and Before: Five Japanese Pioneers
Venue/Partner: International House Philadelphia
Description: Screening of video and experimental films by five Japanese artists:
Takahiko Iimura, Ko Nakajima, Katsuhiro Yamaguchi, Toshio Matsumoto, andFujiko Nakaya.
Co-curated by: Ann Adachi-Tasch, Christophe Charles, Hirofumi Sakamoto, andHiroko Tasaka.
Partially funded by: Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, PPA grant2Collaborative Cataloging JapanEIN 47-3235939

2016, October, Philadelphia
Exhibition: MA: Time and Space in theGarden of Ryoanji
Venue/Partner: Shofuso Japanese House andGarden, Philadelphia
Description: A month-long exhibition of artist
Takahiko Iimura’s film work from 1989. The work
explores Japanese sensibility for time and space inthe Japanese temple of Ryoanji. The presentation
complimented the existing environment of Shofuso.
Opening wasaccompanied by alecture by Prof.
Peter d’Agostino ofTemple University.
2016, November 14,
Installation shots of the exhibition.
Philadelphia
Screening: Video Art by Japanese Women
Artists: Mako Idemitsu & Shigeko Kubota
Venue/Partner: Philadelphia Community College, co-organized with Philadelphia
Asian American Film Festival
Description: Screening of works by two pioneering female Japanese video
artists. Mako Idemitsu and Shigeko Kubota share common grounds as artists
who relocated to the U.S. in the 1960s—Idemitsu to California, and Kubota toNew York. The 70-minute screening program is followed by discussions with Dr.
Midori Yoshimoto, Associate Professor and Gallery Director at New Jersey CityUniversity.
Results
In each screening events, CCJ was able to attract audience size of 15-50, some ofwhom were returning audience members. With each event, CCJ expanded its socialnetwork audiences, particularly on Facebook and through its email list registration on thewebsite. Partnerships with International House Philadelphia automatically added CCJ toits Japanese avant-garde film-goers’ radars, and the Japan America Society of GreaterPhiladelphia (for the presentation at the Shofuso Japanese House & Garden) allowed
CCJ to be acquainted with some of its members who are mostly cultural supporters,
corporate sponsors, and leaders of Japanese heritage activities in Philadelphia.
Programmatically, the presentation of two female video artists in October 2016 was anotable accomplishment, as these artists, especially Mako Idemitsu’s works, have notbeen presented very widely in the U.S.

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COLLECTION SURVEY: TAKAHIKO IIMURA’S TOKYO STUDIOThe Tokyo studio of Takahiko Iimura.

*For a full report of this project, please see Attachment C.
Part of CCJ’s mission is to document undocumented cultural legacies that are Japaneseexperimental moving image works. As stated in our initial grant request, though there
was an active production of experimental film, animation, and video art in Japan in thepostwar period, these works have not been systematically catalogued and exist in
various collections and artists’ studios that do not consistently conserve, preserve, andshare information on its holdings. The lack of a consistent record has contributed todifficulty in researching these works (especially for researchers outside of Japan), and ageneral under-recognition of these works.
The Collection Survey in FY16 focused on documenting the works at the artist Takahiko
Iimura’s studio in Tokyo. CCJ invited two professionals in moving image archiving,Professor Mona Jimenez of Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) programat New York University, and Laurie Duke, a graduate of the MIAP program and Head ofOperations at the Grey Art Gallery at NYU. Through the guidance of Professor Jimenez,
we identified the below as our goals:• Find the highest quality format for each work• Catalog all film works• Count everything and document its locations
There are 1,368 items in the collection. 172 are film, 1,182 are video, and 14 are audio.
16mm – 156
Betacam – 353
Super8 – 6
Video8 – 32
8mm – 19
Hi8 – 77
U-Matic – 117
Mini-DV – 204
Betamax – 2
DVCAM – 47
VHS/SVHS – 279
D1 – 1
VHS-C – 69
HDCAM - 1
Map of Studio and Shelves
Shelf 1–3 (Studio 1): Betacams
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Shelf 5 (Studio 2): Films
Shelf 7 (Studio 3): Films (Iimura designated this spot for film masters)
Shelf 8 (Studio 3): U-matics, VHS, and others
Shelf 9 (Studio 3): VHS and others
Formats & Format Detail (Example, excerpt)
Format: U-Matic
Location/count: 117 tapes. The top twoshelves on Shelf 8, holding 90 tapes, are inroughly chronological order and are generally
masters or submasters. Of the 90, 58 havebeen entered in to the CCJ Iimura Collection
Survey spreadsheet. There are 21 tapes on 5th
shelf from top, all marked with an “F” andthought to be video copies of films. There arean additional 5 tapes, thought to be otherpeople’s works, on the 4th shelf from top.
Date Range: 1970–1990s
Notes: According to Iimura, a few titles, such as
Blinking, were produced using 1/2- inch open
reel video. However, the original 1/2-inch open
reel tapes are not in the collection. Thus, Umatic tapes of early works are submasters andare likely to be the closest to the original format.
U-matic was introduced in 1971, but it isunknown when Iimura started using it. In regards
to the U-matic tapes labeled “F,” the film holdings and Betacam holdings should bechecked to evaluate whether a higher quality version of the film titles exists.

Mastering Format of Titles
Part of the report contains a list of each title and their mastering formats (the highestquality format). Since the artist has made many transfers of each work (e.g., original isfilm but exists as video in multiple formats), it is difficult to tell which format is thesuperior quality. By identifying which one may serve as the true “master,” the artist canuse that particular format to restore and create new copies in the future.

Catalog Data (Excerpt)
From the November Collection Survey research, there is currently 247 unique items
catalogued in the excel spreadsheet. CCJ plans to transfer this information onto a morerobust database system for sustainable maintenance of the artist’s artistic assets. For5

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more information about this data system project, please refer to “Digital Platform” sectionof this grant report.

Risks & Recommendations
Part of the Collection Survey is to assess the conditions of the formats and to report on
any urgent and long-term needs regarding their care. The report includes information
about the natures of each type of format, the time-frame for their obsolescence(playback machines for video formats are said to disappear within the next 15-20 years).
The Recommendations section discusses today’s best practices with handling,
digitization protocols, as well as how to maintain intellectual control of the metadata.
Results
As the first Collection Survey research, we received positive feedback of this kind ofdetailed report from the artist, gallerists, museum curators, and researchers who areworking directly with Takahiko Iimura. Since many of them are working outside of Japan,
it is apparently helpful to have this information about what exists in what format, andwhere, as a data spreadsheet and report. The work of Takahiko Iimura is recently
receiving a renewed attention, through gallery representation and frequent presentations
in New York, most notably at the Whitney Museum in 2016. The Collection Survey in2016 became an opportunity to directly realize the importance of this initiative, and CCJ
looks forward to conducting further research. A Collection Survey trip in 2017 is being
planned currently, in conjunction with its Japanese Expanded Cinema research project,made possible by a grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation.

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Professional Exchange & Workshop

During the 2016 trip to Tokyo with Mona Jimenez and Laurie Duke, CCJ organizedmultiple workshops and a panel event, as well as opportunities for professional
exchanges. These events provided opportunities for media professionals in Japan tomeet our invitees and exchange information.
Community Archiving Workshop
November 26, 2016
Nihon University College of Art,
Ekoda Campus
Community Archiving Workshop (CAW)
was started by Professor Mona Jimenezand her colleagues in New York, andhas been active since 2008. CCJ invited
Mona Jimenez instructing the group.
Professor Mona Jimenez to conduct aversion of CAW in Tokyo. In collaboration
with Nihon University College of Art and Japan Society of Image Arts and Sciences(JASIAS), CCJ co-organized the half-day event which drew 20 participants including
students, museum curators, university professors, artists, and moving image consulting
companies.
For the workshop, we borrowed a part of artist Ko Nakajima’s collection to conduct thehands-on inspection and cataloging.
Mona Jimenez gave an introductorylecture, followed by introduction by theartist about his work. Video
documentation of these lectures areavailable on our website.

Right: artist Ko Nakajima explaining about his collection.

Workshop at Mori Art Museum7Collaborative Cataloging JapanEIN 47-3235939

November 25, 2016
This closed-door workshop at Mori Art Museum gathered
media art curators to discuss practices of digital asset
management. Keynote presentation was given by LaurieDuke, Head of Administration at Grey Art Gallery and MIAP
graduate about current digital asset management practices
at American museums. The workshop was accompanied bya curatorial walkthrough of the exhibition Video Hiroba, thefirst video art collective in Japan curated by Kenichi Kondo.

Curatorial walkthrough of the exhibition at Mori.

The lecture slides are available on our website.

Mori Art Museum curator Kenichi Kondo introducing the program.

Panel: The Development and Future Direction of Alternative Moving Image
Archives in the U.S. and Japan
November 26, 2016
Nihon University College of Art, Ekoda Campus
This keynote talks focused on the history and the current possibilities of moving image
archiving efforts by alternative organizations by comparatively observing methods,differences of infrastructure, and culture between Japan and the U.S. By encouraging
discussions with the invited guests Professor
Mona Jimenez of New York University andTochigi Akira, Curator of National Film Center(Tokyo), we aimed to initiate an international
platform to gather and discuss current
projects and situations that face their work inorganizing media archives in Japan.
Mona Jimenez presentation: Independent
Media & Film Preservation in the U.S.
Akira Tochigi presentation:
Challenges of Preserving ‘Alternative’ Moving
Image at National Film Center of Tokyo
Mona Jimenez and Akira Tochigi in discussion.

Social Meetings & Professional Exchange
During the trip to Tokyo, CCJ organized three social gatherings
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with the members of the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs (Bunka-cho), Mori Art
Museum, and the National Film Center.

Ms. Jimenez with Ms. Tagamori ofMori Art Museum.

Dinner with staff of the National Film Center.

Lunch with staff of Agency ofCultural Affairs.

Travel agenda for the Tokyo trip, forMona Jimenez, Laurie Duke, andAnn Adachi-Tasch.

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Advisory Meetings & the Digital Platform ProjectJapanese Advisory Group Meetings
May 30 and June 1, 2016
Meiji Gakuin University*For a full report of the meetings, please see Attachment ?

On Mary 30th and June 1st, 2016, CCJ held two Japanese Advisory Group Meetings at
the campus of Meiji Gakuin University. The meetings were conducted in two separate
groups, Cataloging Group and Preservation Group. The Cataloging Group comprisedof curators, researchers, and publisher, who are working to document the experimental
moving image and avant-garde art legacy in Japan. The Preservation Group gathered
members of film and video preservation professionals including archivists, corporate
technicians, and program managers. The purpose of these meetings was to introduce
the CCJ’s initiatives and seek feedback on how CCJ’s activities might parallel or support
those work being done by professionals in Japan.
In discussing CCJ’s proposed Digital Platform project in both meetings, the question of“what it is for” is a subject of concern, based on such comments listed below. By limiting
the access to the database to only the participating institutions (by membership) in thebeginning, perhaps the question of how this database can contribute to the archive andthe end-users may become apparent through the initial process of testing the system.
• In “access,” there is a mechanism of raising the value of an archive or collection,and creating a system that supports a mutually beneficial relationship between
archives and users is desired.
• Building on the policy that the handling of data is only for non-profit and public use,the project needs to first build trust with the participating institutions. In thatview, it may be best to start with just a closed, internal-use database.
Cataloging Group Participants：
Sen Uesaki（Fine art & archival theories）
Yuka Uematsu（National Museum of Art, Osaka）
Takashi Ichigoya（Aichi Prefectural Museum）
Hideki Kikkawa（Tokyo National Research Institute ofCultural Properties ）Chieko Kitade（21st Century Museum ofContemporary Art, Kanazawa）
Christophe Charles（Musashino Art University)
Kurokawa（Editor, Researcher, Grambooks）
Kenichi Kondo（Mori Art Museum）
Preservation Group Participants:
Ryo Ishikawa（National Film Center）
Yoneo Ota（Osaka University of Fine Arts,Toy Movie Museum）
Keiko Okamur (Tokyo Photographic Museum,TOP）
Kunitoshi Okuno（Nihon University）
Kim Jiha（Asian Culture Center）
Mariko Goda（IMAGICA West）Nobukazu Suzuki（Tokyo Koon）
Akihiro Suzuki（SIG）

Hirofumi Sakamoto（Postwar Japan Moving ImageArchive）
Hiroko Tasaka（Tokyo Photographic Museum）
Kaori Tada（Tokyo Photographic Museum）
Mihoko Nishikawa（Museum of Contemporary Art,Tokyo）
Minoru Hatanaka（NTT Inter Communication
Center(ICC))
Go Hirasawa（Meiji-Gakuin University）
Shuhei Hosoya（Media Art Research)
Tomoko Sekiguchi（ IMAGICA）
Hiroko Tasaka（TOP)Akira Tochigi（National Film Center）
Aki Nishikawa（Japan Foundation）
Go Hirasawa（Meiji-Gakuin University）
Keiji Matsumoto (Fukuoka City Library）
Kazuhiko Miura（National Film Center）
Ryohei Mito（IMAGICA）
Atsuko Morimune (Kawasaki City Museum）
Roland Domenig（Meiji-Gakuin University）

These discussions in Tokyo informed CCJ what to keep in mind when considering theblueprint of its Digital Platform project. These feedbacks were circulated to the American
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Advisory Committee members who met in March, 2017 to discuss how to proceed withthe Digital Platform project.
Advisory Committee Meetings
March 4, 2017: Boston
Present:
Kuniko Yamada McVey (Harvard University Yenching Library)
Ann Adachi-Tasch (CCJ).
March 10, 2017: New York
Present:
Lori Zippay (Executive Director at Electronic Arts Intermix)
Rebecca Cleman (Director of Distribution at EAI)
Chad Nelson, Lead Programmer at Temple University Library
Laurie Duke, Head of Operation at Grey Art Gallery
Julian Ross (Westminster University, Int’l Film Festival Rotterdam)
Go Hirasawa (Meiji Gakuin University)
Hiroko Tasaka (Tokyo Photographic Arts Museum)
Ann Adachi-Tasch (CCJ).
Digital Platform Project
One of the missions of CCJ is to offer access to research resources about Japaneseexperimental moving image. In the "Digital Platform" project, CCJ imagines a web
platform that acts as a portal to existing institutional collection information, and provides
descriptive information about the works, the artists, and the historical contexts, as well
as archival materials, interviews, and essays. CCJ has organized Committee Meetings
with experts in the field to discuss the potential of such project. To date, there has been
three international meetings, and there will be further investigations by the Digital
Platform Working Group to explore the nuts and bolts of the project, including subjects
such as bilingual cataloging, transferable datasets between applications, and copyrightissues.

Please note: There are additional reports available on CCJ’s website(www.collabjapan.org), including lecture videos, slides, interviews, artist profiles, andother materials.
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