Ritsumeikan University ｜ Kinugasa Research Organization ｜ Art Research Center

The Art Research Center (ARC)

Creating a Digital Humanities-Based Global Hub to Research, Document,and Preserve Tangible and Intangible Culture and Art Resources
The Art Research Center (ARC) was established in 1998.
Since then, the mission of the ARC has been to not only conduct
historical and social research and analyses of both tangible andintangible cultural properties such as visual and performing artsand craftsmanship, but also to record, organize, preserve, anddisseminate the research outcomes. As a research institute at acomprehensive university in Kyoto, the ARC has, from the outset, been conducting joint and project-based research with both
domestic and international research institutions by integrating
humanities and cutting-edge information science and gathering
the wisdom of researchers in different fields.
Since being selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture,Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for the 21st Century
COE (Center for Excellence) Program “Kyoto Art Entertainment
Innovation Research” in the 2000s, the ARC has promoted re-search in Japanese culture by linking the traditional humanities
and information science and has become a representative hubfor digital humanities (DH) in Japan, while also nurturing youngresearchers.
Furthermore, the ARC has been working to enhance andeffectively utilize the vast amount of digitized data on both tangible and intangible Japanese cultural resources accumulated
through our research and educational activities. The Center also
aims to improve its digital techniques as well as networks withrelevant institutions and organizations in Japan and abroad.
In 2019, the ARC assumed its role as the International Joint
Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC)
upon being accredited by the MEXT as an International Joint
Usage / Research Center, aiming to establish a world-class research hub for digital humanities-based research.

Main Academic Exchange and Research Cooperation Institutions
Japan: Katayama Noh and Kyomai Preservation Foundation; Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, Waseda University; Kunitachi College of Music Library;
International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken); National Institute of Japanese Literature (NIJL)
Overseas: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Art Institute of Chicago; Columbia University; School of Oriental and African
Studies (SOAS), University of London; Victoria and Albert Museum; The British Museum; Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC); University of California, Berkeley; National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia

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RITSUMEIKAN RESEARCH# Research Structure for Integrating the Humanities and SciencesHistorical Geographic Information ResearchDigital Archiving Technology Research• Kyoto historical GIS, Kyoto VR/AR• Digital sound reconstruction of traditional instruments andsupport for digital performances• Gion Festival Digital Museum• VR technology development and application: Gion Festival,• GIS conversion of digital-archived photos

Borobudur Temple Compounds, and psychology• Georeferencing

International Researchon Japanese Culture• Ukiyo-e image matching using deep-learning models• Multilingual cross-search• Digital archiving of 2D/3D cultural re-Kyoto Culture Researchsources and research on their international contribution and sustainability• Building intellectual circles for sharing
cultural information• Development of a Transcription Supportand mentoring system for kuzushiji (cursive script)

Web-based Research Technology• Kyoto traditional performing arts research• Game Studies and research on play

• Kyoto (production-related) film culture archive• Media art research• Kyoto street culture archive• Research in utilizing the metaverse• Research related to the Shuten-doji picture scrolls• Development of next-generation regional archiving methods• Research on “Gen Z” web contents

MEXT International Joint Usage / Research Center:
International Joint Digital Archiving Center for Japanese Art and Culture (ARC-iJAC)•The ARC is one of seven International Joint Usage/
Research Centers nationwide and the only one
accredited as such at a private university.

•The ARC provides an online research environment,
the “ARC Research Space,” to support efficientresearch based on digital archives.

Analog Research Resources•ARC Research Space

Besides access to the Center’s facilities and equipment, the ARC-iJAC provides a Technical Support
Board for researchers so that even those new todigital archiving can work in the digital research
environment with ease.

1) “Cultural Resource Databases” for highly specialized research fields
2) “Reference Databases” that can be constructed foreach project3) “Virtual Institute / Digital Museum” to easily
disseminate research achievements of various
research groups4) “ArtWiki” that can be constructed by each researchgroup
5) “ARC Cloud” with functions comparable to commercial cloud computing

Restoration work

File Server
User

UserDigital
Archives

OnlineResearch
Activities

SupportSupport

Databases

Technical Support BoardDigital
Exhibitions

WebPublishingArtWiki

Revolution in the Research Stylesof Humanities Researchers

Digital archiving

Digitization of Resources/ Construction of Digital Archives/
Operation of Databases

Network Environment / Functions

Digital-archived Fune-hoko
float of the Gion Festival

Ukiyo-e Portal Database

Director of the ARC: Ryo Akama (Professor, College of Letters)
Location: Kinugasa Campus, Ritsumeikan University
Inquiries: Office of the Art Research Center, Kinugasa Research Office, Division of Research, Ritsumeikan University
TEL: 075-466-3411 FAX: 075-466-3415 EMAIL: arc-jimu@arc.ritsumei.ac.jp http://www.arc.ritsumei.ac.jp/
Twitter: @RitsARC Instagram: @Ritsumeikan_ARC