Rekihaku International Symposium
“Rekihaku’s New Perspectives on Jomon Culture and Yayoi Culture: Towards Reconstruction of Prehistoric Japan”

Description

In Japanese archaeology, numerical ages (calibrated ages) based on accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating started to appear in the 1980s. Since the turn of the 21st century, there has been a shift in historical description towards numerical ages (calendar ages) from relative ages based on pottery of the Jomon and Yayoi periods. Such changes have led to reassessment of prehistoric Japan. In particular, temporal and spatial reconsideration of Jomon culture and Yayoi culture at the archipelago scale has received increasing attention.

This symposium aims to address the above issues with a focus on Jomon and Yayoi, taking into account the prior and subsequent periods (the Paleolithic period and the Kofun period), as well as the relations with adjacent areas (Ryukyu and the Korean Peninsula). The symposium will welcome three keynote speakers. Professor Alex Bayliss, a leading researcher on radiocarbon dating in the UK, will give a keynote lecture on the current status of the latest AMS radiocarbon dating and its application to prehistoric cultures.

*This symposium is held as part of NIHU Interactive Communication Initiative.

Date and Time December 2, 2017, 9:15 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Location International Conference Hall, Tokyo International Exchange Center
(2-2-1 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo)
Symposium fee Free
Attendees Approximately 400
Target Audience Researchers, students, the general public
Languages Japanese and English; simultaneous interpretation will be available
Registration Registration starts on September 1, 2017 (first-come first-served)

Program

9:15- 9:20

Opening Remarks 
Hiroshi Kurushima
Director-General, National Museum of Japanese History

9:20- 9:30

Introductory Speech 
Shin’ichiro Fujio
Professor, National Museum of Japanese History

9:30-10:15

Keynote Lecture> 
Prehistoric Ryukyu Culture in Comparison with Jomon Culture and Yayoi Culture: Focusing on the Kaizuka (Shellmound) Culture of Okinawa
Naoko Kinoshita
Professor, Faculty of Letters, Kumamoto University

10:15-11:00

Keynote Lecture> 
Archaeological Interaction Between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago During the 1st Millennium BC
Changhee Lee 
Assistant Professor, College of Humanities, Dongguk University, Korea

11:00-11:45

Keynote Lecture 
Using Radiocarbon Dating and Bayesian Chronological Modelling to Write Prehistoric Histories for England
Alex Bayliss
Head of Scientific Dating, Historic England, the UK

13:10-13:40

Reconsideration of Transitional Phase from the Late Paleolithic to the Jomon Period
Yuichiro Kudo 
Associate Professor, National Museum of Japanese History

13:40-14:10

What is JOMON?: Reconsideration of Its Framework and Culture
Yasuhiro Yamada
Professor, National Museum of Japanese History

14:10-14:40

Reassessing Prehistoric Japan in Light of the Long-Term Chronology of the Yayoi Period
Shin’ichiro Fujio
Professor, National Museum of Japanese History

14:40-15:10

East Asian Burial Mound Culture: A New Approach to Understanding the Kofun Period, Protohistoric Japan
Takehiko Matsugi
Professor, National Museum of Japanese History

15:40-16:55

Discussion
* Keynote speakers and presenters

16:55-17:00

Closing Remarks  
Hitoshi Hayashibe
Deputy Director-General, National Museum of Japanese History

* A reception will be held following the symposium. (Participation fee required; starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Tokyo International Exchange Center)

How to register

From registration form:
You can find the registration form in the link destination below;
registration form

By a reply‐paid postcard:
Please write the items below and send to the following address;
・Application to the international symposium on 2 December
・your address
・your name
・your phone number
・join the reception party or not  *There is a charge of admission fee.

Research Affairs Division, National Museum of Japanese History
〒285-8502 117 Jonai-cho, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

 

Rekihaku International Symposium
“Transmitters of Another Culture: Research on Japan-related Overseas Collections from the 19th Century”

Description

In Europe and elsewhere outside of Japan, there are massive collections of Japan-related materials created by foreigners during Japan’s early modern and modern period. However, they have not been adequately surveyed and researched. Collections from the 19th century are particularly large in size and include materials not found within Japan. Furthermore, they are benchmark materials with a relatively clear time of collection. For these reasons, they are very useful historical sources, and it is important that surveys and research on them advance.

The National Museum of Japanese History has been carrying out surveys of the collections created by foreigners who resided in Japan during the first half and middle of the 19th century, such as the German doctor Philipp Franz von Siebold and Deshima Chief Trader Jan Cock Blomhoff. Based on these surveys, it has produced a public image database of all items in the Munich Museum Fünf Kontinente’s Siebold Collection, as well as held a traveling exhibition in Japan. (A Germany exhibition is also being planned).

Furthermore, in 2016 the National Museum of Japanese History began surveying and researching nineteenth century Japan-related collections from the generation of Siebold’s sons. Focusing on an exhaustive survey of the Vienna Weltmuseum’s Heinrich von Siebold collection, it also includes survey research on other items collected by Heinrich as well as by Siebold's other son Alexander that are scattered in various places, and collections that serve as points for comparison (such as those of Erwin von Bälz and Edward S. Morse). Furthermore, in cooperation with local research institutions that hold other nineteenth century Japan-related collections in Great Britain and Switzerland, this project carries out research and provides support for exhibition and educational activities related to these collections.

This symposium will, therefore, focuses on the nineteenth century, a time in which collections shifted from being those of royalty and nobility with an enlightenment orientation to modern ones. Based on presentations regarding Japan-related collections located overseas that were formed during this time, its goal is to trace developments in the formation of Japan-related collections, contributing to our holistic understanding of overseas collections related to cultures different. Furthermore, it is our hope that it will provide an opportunity to deepen our knowledge regarding the usage of and issues involving Japan-related materials.

While spoken of as one whole, the 19th century was not monolithic: Japan’s isolation ended, Japonisme appeared, and so on. Therefore, while focusing on the collectors who lived in the century's various eras and the people around them, this symposium will concretely bring into relief aspects of the reception of Japanese culture while focusing on these collectors’ perspectives, the relationship of expos and the establishment of museums with the formation of these collections, and business-related elements such as trade and the promotion of industry.

The symposium will cover individuals involved in the formation of Japan-related collections such as the following: (A) collectors who came to Japan for a set period of time and experienced Japanese culture (such as foreign government advisors), (B) collectors who temporarily resided in Japan as part of their worldwide travels, (C) collectors who, while not visiting Japan, resided in other parts of Asia such as China, (D) collectors who acquired materials exhibited at world expos or items from art dealers, also never coming to Japan, and (E) Japanese who helped collectors and art dealers who contributed to their collections.

Flyer

Date and Time From 10:30 to 17:00 on October 28, 2017 (open at 10:00)
From 10:00 to 17:00 on October 29, 2017 (open at 9:30)
Location Auditorium (Special Exhibition Wing B2F), The National Museum of Western Art
(7-7 Ueno-koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0007, JAPAN)
Symposium fee Free
Attendees 140
Cosponsor The National Museum of Western Art
Support The Japan World Exposition 1970 Commemorative Fund.
Languages Japanese and English; simultaneous interpretation will be available
Registration Start 28 September
Close 25 October

Program

28 October (Sat)
10:30~10:40 Opening Remarks  Director Kurushima Hiroshi(National Museum of Japanese History)
10:40~11:10 Explanation of Aims  Hidaka Kaori(National Museum of Japanese History)
11:10~11:40 1. Hōya Tōru (Historiographical Institute, The University of Tokyo)
: Turning Overseas Japan-Related Historical Materials into Research Resources at The University of Tokyo’s Historiographical Institute
11:40~12:00 Questions
13:00~13:30 2. Sakuraba Miki(National Museum of Japanese History)
: Japanese Porcelain and Competition between Holy Roman Empire Princes surrounding Porcelain Cabinets
13:30~14:00 3. Rudolf Effert, (Leiden University)
: Assignment Japan - three civil servants collecting for a “new” Royal Cabinet
14:00~14:30 4. Bruno Richtsfeld, (Museum Fünf Kontinente München)
: Changing Perspectives. The Siebold Collection and 150 years of Exhibition Activities on Japanese Culture in the Museum of Ethnography/Museum Fünf Kontinente at Munich
14:50~15:20 5. Johannes Wieninger (Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna)
: Heinrich Siebold’s collection in the MAK – Austrian Museum for applied arts in Vienna
15:20~15:50 6. Kobayashi Jun’ichi (Edo-Tokyo Museum)
: The Morse Collection of Ceramics and Others
15:50~16:20 7. Suzuki Hiroyuki (Tokyo Gakugei University)
: From Porcelain to Pottery: Changing Taste in the West Toward Japanese Arts in the Late Nineteenth Century
16:20~17:00 Questions
29 October (Sun)
10:00~10:30 1. Geneviève Lacambre (Musée d'Orsay, Paris)
: 19th century (till 1855) Japanese lacquers in french collections from Dutch and chinese origins
10:30~11:00 2. Imai Tomo (Arts Maebashi)
: The Gazes of Art Dealers, Collectors, and Museums: The History of the Taste for Far Eastern Artworks in France
11:00~11:30 3. Miyuki Aoki Girardellli (Istanbul Technical University)
: The Image of Japan for the Ottoman Sultans: Japanese Decorative Art Objects in the Turkish National Palaces Collection
11:30~12:00 Questions
13:00~13:30 4. Katada Satoko (Sophia University)
: Alexander von Siebold and the Vienna World’s Exposition as a Site of “Visual Publicity”
13:30~14:00 5. Bettina Zorn (Weltmuseum, Vienna)
: About the Illustrations Heinrich von Siebold used for his Publication on the ‘Aino’
14:20~14:50 6. Filip Suchomel (the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and the Research Department of the National Gallery in Prague)
: Collecting Japanese art in Czech lands in the long 19th century with a special emphasize to Japanese decorative art
14:50~15:20 7. Sawada Kazuto(National Museum of Japanese History)
: Changes in Tastes Regarding Japanese Textiles in the United States : The Sales Activities of Nomura Shōjirō
15:20~15:40 Questions
15:50~16:50 Discussion
16:50~17:00 Closing remarks Director Mabuchi Akiko(The National Museum of Western Art)

* This program may be subject to change at the discretion of the organizer.

How to register

From registration form:
You can find the registration form in the link destination below;
registration form

By a reply‐paid postcard:
Please write the items below and send to the following address;
・”Application to the international symposium on 28 and 29 October”
・your name
・your affiliation
・your address
・your phone number
・the date(s) you wish to join

Research Affairs Division, National Museum of Japanese History
〒285-8502 117 Jonai-cho, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

 

Rekihaku International Symposium
“The Name of Era, a Mirror of the Thought and Culture of East Asia”

Theme The Name of Era, a Mirror of the Thought and Culture of East Asia
Date From 9:30 to 17:30 on October 21, 2017 (open at 9:00)
From 9:30 to 16:30 on October 22, 2017
Venue National Museum of Japanese History
The Fixed Number 55 (need to register in advance, decided by lot)
Registration Start 24 August
Close 29 September
Registration Fee Free
Cosponsor JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 15H03157 Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) “Establishing a common ground for research on the materials concerning Japanese era names”

How to register

From registration form:
You can find the registration form in the link destination below;
registration form

By a reply‐paid postcard:
Please write the items below and send to the following address;
・Application to the international symposium on 21 and 22 October
・your name
・your affiliation
・your mail address
・the date(s) you wish to join

Research Affairs Division, National Museum of Japanese History
〒285-8502 117 Jonai-cho, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan