British museums and galleries are looking for ways to revitalize their collections of Japanese artifacts and increase the public's interest in them.
Britain has one of the largest and most diverse collections of Japanese items outside Japan. There are an estimated half a million objects in 150 galleries across the country. Many of those items were brought to Britain during the 19th century when Japanese articles were fashionable among the upper classes.
But the Japan Foundation in London feels that some of the items are not being properly displayed or valued, and in some cases neglected.
To address this problem, the foundation recently held a meeting of curators to come up with ways to improve the collections.