The energy crisis isn’t just getting expensive for households and businesses in Japan. Surging electricity bills are also weighing on the keepers of the nation’s samurai swords, ancient scrolls and other art treasures.
The Tokyo National Museum, considered the oldest and largest such institution in Japan, expects utility costs to more than double the budget allocated for this year ending in March, according to an article written by museum director Makoto Fujiwara for Bungei Shunju magazine. The expense is crucial for protecting the museum’s 120,000 priceless objects from Japan and other parts of Asia.
"Cultural artifacts need to be preserved in storage with the right temperature and humidity” to ensure they remain in good condition, Fujiwara wrote in the article. The institution has to cut back on purchasing and repairing cultural properties in order to make ends meet this year, he added.