The government is considering designating highly skilled masters of Japanese cuisine and sake brewing as "living national treasures," a title currently limited to performers and experts skilled in traditional arts and crafts, sources familiar with the matter said Friday. The Cultural Affairs Agency also plans ...
What makes a National Treasure?
Together, Japan's National Treasures provide a cacophonous ode to the nation and its heritage for its historical, cultural, geographical and stylistic dissonances. Yet, this is the first time in 41 years that 210 such works (or sets) have been displayed en masse. On their own, ...
Seeing Greece, before its civilization peaked
We are only a month or so away from the Rio Olympics. While the world will soon be focused on that, in Japan many will also be thinking four years ahead to the Tokyo Olympics. It is easy, then, to see why the Tokyo ...
'Generations of Mitsui Family Treasures'
Nov. 14-Jan. 23 This year is the 10th anniversary of Mitsui Memorial Museum and the 50th anniversary of its original name, Mitsui Bunko. Mitsui Bunko museum was established in 1965 by the Mitsui Group, one of the world's largest corporate groups, and became known as ...
Kyoto bids to host Cultural Affairs Agency
The city of Kyoto is stepping up efforts to become the new home of the Cultural Affairs Agency, which works to protect Japan's officially designated cultural treasures. Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa, Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada and corporate executives in the Kansai region met Wednesday to coordinate ...
Treasures worth standing in line for
There is a fundamental problem with the Tokyo National Museum (TNM), which I come up against time and time again. In a nutshell, the venue is too big for its exhibits and too small for its audience. This is underlined yet again by the ...
There are gods behind the Idemitsu Museum of Arts
In 1942, Idemitsu, a native of the Munakata area of Fukuoka Prefecture, led the Munakata Shrine Fukko Kiseikai (Restoration Committee) and was instrumental in restoring the grand shrine's buildings, which were by that point in a derelict state.
