Hey guys,
Apologies getting back to you all, especially in view of the great feedback. Unfortunately I've been without a working computer for the last week, but back up and running now!
Thanks everyone who's answered the questionnaire. Been a massive help.
Thanks for the photos a couple of you sent of the Berlin museum. I haven't had the chance to go there before and it looks like they're doing a lot of the kinds of things that would be valuable in Japan.
Now for a block of text, but just want to address a few of the points that have come up in several people's comments and give you guys a little insight into the inner workings of museums.
1. Multi-lingual info: This is a massive one. I'm very sad to hear that the Nagoya museum isn't up to snuff, especially in view of the amount of money put into it. And I agree totally that even the bigger national museums could really improve what they're offering. As for our museum, here's what we currently have/ are working on re: multi-lingual info.
a. The Japanese info panels that we have are fairly detailed for each individual sword, giving appraisal notes and historical details of the smith/blade. Because of this, when we tried to put the English info in physical form within the cases, they took up too much room and became rather cluttered. At the mo, I've been putting all the English caption info online, accessible through a QR code in the exhibition room. Not 100% ideal, but at least it also allows for auto-translation into languages other than English. We've also got a couple of folders with print-outs which people can carry around with them as they go through the exhibitions.
b. I definitely agree with the utility of a museum app. While I doubt I will be able to secure funding for a fully custom-made app like those at the museums mentioned, I am trying to get some kind of audio-guide made so that people can listen as they look, likely using an off-the-shelf, free utility like Izi Travel or SmartGuide. If any forumites have experience with audio-guides or museum app production and have advice, I would absolutely love to hear it!
c. If anyone has any inventive/low-cost solutions that they've seen in other places, absolutely all-ears.
2. Technology: This too is a real sticking point. As you might imagine, a countryside museum like ours doesn't have the largest budget, so I've been struggling to get anything technology-related funded. Something like those screens in the Berlin museum I feel would be ideal, as they would allow people to switch between multi-lingual captions, but alas. An interesting point that some of you may not have seen is that even the national museums are struggling. It was covered in the news quite widely here last year but, for example, the Tokyo National Museum had a several-million dollar shortfall in their budget last year because their electricity bill had gone up massively. As you will all probably know, swords have to be kept at a cool 21 degrees celsius and <45% RH, which can lead to just the climate control in summer costing upwards of 100K for even a smaller museum like us.
3. Purchasing policies: Following on from the last point, Michael.S is absolutely correct re: funding issues. We have been able to get a bit of money from central government to improve our museum's permanent introductory area, but for regular exhibitions, the funding is fairly limited. Another thing is that any museums run by local government are rather hamstrung by their purchasing policies. Basically, if a company is not local, the city office and museums can't buy anything from them (supposedly to support local businesses). This may not be a problem in large cities, but for us, that means spending huge amounts for even the basics, due to economies of scale. Honestly, this is one of my biggest bugbears and a major cause of contention.
4. Lighting: This, I think, we do pretty well, though I suppose comes from being set up specifically to look at swords. When we set up an exhibition, we adjust the angle and bulb-type of every single light fitting to best show off each individual blade (e.g. switching between LED and halogen to better show off hada or hamon). Unfortunately, new laws are coming in that require that use of LEDs across the board in museums, so we will be slightly limited in that respect potentially going forward. We regularly discuss with local polishers to get advice on lighting too, so we are definitely attempting to improve in this area.
Unfortunately, despite the high-quality of the collections in the TNM, not all rooms are set up for sword displays, so I must agree that when I went to see their National Treasure exhibition last year, the swords were not in their usual room, and so the lighting left a lot to be desired. That said, their sword curator (Sato san) is top-class, so it's definitely more an issue with the facility, and not the staff, and the main sword gallery is well-lit.
5. Monoculars: We actually lend these to customers for free if they ask, so be sure to check with us for one if you ever visit (ask for a 'tangankyo').
6. National Treasure displays: This may be new info for some, so out of interest I thought I'd mention it! All Municipally/Prefecturally/Nationally-Designated Important Cultural Properties (including National Treasures) can only be displayed for a max of 60 days/ year by law to aid in preservation. While this is the legal max, many objects are displayed for much less time, due to their condition. For instance, the Sanchomo's koshirae is in a delicate state, so we generally limit it to 10 days/ year.
7. More info on the web: Thanks for the recommendation Jussi. I'll see what I can do. While I don't think a fully searchable collections database (a la British Museum, MET, etc.) will be possible, mostly due to the limitations of our website CMS, I will try to make sure that at least the translated English exhibition index is uploaded for each new exhibition from now on.
Fun fact, it was touch-and-go as to whether we would be able to display the onaginata due to its size. Luckily, there is exactly one spot where we can actually get it into the case.
7. Sensible exhibition orders and expositive info: This too is something I think we are doing reasonably well, though I do think that, if anything, we actually have too much explanatory info and could do with reducing the amount. Even so, while we do generally also put items in time order (simply because we want to go out on a 'bang' and the best stuff tends to be oldest), we make sure to have info for each item and thematic info given after every 2-3 blades.
7. Curatorial eccentricities: Another bit of info that people might be interested in and may explain some of the problems people have seen at museums. As some have already surmised, many museums don't actually have a specialist sword curator, which explains the poor lighting in a lot of places. However, even where there is one, each tends to have a very specific way of doing things. For instance, despite most museums displaying tachi curve down, and katana curve up, I believe it was the curator at the Kyoto National Museum who does everything curve up, as he's worried about chipping the edge if it's edge down.
In our case, the curator was originally a researcher/writer, so we tend to be very heavy on caption info, with less effort placed into graphics/broader considerations around visitor knowledge-levels etc. None of these ways of doing things is necessarily correct or incorrect, but they are reflected in the exhibitions.
Lewis B, unfortunately no special exhibition in May 2025, but in fact it is likely that that will be when we are hosting the first exhibition that I will be in charge of, likely themed on comparisons between Japanese swords and those from other countries. If you happen to visit, give me a shout!
For those interested in seeing captions for our current exhibition, don't currently have a link, but will grab that tomorrow and post here so people can see what they're like (I will say in advance, many apologies for the rough formatting, again, the CMS is not great).
