Improving nihonto museums in Japan.

[TumiM]

Always a pleasure to share, and it seems silly not to tap the wealth of knowledge available on NMB!

As promised, here's the current set of captions and the 'mokuroku' index (attached). A couple of notes:

1. The item captions are made to be read while looking at the items, and in some cases rely on the illustrative sketches given on the printed Japanese captions - attached is one example.

2. I have just noticed that the explanatory pages that I had uploaded on jigane, hamon, etc. and which are mentioned in the caption explanations have disappeared from the site. I will fix that asap.

3. Also just noticed a couple of sloppy mistakes in the text. Ditto will fix.

4. I did used to put the Japanese mei in the indexes as well as the English, but it was getting too long and the Japanese one can be found here anyway, so mostly keep them separate now.

 

Just a couple of replies:

 

On 8/18/2024 at 5:23 PM, Lewis B said:

Thanks for the detailed feedback and response to our suggestions. Some here are true experts and their considered opinions are highly valued. I read an article last week in Japan Forward describing how Japanese sword making had been influential in your career path. With your roots and clear passion for the field I think you are an invaluable member of the team at the museum. 

I'm guessing the decision to ban lighting other than LED was made by bureaucrats who have no idea how best to display nihonto. Some styles of Jihada and Hamon certainly benefit from a halogen light source. 

 

For a specific reason my plans are evolving and I will be travelling to Japan for next years Dai Touken Ichi. Dates are yet to be confirmed for this annual event and as soon as they are announced I will make arrangements. Plan is still to visit the Bizen Osafune Museum though. 

Thanks for the comment! So while there is no denying that Japan has more issues than most with unnecessary bureaucracy, this case is a bit more tricky. Halogen bulbs give off a lot more UV and IR radiation than LED bulbs. Not enough to trouble people of course, but enough to cause serious damage to any organic materials (e.g. cloth/wood/pigment/lacquer) over time. While of course it has precious little effect on blades, any armours or koshirae, as well as documents like origami on display are very sensitive to this. Naturally, experienced/specialist curators would know this and would be able to make the necessary adjustments. However, many museums, especially the smaller ones, don't have specialists in all materials, and may even only have one inexperienced generalist. If the main aim for museums is to preserve cultural artefacts, it makes sense to some extent to just have a blanket rule for all lighting, to therefore limit the risks caused by individual staff ineptitude. Of course not ideal, but I suppose it's a case of being stuck between a rock and a hard place! But thoroughly get the frustration!

 

On 8/20/2024 at 12:29 AM, Jussi Ekholm said:

Thank you for very throughout reply Tumi. It was very enjoyable to read and gave us a lot of background information. Was also nice to read the article the Lewis B mentioned, to get to know you bit better.

 

I think one "free" thing to add might be an activity corner of some kind. Of course having never been into your museum I do not know the layout, just looking at the pictures online it seems your sword displays are top notch. I think some kind of activity area might appeal to general people, for example at Atsuta-Jingū you could try to lift up the replicas of their famous ōdachi, Tarōtachi and Jirōtachi, and average katana in comparison. In the new Nagoya Tōken World there is also section for holding a sword & gun. Perhaps you could feel different tsukamaki types/bare rayskin handle etc. As I believe you have craftsmen working in the premises, there might be lot of things you could do, that might appeal to general public. I am far too deep in this hobby to really understand what general public wants to see and learn.

Thanks for the suggestion! So this is something we do have to some extent. We have a spot for people to hold a (blunt) sword to gauge weight, and, as you say, in many cases, the craftsmen let people touch some of their materials/ tools. That being said, there's a lot that can still be done, but we've got a major project in the works that should roughly triple the amount of interactive experiences at the museum going forward. Quite honestly, the craft seems to be what draws a lot of visitors in, so it's definitely something we should be focusing on!

 

Thanks guys!

2024-2-目録英語.pdf

[Lewis B]

55 minutes ago, TumiM said:

Always a pleasure to share, and it seems silly not to tap the wealth of knowledge available on NMB!

As promised, here's the current set of captions and the 'mokuroku' index (attached). A couple of notes:

1. The item captions are made to be read while looking at the items, and in some cases rely on the illustrative sketches given on the printed Japanese captions - attached is one example.

2. I have just noticed that the explanatory pages that I had uploaded on jigane, hamon, etc. and which are mentioned in the caption explanations have disappeared from the site. I will fix that asap.

3. Also just noticed a couple of sloppy mistakes in the text. Ditto will fix.

4. I did used to put the Japanese mei in the indexes as well as the English, but it was getting too long and the Japanese one can be found here anyway, so mostly keep them separate now.

 

Just a couple of replies:

 

Thanks for the comment! So while there is no denying that Japan has more issues than most with unnecessary bureaucracy, this case is a bit more tricky. Halogen bulbs give off a lot more UV and IR radiation than LED bulbs. Not enough to trouble people of course, but enough to cause serious damage to any organic materials (e.g. cloth/wood/pigment/lacquer) over time. While of course it has precious little effect on blades, any armours or koshirae, as well as documents like origami on display are very sensitive to this. Naturally, experienced/specialist curators would know this and would be able to make the necessary adjustments. However, many museums, especially the smaller ones, don't have specialists in all materials, and may even only have one inexperienced generalist. If the main aim for museums is to preserve cultural artefacts, it makes sense to some extent to just have a blanket rule for all lighting, to therefore limit the risks caused by individual staff ineptitude. Of course not ideal, but I suppose it's a case of being stuck between a rock and a hard place! But thoroughly get the frustration!

 

Thanks for the suggestion! So this is something we do have to some extent. We have a spot for people to hold a (blunt) sword to gauge weight, and, as you say, in many cases, the craftsmen let people touch some of their materials/ tools. That being said, there's a lot that can still be done, but we've got a major project in the works that should roughly triple the amount of interactive experiences at the museum going forward. Quite honestly, the craft seems to be what draws a lot of visitors in, so it's definitely something we should be focusing on!

 

Thanks guys!

2024-2-目録英語.pdf 689.68 kB · 0 downloads

Hi Tumi,

I see your point. Often I see these items exhibited all together in a diorama. It would make sense to put less significant blades in these displays where closer examination isn't completely necessary to enjoy the subject matter. Hopefully those museums that exhibit significant blades from important makers and gokuden will have a dedicated space for optimal, critical viewing, will have curators who are sensitive to the lighting, blade angle, height etc and can accommodate. These displays could have blade optimal lighting, it just takes a little thought. 

With the example of the Muramasa, a QR code could be printed on the info card and then the content described in the selected language. Can I suggest the VoiceOver used by YouTuber "Historyofkatana"... it's perfect for Nihonto and Samurai art.