LOG(Message from the Chairman)

LOG (Message from the Chairman)

2021-2022

Fiscal 2021 Message from the Chairman

Upon the occasion of being selected as the JAHS Society Chairman for fiscal 2021, I would like to remark on the current state of JAHS and my hopes for the Society.

The Japan Art History Society was established in June 1949 with 201 members, with the aim of promoting research activities related to art history. Upon the occasion of the 74th General Meeting of the Society held at Kobe University in May 2021, the society's current membership was noted as 2,233 members. This eleven-fold increase in membership over the past 70 plus years is a true reflection of the burgeoning increase in art historical research in Japan during that period.
And yet, if we reflect on art history studies, which are currently experiencing the constraints of existing frameworks within the ongoing dangerous period for humanities studies as a whole, I believe that many JAHS members share with me the concern that we should not be peacefully satisfied with the current state of our field. I also believe that we have arrived at a point in time in which JAHS itself must continue to not only preserve its good traditions but also set out in daring new directions.

JAHS operations are carried out by the Eastern and Western Divisions of the Standing Committee (with 18 Administrative Officers in the Eastern Division and 12 in the Western Division). A General Assembly is held once a year, while the Eastern and Western Divisions each hold five Regular Meetings per year, along with General Meetings and the co-organizing and support of other related activities each year. The late Tsuji Sahoko, Professor Emeritus at Ochanomizu Women’s University and Nagoya University, bequeathed funds to JAHS, which have been used to establish the Sahoko Tsuji Memorial Fund for the Promotion of Art Historical Study. This fund supports visits to Japan by foreign scholars.

The results of these activities and the research reports given at the General Assembly and Division Meetings are published in the scholarly journal Bijutsushi. Published semi-annually, Bijutsushi features articles that have undergone a strict review by the Editorial Committee and external readers. The Bijutsushi Prize is awarded annually to one to three articles that have been judged to be superior by the Prize Committee from amongst those published in that year’s Bijutsushi issues.
Work is progressing on Art History in Japan, a two-volume publication containing 20 of the previous Bijutsushi Prize winning articles translated into English. This publication is being jointly produced by Singapore University Press, Columbia University Press and the University of Tokyo Press. This publication aims to disseminate Japan’s rich cultural heritage and superb art historical research to audiences worldwide. This project was begun from the decision that not only individual scholars but also JAHS as a whole should take a more active stance in conveying information about Japanese culture and the state of research in Japan to worldwide audiences. We look forward to this book’s release in the near future.

JAHS has specific officers in charge of our liaisons with other organizations, such as our member who liaises with the Japanese Association for Art Studies that brings together academic art-related societies such as the Japan Society for Aesthetics, along with others who each liaise respectively with the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA) and the Conference of Eastern Studies and Asia Research.

As seen above, JAHS offers opportunities for research reports and publications, carries out its activities not only with the cooperation of universities and research institutes, but also art museums and related organizations, and strives towards internationalization. All of these projects and events fall within our stated aim to further art historical research activities.

Regarding the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), the efforts of all JAHS members to increase the number of KAKENHI grants applications and those awarded have made an extremely important contribution to art history research. In the current KAKENHI List of Categories, Areas, Disciplines and Research Fields, Art History has been successfully maintained as an independent discipline within the Art Studies category. I believe that an even greater effort is necessary within this framework.

And yet, it is true that today JAHS faces various operational issues and challenges. In sum, membership numbers have slightly decreased, and there has been a slight decrease in member fees collected. Further, the percentage of members voting in the Standing Committee elections is too low. As well, it is increasingly difficult to convince universities to host our annual General Assemblies. The burden borne by the universities holding the General Assemblies, as well as the day-to-day operations of the Head Office and Eastern and Western Division Offices, are also problems to be resolved.

We must thus reduce the administrative work of the JAHS offices in general, and the efficient use of IT solutions can assist this process. As part of this effort we are shifting from a paper-based communications system to e-mail communications. We must also gain the understanding and cooperation of each committee member and individual member as we work towards improved Society procedures and systems.

Since 2020 the world has been grappling with the spread of Covid-19 and many core JAHS activities have been among those greatly affected by the pandemic. The Society has seen a succession of canceled face-to-face events and research report presentations. In the face of these difficulties JAHS as a whole has worked diligently to shift its important functions to an online format, including meetings of the Standing Committee and General Assembly.

In 2021, as the pandemic continues to restrict activities throughout Japan, JAHS will continue to use an online format for all of its Society functions. In the future we can anticipate shifting to an in-person or hybrid format, but given the current uncertainties, for the next while we will use online format meetings and communication.

JAHS continues to strive to provide an environment that supports advances in art historical research. I will work to help advance JAHS as an academic society active globally in our increasingly interconnected world, and a stimulating and fascinating academic society that fosters the next generation of scholars. I hope that each Society member will continue to cooperate with JAHS efforts and join me in furthering these goals.

September 2021

Miura Atsushi
Chairman, JAHS

2018-2020

Fiscal 2018 Message from the Chairman

Upon the occasion of being selected as the new JAHS Society Chairman for fiscal 2018, I would like to introduce myself and remark on the current state of JAHS and my hopes for the Society.

The Japan Art History Society was established in June 1949 with 201 members, with the aim of promoting research activities related to art history. In May 2018, the 71st General Meeting of the Society held at Tohoku University included the announcement that membership now stands at 2,418. This twelve-fold increase in membership over the past 60 plus years is a true reflection of the burgeoning increase in art historical research in Japan during that period.
And yet, if we reflect on art history studies, which are currently experiencing the constraints of existing frameworks within the ongoing dangerous period for humanities studies as a whole, I believe that many JAHS members share with me the concern that we should not be peacefully satisfied with the current state of our field. I also believe that we have arrived at a point in time in which JAHS itself must continue to not only preserve its good traditions but also set out in daring new directions.

JAHS operations are carried out by the Eastern and Western Divisions of the Standing Committee (with 18 Administrative Officers in the Eastern Division and 12 in the Western Division). A General Assembly is held once a year, while the Eastern and Western Divisions each hold five Regular Meetings per year, along with General Meetings and the co-organizing and support of other related activities each year. The late Tsuji Sahoko, Professor Emeritus at Ochanomizu Women’s University and Nagoya University, bequeathed funds to JAHS, which have been used to establish the Sahoko Tsuji Memorial Fund for the Promotion of Art Historical Study. This fund supports visits to Japan by foreign scholars.
The results of these activities and the research reports given at the General Assembly and Division Meetings are published in the scholarly journal Bijutsushi. Published semi-annually, Bijutsushi features articles that have undergone a strict review by the Editorial Committee and external readers. The Bijutsushi Prize is awarded annually to one to three articles that have been judged to be superior by the Prize Committee from amongst those published in that year’s Bijutsushi issues.
Work is progressing on Art History in Japan, a two-volume publication containing 20 of the previous Bijutsushi Prize winning articles translated into English. This publication is being jointly produced by Singapore University Press, Columbia University Press and the University of Tokyo Press. This publication aims to disseminate Japan’s rich cultural heritage and superb art historical research to audiences worldwide. This project was begun from the decision that not only individual scholars but also JAHS as a whole should take a more active stance in conveying information about Japanese culture and the state of research in Japan to worldwide audiences. We look forward to this book’s release in the near future.
JAHS has specific officers in charge of our liaisons with other organizations, such as our member who liaises with the Japanese Association for Art Studies that brings together academic art-related societies such as the Japan Society for Aesthetics, along with others who each liaise respectively with the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA) and the Conference of Eastern Studies and Asia Research.

As seen above, JAHS offers opportunities for research reports and publications, carries out its activities not only with the cooperation of universities and research institutes, but also art museums and related organizations, and strives towards internationalization. All of these projects and events fall within our stated aim to further art historical research activities.
Regarding the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), the efforts of all JAHS members to increase the number of KAKENHI grants applications and those awarded have made an extremely important contribution to art history research. In the current KAKENHI List of Categories, Areas, Disciplines and Research Fields, Art History has been successfully maintained as an independent discipline within the Art Studies category. I believe that an even greater effort is necessary within this framework.

And yet, it is true that JAHS currently faces various issues and challenges. In sum, membership numbers may have peaked or indeed slightly decreased, and there has been a slight decrease in member fees collected. Further, the percentage of members voting in the Standing Committee elections is too low. As well, it is increasingly difficult to convince universities to host our annual General Assemblies. The burden borne by the universities holding the General Assemblies, as well as the day-to-day operations of the Head Office and Eastern and Western Division Offices, are also problems to be resolved.
It is therefore necessary to reduce the administrative work of the JAHS offices in general, and the efficient use of information technology provides one possible solution. At present we are shifting from a paper-based communications system to e-mail communications. We must also gain the understanding and cooperation of each committee member and individual member as we work on solutions to these issues.

JAHS continues to strive to provide an environment that supports advances in art historical research. I will work to help advance JAHS as an academic society active globally in our increasingly interconnected world, and a stimulating and fascinating academic society that fosters the next generation of scholars. I hope that each Society member will continue to cooperate with JAHS efforts and join me in furthering these goals.

September 2018

Miura Atsushi
Chairman, JAHS

2016-2017

Dear Members,

Upon the occasion of my being chosen as the new JAHS Chairman in fiscal 2016, I would like to extend my greetings to the organization, and touch on its current status and my hopes for its future.

JAHS was founded in June 1949 with 201 members. According to reports issued in May 2016 at the 69th General Meeting held at the University of Tsukuba, the membership has grown to 2,443 members. This twelve-fold increase over 67 years indicates the current flourishing state of art history research in Japan.
I believe we must reconfirm our commitment to the JAHS aim of supporting art historical research activities.

JAHS operations are carried out by the Eastern and Western Divisions of the Standing Committee (with 18 Administrative Officers in the Eastern Division and 12 in the Western Division). A General Assembly is held once a year, while the Eastern and Western Divisions each hold five Regular Meetings per year, along with General Meetings and the co-organizing and support of other related activities each year. The late Tsuji Sahoko, Professor Emeritus at Ochanomizu Women’s University and Nagoya University, bequeathed funds to JAHS which have been used to establish the Sahoko Tsuji Memorial Fund for the Promotion of Art Historical Study. This fund supports visits to Japan by foreign scholars.
The results of these activities and the research reports given at the General Assembly and Division Meetings are published in the scholarly journal Bijutsushi. Published semi-annually, Bijutsushi features articles that have undergone a strict review by the Editorial Committee and external readers. The Bijutsushi Prize is awarded annually to one to three articles that have been judged to be superior by the Prize Committee from amongst those published in that year’s Bijutsushi issues.
At present, work is progressing on Art History in Japan, a two-volume publication containing 20 of the previous Bijutsushi Prize winning articles translated into English. This publication is being jointly produced by Singapore University Press, Columbia University Press and the University of Tokyo Press. The aim of this volume is to disseminate Japan’s rich cultural heritage and superb art historical research to audiences worldwide. This project was begun from the decision that not only through the efforts of individual scholars, but also JAHS as a whole should take a more active stance in conveying information about Japanese culture and the state of research in Japan to worldwide audiences. We look forward to this book’s release in the near future.
Further, JAHS has specific officers in charge of our liasons with other organizations, such as our member who liases with the Japanese Association for Art Studies that brings together academic art-related societies such as The Japan Society for Aesthetics, along with others who each liase respectively with the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA) and the Conference of Eastern Studies and Asia Research.

As seen above, JAHS offers opportunities for research reports and publications, carries out its activities not only with the cooperation of universities and research institutes, but also art museums and related organizations, and strives towards internationalization. All of these projects and events fall within our stated aim to further art historical research activities.
Regarding the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), the efforts of all JAHS members to increase the number of KAKENHI grants applications and those awarded have made an extremely important contribution to art history research. In the current KAKENHI List of Categories, Areas, Disciplines and Research Fields, the Research Field of art history is successfully maintained in the Discipline of Art Studies. All in all, further effort is needed within this current organizational structure.

And yet, it is true that JAHS currently faces various issues and challenges. In sum, membership numbers may have peaked or indeed slightly decreased, and there has been a slight decrease in member fees collected. Further, the percentage of members voting in the Standing Committee elections is too low. As well, it is increasingly difficult to convince universities to host our annual General Assemblies. The burden borne the universities holding the General Assemblies, as well as the day-to-day operations of the Head Office and Eastern and Western Division Offices are also problems to be resolved. It is therefore necessary to reduce the administrative work of the JAHS offices in general, with one possible solution the efficient use of information technology. Thus, we must reconsider our cooperative relationship with the Academic Society Assistance Center. And, it is essential to gain the understanding and cooperation of each committee member and individual member.

Finally, we have been examining the JAHS response to the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, offering relief from Society dues to members in earthquake-affected areas, and participating in activities for the preservation of artworks in the disaster areas. We are currently discussing relief from Society dues plus other measures for members in the areas affected by the Kumamoto Earthquake that occurred in April 2016.

JAHS continues to strive to provide an environment that supports advances in art historical research. I hope that each society member will continue to give their cooperation and support to our efforts.

Toyama Koichi
Chairman, JAHS

(2016)

2012-2015

To All JAHS Members
Issues and Prospects for JAHS in Fiscal 2012
     This is my first statement to the entire membership as Chairman and I would like to touch on the current state of affairs of the organization and my hopes for its future.

For JAHS’s Democratic Operation
     The Japan Art History Society was established in June 1949 (Shôwa 24). In January of the same year a fire broke out in the Kondô at Hôryûji and provided further impetus for the simultaneous establishment of the society’s two divisions in the Kansai area and Tokyo. The group began with around 200 members. In 1980 the membership ranks surpassed the 1,000 mark, and more than 2,000 members have been involved since 1995. At the 65th General Assembly held in May of this year, the membership total was announced as 2,435 members.
     The membership numbers stand as a measure of the advances made in the spread of research in our field. It is extremely fortunate that the ongoing increase in membership numbers since the group’s establishment reflects the steady developments being made in art history research. However, in recent years the number of new members has been competing with the number of members leaving the society (including those who drop out of the membership due to lack of dues payment), and over the longer term, there is a potential towards a gradual decline in overall member numbers. At present while the group is maintaining a healthy financial status, clearly we must consider long-term prospects for the future, given that this is a group whose sole source of income is annual membership fees.
     In the humanities in Japan there is only one other academic association, the Nihongo Gakkai (name changed from Kokugo Gakkai in 2004), which boasts more than 2,000 members. Thus JAHS has a major presence within the humanities and its host of smaller academic associations. It is best for the development of the discipline if the scholarly basis for art history is supported in a unified fashion by a single organization. However, to that degree it is also desirable to seek transparency and fairness as the premise behind maintaining the benefit and authority of all members in the group’s operations.
     The organization’s operations are carried out by the standing committees of each of the two divisions, East and West. The members of those committees are selected every year in a ballot amongst the members affiliated with each of those two divisions. The JAHS membership is made up of largely three equal sized groups, namely university teachers, museum curators and graduate students. While the standing committees are operated on a democratic basis, those committees do not necessarily reflect the makeup of the membership as a whole. In particular, there are few standing committee members employed at museums, and the great majority of standing committee members are university faculty members. Similarly, the gender ratios in the standing committees differ considerably from the ratios present in the overall membership. Neither of these trends is desirable and we can hope for improvements in these matters in the future.
     Maintaining the democratic operation of the society, it goes without saying, involves the attitudes and actions of all members. In addition to exercising your right to vote, please consider these matters. Further, for the healthy renewal and generational continuation of society operations, I hope for the active participation of younger members in JAHS operations and activities.

Encouraging Art Historical Research and Survey Activities
     Fieldwork is an essential element of art historical research. Given the current and recent state of affairs, where reduction in survey and research budgets is now the norm, scholars must consider turning to external funding sources. The current typical example of such competitive research funds is the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research administered by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (with some large-scale projects eligible for MEXT’s enhanced Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research under their Basic Research Program administered by their Research Promotion Bureau, Scientific Research Aid Division). The JSPS grant is commonly known in Japanese by its syllabic acronym, Kakenhi. The Kakenhi program has contributed greatly to scholarly development in Japan, and large numbers of art historical research projects have benefited from it. The JAHS newsletter publishes an annual list of the research conducted by JAHS members under Kakenhi auspices.
     Every decade the Kakenhi program carries out a reconsideration of its “general field, discipline, division, and detailed subject area chart,” with smaller revisions carried out at the intervening five-year marks. Art history falls under the humanities discipline, philosophy division, and aesthetics and art history detailed subject area. The 2013 Kakenhi (Fiscal Heisei 25) program will begin accepting applications this autumn, and the large-scale 10-year category revision occurs with this program. The new categories chart has been published, and beginning with the 2013 grants, art history will be categorized under the art studies division and the art history detailed subject area.
     The categorization of the Kakenhi program reflects the scholarly recognition level of each particular subject area. As new areas of academic research develop, corresponding detail subject areas are added to the Kakenhi list. Conversely, as applicant numbers drop in any specific field, that subject area is either merged with another or deleted altogether. In the 2003 category revision, the category “aesthetics” (including various arts disciplines) was merged with art history to become the “aesthetics/art history” detailed subject area. Thus it is ten years since art history has had its own subject area listing. In the future, the number of applications will aim to maintain this separate detailed subject area categorization. I hope that everyone will submit numerous applications in the future.
     In this regard, the general rule is that 25 percent of applicants are awarded grants under this program. The term “general rule” is a means of making sure that enough funding is available to maintain the award rate in fields where there are large numbers of applicants. Thus it is not a case of a pre-set amount of funding apportioned across the applicants in a certain field.
     However, there is a problem with this method. In the case of Kakenhi, there are eligibility requirements for applicants. There are no problems when an applicant has a university affiliation, but when the applicant is affiliated with a museum or other such institution, that institution must be designated by MEXT as a research institution. In order to get such designation, the institution must first submit paperwork and be subject to an inspection. Unfortunately many of the museums throughout the country where JAHS members are affiliated are not eligible for Kakenhi grants. I will take up that issue in the next section of this paper.

Towards Improving Museum Employment Conditions
     As we all know, museums throughout Japan are experiencing dire conditions. This situation began with the change of all national museums and art museums into Independent Administrative Institutions as part of the government policy reforms of 2001. Indeed, JAHS held a symposium questioning this structural transformation.
     After the 2001 changes, and amidst the fall in local government budgets due to economic problems, the introduction of a designated management system for museums became a problem. The problems at the Ashiya City Museum of Art and History, which set off this issue, were widely reported in the media. In October 2003 Ashiya city decided to privatize the museum, and then decided that if it could not privatize the museum by fiscal 2006, it would either sell the museum or close it. Needless to say this situation set off shockwaves in the public museums of Japan. JAHS created a statement asserting the importance of the existence of the Ashiya City Museum of Art and History and submitted it to all involved parties.
     While these issues had the positive aspect of calling for the reconsideration of the public nature of museums, and the clarification of the responsibility of the local government who operate museums, they had the far greater problem of further deepening the dire circumstances surrounding museums and postponing any chance for improvement. Indeed, museum employment opportunities worsened further.
     While the decreasing number of curatorial positions had been an ongoing problem, it became the new standard that new curatorial hires were not done on a permanent full-time employee basis but rather as contract or non-permanent employee basis. The discussion of this issue in April 2012 at the Joint East-West Divisions Symposium, New Curators Today: Current Hiring Conditions and the Future, held at the Assembly Hall, University of Osaka, evoked a strong reaction. As we approach the retirement age of the first generation of curators who work at the public museums that opened in droves in the 1980s, it is essential for all of us and for JAHS to keep on top of this changing situation.
     There is also a problem with the Kakenhi that I discussed earlier. At present the organizations that have been recognized by MEXT and hence can apply for the Kakenhi program are the Independent Administrative Institution National Museums, National Art Museums (with the exception of the new National Art Center, Tokyo), the National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties, and private and regional museums such as the Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, the Kanagawa Prefectural Kanazawa Bunko Museum, the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Cultural History, the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, the MOA Museum of Art, the Tokugawa Art Museum, the Sen-oku Hakukokan, the Osaka Museum of Oriental Ceramics, the Osaka Museum of History, the Kurokawa Institute of Ancient Cultures, the Museum Yamato Bunkakan, the Kyushu History Museum and the Fukuoka Art Museum.
     However, two other important factors are the generally severe conditions at museums today, and the reality that an increase in the numbers of recognized museums has come to a standstill. At this point, given that we can anticipate that all of these museums can function as research centers, we must work to correct the situation and address the important issues involved in improving the research environment in museums nationwide.

Disseminating Information on Art History
     The editing and publication of the Society’s journal Bijutsushi is one of the important roles of JAHS. A JAHS working group has explored the idea of publishing a Western languages edition of Bijutsushi, and on the basis of that group’s findings, a Bijutsushi Western Languages Edition Preparation Committee has been formed this year and work progresses on the actual publication of such an edition. While I am entrusting the details of such a publication, including its content and publication process, to the committee’s deliberation process, I will report on occasion on their progress.

     In the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake that struck on March 11, 2011, JAHS took the temporary measure of allowing members who were affected by the earthquake to apply for exemption from payment of their annual dues. Further, quite a number of our members have been involved in the rescue, preservation and repair of art works and cultural properties affected by the disaster. Unfortunately, however, there was no opportunity for the Society as a whole to become involved in the recovery from the disaster. During the coming fiscal year I hope that we can consider what the Society can do in this regard and actually come together for such work.
     It goes without saying that the understanding and cooperation of all members is essential for the operation and activities of JAHS. I will do my own best, joining hands with the members of the standing committees, as we strive for the future development of JAHS and I hope for your support of these efforts in the year to come.

July 5, 2012
Suzuki Hiroyuki

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