Art Related Articles in Japanese Newspapers (I): Around the Taisho Period

1992 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 02451007
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Fine art history
• Research Institution: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: MOTOE Kunio Chief Curator, Department of Exhibitions and Reference Materials, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 企画・資料課, 企画・資料課長 (80124204)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): MIZUTANI takeshi Librarian, Department of Exhibitions and Reference Materials, The National Museu, 企画・資料課, 研究員 (50181889) ; KONDO Kaoru Assistant Curator, Dept. of Exhibitions and Reference Materials, The National Mu, 企画・資料課, 研究員 (40195714) ; OZAKI Masaaki Curator, Department of Exhibitions and Reference Materials, The National Museum, 企画・資料課, 主任研究官 (00113423) ; NAKABAYASHI Kazuo Assistant Curator, Dept. of Exhibitions and Reference Materials, The National Mu, 企画・資料課, 研究員 (50217816) ; TANAKA Atsushi Curator, Department of Exhibitions and Reference,Materials, The National Museum, 企画・資料課, 主任研究官 (00163501)
• Project Period (FY): 1990 – 1992
• Keywords: Tokyo Asahi Shimbun / Yorozu Choho / Miyako Shimbun / Art Related Articles / Bunten

Research Abstract

It consumed considerable time just to go over the target newspapers, and we realized that this research required more effort than we initially planned when we found far more articles related to art than expected in the newspapers and became aware that we should also pick out those articles which are relevant to the art activities of the time, as those concerning literature in general, architecture, exhibitions and fairs, and the government's operations in the field of education and culture. This forced us to revise the format of the data sheet in order to accommodate the enormous amount of data, and we had frequent and long meetings for this purpose and to decide on the kinds of articles to be included in our data.
In the second research year, we further modified the research method while accommodating for the newly surfacing problems, and the attached list of articles for the year Meiji 40 is a sampling of the data we collected according to the principles agreed upon by the research participants. The list shows articles of a wide range of interest, reflecting the fact that these articles were not printed in magazines devoted to art but in newspapers which dealt in all aspects of the society including politics, social problems, and culture, and in them, art was treated in this wide context. These articles made us aware that there are hitherto neglected aspects to the study of art history, such as art as a part of government-orchestrated cultural activities, art in its relation to the society or literature in general, and the study of the innumerable illustrations done for newspapers by artists. These new viewpoints add significance to our research as we carry it on, and also provides a new and valuable basis for understanding art in the contemporary context.