I write this as I return from the 10th World Archaeological Congress held in Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territories. It was the final Congress presided over by the long-time friend of the Institute, Koji Mizoguchi, Professor of Social Archaeology at Kyushu University. Koji has been President of WAC for twelve years, and was also in post at the Kyoto Congress of 2016, where our collaboration with English Heritage, Circles of Stone: Stonehenge and Prehistoric Japan, was conceived. This time we co-organised a session with colleagues from the Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites of the Munakata Region UNESCO World Heritage Site. The World Archaeological Congress was established in 1986 and includes in its core values social justice, academic freedom, and upholding the rights of indigenous peoples, values which are being challenged today as never before in the history of WAC. I got to enjoy some of the exceptional aboriginal rock art in the Kakadu National Park, as well as reflect on the more recent history of Darwin, an exemplar of resilience in the face of repeated destruction not only by cyclones but also as the only Australian city to be bombed by the Japanese during World War Two – about which more below.
As is customary the Institute takes a break from our Norwich-based activities in August, although behind the scenes work on our various programmes continues. I will be in Japan, making a visit to the Osaka Kansai Expo, which features an impressive array of pavilions from across Japan and the world as well as the largest wooden structure ever created, and meeting friends and supporters to discuss our future plans. I will also be at the 10th Society for East Asian Archaeology World Congress at the University of Aberdeen, where we have a session honouring my mentor Professor Gina Lee Barnes, who introduced me and a whole generation of young scholars to Japanese archaeology, as well as creating the Society for East Asian Archaeology in 1986. As well as being a distinguished archaeologist, Gina is also an accomplished musician, regularly performing with her husband David Hughes, including at events organised by the Sainsbury Institute and the Centre for Japanese Studies. Last month we heard the sad news that David had passed away. The Institute offers its sincere condolences to Gina and their friends and family.
In July, we are holding a workshop on Japanese architectural history focused on one of our current Visiting Scholars, Professor Unno Satoshi, of the Department of Architecture at the University of Tokyo, at the Royal Asiatic Society in London on July 11. Further details can be found on our Events page and please join us if you can.
I will be in Japan for the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which finally brought the Second World War to an end on August 15th. The 80th anniversary of VJ Day will be commemorated at Norwich Cathedral. The involvement and sacrifice of the East Anglian regiments during this terrible conflict was one of the reasons the Institute was established in the Cathedral Close, and representatives of veteran groups joined us for our inaugural events. We have adopted as part of our mission to ensure that cultural misunderstandings can never again contribute to such a catastrophe. Following our workshop in March on the role of arts and cultures in reconciliation, we will be launching our next Sainsbury Institute Occasional Paper on this theme in August, along with a special edition of our Beyond Japan podcast, once again hosted by Oliver Moxham, who is currently working on his PhD at the University of Cambridge on wartime heritage in Japan. This podcast features another long-standing friend of the Institute, Mary-Grace Browning, who has taken some 1000 children of FEPOW (Far East Prisoner of War) veterans to Japan over the years to facilitate reconciliation.
This month our e-bulletin is edited by our Associate Professor of Japanese Arts and Cultures, Dr Eugenia Bogdanova-Kummer, who brought us a wonderful Third Thursday Lecture in June direct from her research among the archives of renowned calligrapher Morita Shiryū. We are grateful to Kuniko Matsui (Research Fellow at the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan) for her report on Eugenia’s talk. This month we welcome Dr Alfred Haft from the Japanese Section in the Asian Department at the British Museum to Norwich to talk about his excellent exhibition on Hiroshige: artist of the open road from the Hostry at Norwich Cathedral and livestreamed on Zoom (more details can be found here). In further good news from the British Museum, we congratulate the Keeper of the Asian Department, Jessica Harrison-Hall, on the PhD she will be awarded at the University of East Anglia a little later this month.
If you are in need of Japanese inspiration over the summer, I strongly recommend both the Hiroshige exhibition and the latest superb show at Japan House London on the art of Japanese carpentry. However close to or far from home the summer break takes you, on behalf of everyone at the Sainsbury Institute I wish you a peaceful and enjoyable summer, and thank you for your support of the Institute and its programmes.
Professor Simon Kaner
Executive Director