RITOJA.LT: the history of Japan-Lithuania relations (2022)

Didvalis, Linas
Kumpis, Arvydas

This presentation will be dedicated to share the insights of the implementation of the RITOJA.LT project, to discuss its importance and to present the usage of Japanese resources for wider audience.
One of the main features of RITOJA.LT is that it contains scholar research presented popularly. There were no designated sites for this matter and while the bilateral relations keep developing, the need for such a tool kept on growing as well.

Compilation of Textbook for Japanese Speaking Guides in Lithuania (2022)

Kumpė, Simona
Takagi, Kayako

With the growing number of Japanese tourists coming to Lithuania there was a growing need for the Japanese speaking guides. While there are courses for people who want to obtain a guiding license, there are no specialized courses nor material in Lithuanian language to get the specific knowledge for guiding in the Japanese language. The responsibilities of a tourist guide go beyond mere introduction of touristic places, and include communication with the tour attendants, interpretation, handling troubles, etc. Given the specifics of the Japanese language and culture and the complexity of tourism-related vocabulary the need for a textbook for guides in Lithuania was felt.

Intelligence journey up the Amur: Mamiya Rinzo's observations in 1809 (2022)

McVey, Kuniko Yamada

In 1808, Mamiya Rinzo (1775-1844), cartographer, was dispatched by the Tokugawa shogunate to survey northern Sakhalin; he confirmed that Sakhalin was an island in 1809. In a second mission, Mamiya left Soya (northernmost point of Hokkaido) and sailed into the mouth of the Amur River; he reached the Qing Chinese trading post at Deren, and returned to Soya in November 1809. At the time, Sakhalin was receiving increasing geopolitical and imperial attentions from both Western and regional states. Mamiya himself had experienced a Russian attack when stationed in Iturup island in 1807.

Illustrated books from the Duret collection (2022)

Castel, Coralie

The Prints and Photographs department of the French National Library (BnF) holds several thousands of old Japanese items, including prints and illustrated books. Among those is the Duret collection, after the name of Theodore Duret (1838-1927), art critic and japonesque collector who donated over 500 illustrated books from the Edo period. They cover a wide variety of literary genres (novels, epic chronicles, poems, oraimono, kabuki plays…), some written by renowned authors such as Saikaku, Bakin or Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and illustrated by the finest artists of their time.

How the Use of Illustrated Books Helped Japanese Studies (2022)

Koyama, Noboru

Henri L. Joly (1876-1920) was an electrical engineer, with particular expertise in the development of batteries for electric vehicles. He lived in France in the first half his life and lived in London in the latter half. He was also an authority on Japanese art, especially Japanese sword fittings and he compiled catalogues of their major collections. He translated works of Arai Hakuseki and Inaba Tsūryū into English as well as published books and articles on Japanese art.

Shaman-shaped haniwa? (2022)

Colla, Elisabetta

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the anthropomorphic haniwa (jinbutsu haniwa 人物埴輪), with a special focus on the shaman-shaped clay figures (miko haniwa 巫女埴輪) and their paraphernalia. Haniwa are not only important as part of the burial ceremonies, but also representative of the cultural context of protohistoric Japan.

Searching for the primary sources on Ainu in Russia (2022)

Shchepkin, Vasilii

In 2011, the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences started its collaborative project with Hokkaido University Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies on comparative study of "Higashi Ezo Iko", a Japanese manuscript on Ainu. The project resulted in publication of the manuscript and its study in Japan in 2014'. That project has led us to an extensive collection of written materials on Ainu, in both Japanese and Russian, collected by Alexander Grigoriev in 1879-1880 and preserved at several institutions in St. Petersburg, including the Research Archives of the Russian Geographical Society.

Newly Discovered Private Ukiyo-e Collection in Bulgaria (2022)

Zhivkova, Stella

Beginning in 2020, the author worked on identifying a private collection owned by Turkey-based Italian architect Pietro Montani whose tenure as Chief Architect of Eastern Rumelia (presently – South Bulgaria) was the reason he started living in Bulgaria in 1885. 
The collection consists of 50 ukiyo-e paintings and a printed textile sample. For more than 150 years it has been in possession of Montani's grandchildren who vaguely knew details about the value of the leather-bound album that contains the collection.

Ukiyoe-e collections in Bulgaria and a Little Known Artistic Axis (2022)

Racheva, Plamena
Zhivkova, Stella

The Silistra Gallery collection is of special interest. It was obtained in China by a Bulgarian graphic artist Mircho Yakubov during his years at the Chinese Academy of art where he studied under the guidance of Professor Qi Baishi in the early 50s of the twentieth century. Great Chinese artist influenced Yakubov's artistic style, but another artistic influence cannot go unnoticed either – that of the Japanese artist Hide Kawanishi (川西英 1894-1965). His teachers' influence can be noted in Yakubovs artistic skills in ink painting and in the graphic techniques he adopts. 

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