10.6092/issn.1973-9494/5443
By actively promoting museum digitalization, Japan finds an idiosyncratic way to museum digitalization. The mode of collaboration, in which the government plays a leading role while large enterprises’ R&amp;D capabilities and museum’s cultural dynamics are both allowed to give full play, turns these powerful enterprises into the solid backing of museum digitalization, provides a concrete solution to the common financial and technical challenges museums face in the process. In the course of such collaboration, large enterprises succeed in cultivating a number of talents who understand both business world and museum operation. Thanks to their experiences in the business world, compared with museum professionals, they play a more vital role in marketing the potential commercial exploitation of related digital technologies. The benefits large enterprises could possibly gain from such mode of collaboration - realizing social values, enhancing corporate image, for instance - help to motivate their active involvement, thereby forming a positive cycle of sustainable development.
application/pdf
1973-9494
5443
2
en
Ying Wang
Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
government and academia
The Role of Large Enterprises in Museum Digitization
Text.Serial.Journal
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/
14
Articles
2014-12-30
2015-09-24
2014-12-30
2016-06-14
67-72
CSCH
Ying Wang
2014/12/30
10.6092/issn.1973-9494/5443
67
Departmengt of IT, Imaging & Digital Media, The Palace Museum, Beijing, China
1973-9494
2
government and academia
en
72
The system of Digital Museum 2014, Japan’s ministry of science.
The Role of Large Enterprises in Museum Digitization
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/article/download/5443/5156
14
T    HE ROLE OF LARGE ENTERPRISES IN MUSEUM DIGI-
     TIZATION



    Wang Ying
    Departmengt of IT, Imaging & Digital Media
    The Palace Museum
    Beijing, China

  Keywords: Japan, museum digitalization, collaboration among industry, govern-
ment and academia


   1. Introduction


     In recent decades digital technology has brought great changes to individual lifestyles
and society as a whole. From the 1990s on, museums around the world began to explore
the potential of digital technology for their field, seeking to enrich the cultural life of their
societies and promote understanding of their own cultures abroad. As a global power and
the world’s third largest economy, Japan is one of the world’s most highly developed and
prosperous countries. It also stands as one of the leading countries for scientific research in
such fields as military technology, medicine, and manufacturing, as well as culture and edu-
cation. According to data released in 2008 by MEXT (the Japanese Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), there are over five thousand museums in Japan.




                                                                                                         CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
In 2006, in response to the flourishing development of digital technology, MEXT founded the
‘Museum Digitization Research Association’, which is dedicated to using digital technology
to transcend time and space, and to exploring new ways to present culture and museum
collections. Years of effort have resulted in a preliminary framework bringing together indus-
try, academia, government, and museums, propelling Japanese museums to the forefront
of Asia and even the entire world in terms of the application of digital technologies.


   2. Museum Digitization in Japan

    Before the launch of the aforementioned project, many Japanese museums had
already collaborated with universities or large enterprises to carry out similar research,
yet each institution plowed its own furrow with little cooperation. State-level coordina-
tion is crucial for realizing a comprehensive, integrated system. MEXT’s 2013 report
on the digital museum project indicates that, while prestigious institutions of higher
learning have played a leading role in the project, a number of large enterprises have
also joined them. This structure makes intelligent use of each party’s strengths: the
institutions know how to do research, museums understand their collections, and large
enterprises have an edge in terms of research and development as well as a keen
sense of what can be commercialized. This means of development, combining indus-
try, the government, and academia, was the desired approach in Japan.


                                                                                                    67
                                                                               3. The Role Played by Large Enterprises


                                                                                According to the MEXT research report released in Heisei 25 (2013), the Univer-
                                                                            sity of Tokyo has taken charge of implementing the ‘digital museum’ project, which is
                                                                            currently actively promoted by the Japanese government. Institutions and enterprises
                                                                            including the national broadcaster NHK, Toppan Printing Co., and Keio University are
                                                                            responsible for technology development, while museums such as Tokyo National Mu-
                                                                            seum, the Railway Museum, the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, and the Nara National
                                                                            Research Institute for Cultural Properties are active participants. In fact, in the course
                                                                            of this project, digitization is not the only field in which large Japanese enterprises have
                                                                            been involved. They also play an active role in other museum activities such as exhibi-
                                                                            tions and the commercial exploitation of museum research achievements.2
                                                                                For this article I have studied the joint exhibition held by the Palace Museum, the
                                                                            Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, and the Edo-Tokyo Museum, as well as the Palace Mu-
                                                                            seum research project in collaboration with Toppan Printing Co., in an effort to define
                                                                            the role large Japanese enterprises play in digitization. Based on first-hand observa-
                                                                            tions and in-depth interviews conducted by the author with persons in charge of the
                                                                            projects, this article discusses the following five aspects of the subject:


                                                                                                   1. Organizational Structure and Functions
Wang Ying - The role of large enterprises in Japan’s museum digitization




                                                                                Departments dedicated to cultural initiatives exist in all large Japanese enterprises,
                                                                            and have the responsibility of seeking cooperation with important cultural institutions.
                                                                            Examples include Asahi Shimbun’s ‘Department of Culture’ and the ‘Office of Cultural
                                                                            Initiatives’ at the Toppan Printing Co. Within news agencies, employees of these de-
                                                                            partments usually hold academic degrees in fine art, history, or related fields. On the
                                                                            other hand, cultural departments in other large enterprises are generally staffed by
                                                                            science or technology majors according to their specific research and development
                                                                            requirements. More importantly, in the process of collaborating with museums, large
                                                                            enterprises have succeeded in cultivating a number of employees who have a com-
                                                                            mercial grounding but who understand the culture and working practices of museums.
                                                                            Thanks to their business backgrounds they have a distinct advantage over museum
                                                                            professionals in the field of commercialization, and they therefore play a vital role in
                                                                            marketing the products created when digitization is applied.


                                                                                                             2. Curating Exhibitions

                                                                                A unique and highly distinctive feature of the special exhibitions hosted at Japanese
                                                                            museums is that they are jointly organized by museums and media agencies. This task
                                                                            is often undertaken by Japan’s four major newspapers: Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shim-
                                                                            bun, Yomiuri Shimbun, and Sankei Shimbun. Important radio and television stations,
                                                                            such as NHK TV and NHK Broadcasting, are also involved in this process.1



                                                                            1         Research on Curating Models of Japanese Museum Exhibitions, The Forbidden City
                                                                            Publishing House, 2012, p. 358.

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    The 2008 Palace Museum travelling exhibition Eternal Brush and Ink: Dynastic Cal-
ligraphy in the Palace Museum Collection, held in Edo-Tokyo Museum, for instance,
was co-sponsored by five institutions: the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History
and Culture, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, the Mainichi Shimbun, NHK, and
NHK promotion. Of these, the latter three are large enterprises, and took on tasks
including planning the exhibition’s content, raising funds, managing the running of the
exhibition, and marketing. To say that their involvement gave direction to the project
and proved central to its success is hardly an exaggeration.


                                3. Research & Development

    Founded in 1900, Toppan Printing Co. is Japan’s second largest printing enterprise. In
the 1990s, emerging digital technology dealt print publishing a heavy blow, forcing Top-
pan Printing to seek a new path through the application of digital technology. Benefiting
from its long and extensive experience in print, Toppan Printing was able to combine its
time-honored approach to color management and imaging with digital technology, and
in 1997 it began research and development of virtual reality technology for use in muse-
ums. In the following decade it produced over thirty virtual reality programs for a number
of important museums, and this approach to the presentation of cultural heritage has
now become an essential part of exhibitions held by many Japanese institutions. Seeing
Toppan Printing’s strength in the virtual reality technology field, in 2003 the Palace Mu-
seum cooperated with the company to establish the Institute for Digitization of the Palace
Museum Heritage, a joint endeavor that has so far seen the production of five virtual real-
ity works featuring the Forbidden City. This collaboration enables us to examine closely
the roles played by large Japanese enterprises in museum-based digitization.
    Virtual reality is an integrated application of digital technologies in the field of computer
graphics, requiring expertise in both technology and art. Bringing this technology to bear




                                                                                                         CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
in museum exhibitions therefore calls for a command of the research and development
process as well as skill in artistic expression. While museum professionals understand
the collections of their institution and are well versed in art, however, they often find digital
technology extremely challenging and difficult to grasp. The technological knowhow of
research and development staff in large enterprises can make up for this shortfall. The
cultural initiative team at Toppan Printing Co. specializes in fields including color manage-
ment, three-dimensional scanning, computer graphic production, and program develop-
ment, and therefore plays a key role in both data collection and the production of virtual re-
ality programs. In 2011, with an independently developed large-scale scanner dedicated
specifically to collecting cultural heritage data, the company carried out the scanning for
Kyoto National Museum’s program Mirror Unearthed from an Ancient Tomb in the East
Palace. Its 2012 virtual reality production National Treasure: the Seated Statue of Monk
Jianzhen also made use of 3D scanning to gather data on shape and color.
    In addition to bringing technology to the service of museums, large enterprises are
also involved in researching new technology. In 2009, Toppan Printing Co. worked
with the University of Tokyo to launch the research and development program ‘Mixed
Reality (MR) Digital Museum’2. In 2011, it developed a further system called ‘Virtual
Experiences of Open-air Heritage Sites’.

2			        “Mixed Reality (MR) Digital Museum” is a research project commissioned by the MEXT,
 initially planned for 2010-2015, where the implementing institution the University of Tokyo com-

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                                                                                                                    4. Marketing

                                                                               Marketing exhibitions and the products of digitization is an integral part of develop-
                                                                            ing digitization in museums. Because most are non-profit institutions, public museums
                                                                            commonly lack commercial awareness, let alone the necessary material and human
                                                                            resources for marketing and other commercial practices. The involvement of large
                                                                            enterprises, for which marketing is an essential tool for survival, undoubtedly helps to
                                                                            push the digitization process forward.

                                                                               A case in point is the aforementioned collaboration between the media and muse-
                                                                            ums in hosting exhibitions. The large news agencies provide extensive media expo-
                                                                            sure, which helps to bring more visitors to the exhibitions. On the occasion of Tokyo Na-
                                                                            tional Museum’s 140th anniversary, Toppan Printing produced the VR program Kyoto
                                                                            from the Inside and Outside: Scenes on Panels and Folding Screens (Funaki version),
                                                                            while exact replicas of the artwork were also launched in the museum shop. Moreover,
                                                                            the gift shop also sold DVDs featuring virtual reality programs such as The Forbidden
                                                                            City: Palace of the Son of Heaven and The Roman Empire: Pompeii Courtyard.


                                                                                                             5. Benefits and problems

                                                                               1. Benefits
                                                                               As non-profit institutions, museums more often than not suffer from limited budgets
Wang Ying - The role of large enterprises in Japan’s museum digitization




                                                                            and staff. Japanese museums are funded by the state. This funding is barely sufficient
                                                                            for collections management, let alone the cost of exhibitions, technological research,
                                                                            and merchandising. Thanks to the mechanism of government-led collaboration with
                                                                            large enterprises, museums are able to cover the costs of holding exhibitions, making
                                                                            use of new technologies, and launching creative cultural products, without having to
                                                                            apply for more funding. Museums welcome these opportunities.
                                                                               The same mechanism enables large enterprises to prove their social value, raise
                                                                            their public image, and increase recognition of and trust in their brand, making gains
                                                                            unachievable in the commercial sphere. At the same time, the promotion of exhibitions
                                                                            and technological accomplishments may also bring its own financial benefits.

                                                                                2. Problems
                                                                                Due to fundamental differences in the nature of museums and large enterprises,
                                                                            with the latter being intrinsically profit-oriented, collaboration can give rise to disagree-
                                                                            ment. Specifically, with enterprises providing funding, museums may lose independ-
                                                                            ence in decision-making and become passive. Meanwhile, in the fields of technology
                                                                            research and promoting the achievements of digitization, views may diverge due to the
                                                                            different institutions’ standpoints: where museums prioritize cultural expression over
                                                                            profitability, enterprises are certain to evaluate profits in the process.
                                                                                In addition, while manpower from large enterprises can to some extent help balance
                                                                            and broaden the range of expertise in a museum, it may at the same time reduce the
                                                                            museum’s incentive to cultivate its own multidisciplinary talents. In this sense, the col-
                                                                            laboration can inhibit the creation of the museum’s own digitization team in the long run.

                                                                             missioned Toppan Printing for development, and is aimed at further enriching sensory experien-
                                                                             ce of visitors and achieving new means of presentation on the basis of virtual reality (VR).

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      4. Conclusion


   By actively promoting digitization in museums, Japan has found an approach that
suits its own development pattern. The collaborative method allows the government
to play a leading role, while putting the research and development strengths of large
enterprises at the disposal of museums. Large enterprises provide a solid backing
for museum digitization, removing the usual constraints of limited budgets or a lack
of technical expertise. The benefits large enterprises stand to gain from this kind of
collaboration, such as opportunities to prove their value to society and enhance their
corporate image, help to motivate their active involvement, thereby forming a positive
cycle of sustainable development.
   When learning from experiences in Japan, it is essential to make use of the gains
and mitigate the problems encountered. For museums, the greatest advantages of
cooperative digitization lie in increased funding and expanded horizons for future de-
velopment. However, museums still need to consider how best to fulfill their mission: to
conserve, research, and exhibit cultural heritage, and to educate the public.
   With the increasing rate of commercialization and the emergence of new opportuni-
ties, today’s China also sees increasing collaboration between museums and enter-
prises. We have a lot to learn by investigating similar experiences in other countries.
This article has studied the roles undertaken by major Japanese enterprises in muse-
um digitization in an effort to provide first-hand information for museum professionals
in China. It is the author’s hope that the experiences of others will prove valuable for
us.nals in China. It is the author’s hope that others’ experiences can be valuable for us.


      References




                                                                                                  CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
[1]     Research on Curating Models for Japanese Museum Exhibitions,The Forbidden
        City Publishing House, 2012, p 358.
[2]     Digital Museum Research Report 2014, Japan’s ministry of science
[3]     Digital Museum Research Report 2014, Japan’s Information science and Tech-
        nology Committee
[4]     The system of Digital Museum 2014, Japan’s ministry of science.


      Summary


   By actively promoting museum digitalization, Japan finds an idiosyncratic way to
museum digitalization. The mode of collaboration, in which the government plays a
leading role while large enterprises’ R&D capabilities and museum’s cultural dynamics
are both allowed to give full play, turns these powerful enterprises into the solid back-
ing of museum digitalization, provides a concrete solution to the common financial and
technical challenges museums face in the process. In the course of such collaboration,
large enterprises succeed in cultivating a number of talents who understand both busi-
ness world and museum operation. Thanks to their experiences in the business world,
compared with museum professionals, they play a more vital role in marketing the


                                                                                             71
                                                                            potential commercial exploitation of related digital technologies. The benefits large en-
                                                                            terprises could possibly gain from such mode of collaboration - realizing social values,
                                                                            enhancing corporate image, for instance - help to motivate their active involvement,
                                                                            thereby forming a positive cycle of sustainable development.
Wang Ying - The role of large enterprises in Japan’s museum digitization




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