JAPAN
on-site research visit
September 2023, TOKYO
In September 2023, NOSTOS Strategies undertook an on-site research visit to Tokyo aimed at identifying artefacts held within various Japanese institutions. We have located several artefacts belonging to China, South Korea, Cambodia, and India, in museums including the Tokyo National Museum and the Matsuoka Museum of Art. Items which belong to the Ainu indigenous community in Japan are also held in the Tokyo National Museum.
Many of these artefacts are designated as “Important Cultural Property”, “Important Art Object”, or “Gifts”. The provenance of many of these artefacts is unclear, and they are displayed with descriptions such as “Said to have been excavated”, “Exported to Japan”, “Found”, or even “Presumably found”. Most were donated to museums by Japanese private collectors.
China — Professor Huo Zhengxin discussed the issue of Chinese looted relics held in Japan in the Global Times. He emphasied that while the return of cultural relics looted by colonialist countries has garnered international attention recently, with some former colonial powers contemplating the return of objects taken from African countries, the restitution of Chinese cultural relics looted by Japan has not yet received significant international or domestic focus.
The year 2025 will mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and China will be commemorating the 80th anniversary of its victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Against this background, Professor Huo argued that it may be time for China to formally request Japan to return Chinese cultural property looted during wartime.
