Hakubutsukan or Bijutsukan: Early Museological Developments in Japan with Long Lasting Implications.

Abstract

At many museums “religious” is not a category which is sufficient for assigning an object exclusively to a certain department or even to the museum. In many cases, other than “religious”, fixed categories are used which stem from early museological discourses. When religious institutions run exhibition spaces, they also follow broader museological trends. During the Meiji period, terms for museums in Japan were introduced in Japanese. As terms were fixed, the museums already have been differentiated. As a result, since then, hakubutsukan is used as the common term for a museum which could be a natural history museum, cultural history museum, archeological museum, etc. The term bijutsukan became the general term for art museums, respectively. How could collectors and curators decide if e.g. a Buddha statue is a general historical or an art historical object? In my presentation I intend to explore the conditions which led Japanese New Religious Movements to employ the category “hakubutsukan” or “bijutsukan” for their museums. I focus on museums which are inspired by ideas of the two religious leaders Nakayama Shōzen (1905-1967) and Okada Mokichi (1882-1955).