Japanese Museums: Challenges, Prospects, and a LifeDeath Perspective on Cultural Inheritance

Abstract

This paper discusses the challenges facing Japanese museums, and explores their prospects, with a focus on the inheritance of objects. It proposes a novel perspective on cultural inheritance by applying the concept of “life and death” to museum practices. The current difficulties confronting Japanese museums regarding cultural inheritance are deeply rooted in their historical development, a path significantly shaped by European models. These European museums were established with the aim of using their comprehensive collections to contribute to social education, and in the 19th-century evolved into cultural facilities essential for modern nation-building. While Japanese museums largely followed the same trajectory, they now face structural and systemic deterioration, leaving museums increasingly strained. The situation necessitates a reconsideration of the traditional modernist approaches to cultural inheritance.The paper, using the keywords “symbolic immortality” and “memorial ceremony,” which are concepts of life and death, considers new meanings of cultural inheritance in museums. For example, organizing exhibitions on the anniversaries of an artist’s birth or death is another way museums can transmit cultural heritage associated with individuals and objects, and can also be considered a form of memorial service. Such practices not only serve as forms of remembrance but also actively ensure the “symbolic immortality” of both creators and their works, thereby enriching the methods of cultural transmission.