Japan Cultural Research Institute

The Japan Cultural Research Institute (JCRI) is a non-profit organization that aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of Japanese culture through our own vocabularies. Our interest encompasses art, architecture, music, literature, design, and others, which have emerged from the long-cultivated cultural, historical, and geographical background of Japan.

About JCRI

The JCRI aims to provide an environment that facilitates information sharing and academic research for researchers and people interested in the arts by providing grants, creating Archive@ Archive Directories, building archives and systems, planning and hosting symposia, and establishing research library.

Grant-giving Project

As one branch of the Institute, this involves aid connected to the following areas:
・ The translation and publishing of artbooks and exhibition catalogues.
・The organizing of symposia and exhibitions.
・ Aid for individuals and organizations conducting artistic and cultural activities
The field of cultural activities which we support, is defined as broader than the fine arts.

“Archive@” Archive Directory

We published Archive@ which involves researching and listing sites (and their distinctive features), which hold documents connected to the broad field of Japanese culture: fine art, architecture, music, and design, etc. Our aim is to foster an environment in which those who wish to deepen their knowledge of Japanese culture can access documents across a range of cultural fields through referring to the Archive@ archive directory.

Gallery Archive

We are building the archive of the Shigeru Yokota Gallery. This involves organizing and digitizing materials connected to artists and exhibition catalogues dating from the gallery’s establishment in 1976 to the present day. With a focus on artists connected to Japanese postwar fine art, we are also planning to accumulate and make public related documents that might help to deepen understanding of and foster an interest in Japanese contemporary art.

Research Library

We are organizing 6,000-7,000 art-related printed documents and catalogues from the Shigeru Yokota Gallery, and preparing an environment in which important information can be made public and disseminated to artists, art-aficionados, and academic researchers.

Projects related to archives

We publish books and plan and organize exhibitions related to archives.

Holding Symposia and Other Events

We also host and organize symposia, which bring people together to discuss future directions, and to share new information from universities, art galleries, and businesses, on the organization and conservation of art-related documents. In addition to this, we also plan and collaborate in the organizing of events connected to postwar Japanese art.

Organization

Chief Director Shigeru Yokota Advisor of YOKOTA TOKYO
Chief Vice-Director Tadayasu Sakai Director of the Setagaya Art Museum
Director Toshino Iguchi Professor of Saitama University Graduate School
Auditor Sumio Yoshihara Tax Accountant at the Yoshihara Tax Company