TOPPAN Holdings Co., Ltd. press release (2024.10.03) TOPPAN Holdings Co., Ltd. TOPPAN exhibits estimated digital restoration of Ito Jakuchu’s “Shaka 16 Arhats” at “Japanese Art Mine Exhibition” A restored folding screen of Ito Jakuchu’s phantom masterpiece will be available in Kansai from June 2025. First public release in the area TOPPAN Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, President: Masanori Saito, hereinafter referred to as TOPPAN), a group company of TOPPAN Holdings Co., Ltd., has digitally estimated and reconstructed Ito Jakuchu through detailed research based on black and white illustration images. “Shaka 16 Arhats” will be exhibited at “Japanese Art Mine Exhibition: Search for Future National Treasures!” to be held at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka from Saturday, June 21, 2025 to Sunday, August 31, 2025. . As one of the notable works of the exhibition, this work will be exhibited along with a newly discovered folding screen created by Ito Jakuchu and Maruyama Okyo.
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illustrations of the same folding screen, which are thought to have likely been lost in a fire, were scanned in high definition, and the color was estimated through detailed research.The three-dimensional expression of the paint was also reproduced using a special printing technique. . In order to allow more people in Japan and abroad to appreciate Ito Jakuchu’s fantastic work, which has been recreated using this digital technology, we are exhibiting an estimated digital reconstruction of the 16 Arhats of Shakyamuni Buddha at this exhibition. I will. TOPPAN will continue to utilize digital technology to restore lost cultural properties and propose new experiences for appreciating cultural properties. ■About “Japanese Art Mine Exhibition Find Future National Treasures!” Japanese art is full of artists and works that are not yet known to the world. For example, in the case of Ito Jakuchu (1716 – 1800), an exhibition held at the Kyoto National Museum in 2000 sparked an unprecedented Jakuchu boom, but before 2000, Jakuchu was not seen by the general public. It was an “unknown vein” for him. Since then, the excavation of eccentric painters such as Jakuchu has progressed, but there are still many unknown veins hidden in Japan from the Jomon period to modern times. The goal of this exhibition is to once again unearth this vein and establish it as a beautiful jewel in the future history of Japanese art. This is an exhibition where viewers can search for “future national treasures” on their own. name “Japanese Art Mine Exhibition Find future national treasures!” venue Osaka Nakanoshima Art Museum (4-3-1 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka, Osaka) Period Saturday, June 21, 2025 – Sunday, August 31, 2025 Sponsored by Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, NHK Osaka Broadcasting Station, NHK Enterprises Kinki Supervision Yuji Yamashita (Professor, Meiji Gakuin University) Planning cooperation Asami Hirose (Asano Research Institute) ■ About the estimated digital restoration of Ito Jakuchu’s “Shakya 16 Arhats” folding screen Ito Jakuchu’s “Shaka 16 Arhats” is one of his works that uses the characteristic painting method called “Masume-e” (*3). Although the work is currently considered missing, it is likely that it was destroyed in a fire, and only the black-and-white illustrations (288 mm x 88 mm) from the time convey its appearance to this day. This time, based on this black and white photograph, we conducted a digital estimated restoration under the supervision of Japanese art historians Yuji Yamashita (Professor at Meiji Gakuin University) and Tsune Arai (Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts). This work is normally exhibited at TOPPAN’s “Digital Cultural Properties Museum KOISHIKAWA XROSS(R)”*4, which opened in July 2024. 1. Investigation
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/33034/1514/33034-1514-0915aa1b2fca8087e1dd7649eae2ee4f-3000×1942.jpg “Rinko Memorial Exhibition Catalog of Treasured Items of Famous Houses” 1937 After high-definition scanning of the leftover black-and-white photographic illustrations, we were able to point out similarities in some respects with Ito Jakuchu’s “Folding Screen of Trees, Flowers, and Birds and Animals” (Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art collection). With the cooperation of the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, an investigation of the folding screen was conducted with Tokyo University of the Arts, and the paints used were
investigated. I used it as a reference for the restoration, including how to draw the squares. In addition, we approached the information conveyed by black-and-white photographs from various perspectives, such as similar works and black-and-white photography techniques. 2. Digital coloring
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/33034/1514/33034-1514-5db7c642a9c27fac42c20af22f60b12e-640×480.jpg How to color digitally A screen made up of over 120,000 squares was digitally colored to represent the colors estimated based on the research. By taking into consideration the differences in texture between each paint, we are able to express the texture of a
hand-painted painting, even though it is digitally colored. 3. Three-dimensional expression through printing Image
URL: https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/33034/1514/33034-1514-de3a1277e51ecc9ba2637ed435f68980-2000×1333.jpg Reproducing the three-dimensional square of “square marking” using special printing technology The three-dimensional rectangle, which is a characteristic of “Masume-gaki” works, is expressed using a special printing technique. I made repeated small adjustments to make it look like paint. *1
Digital restoration About “Osaka Winter Battle Folding Screen” https://www.holdings.toppan.com/ja/news/2019/06/newsrelease190620_2.html *2 Digital estimated restoration About “Reflection of water lilies and willows”
https://www.holdings.toppan.com/ja/news/2019/06/newsrelease190610.html *3 ”Masume drawing” technique This is a technique used by Ito Jakuchu for “Trees, Flowers, Birds and Beasts” (Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art), “Birds, Animals, Flowers and Trees” (Idemitsu Museum of Art), and “White Elephants and Beasts” (private collection). By dividing it into 1cm square squares and painting each square square, a unique effect can be obtained.
*4 “Digital Cultural Properties Museum KOISHIKAWA XROSS(R)” “Digital Cultural Heritage Museum KOISHIKAWA XROSS(R)” opened in July 2024 as a facility that proposes a new experience of viewing cultural assets using digital technology. Facility
website
https://koishikawaxross.jp/ *Product and service names mentioned in this news release are trademarks or registered trademarks of each company. *The information contained in this news release is current as of the date of announcement. It is subject to change without prior notice. Above