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In February 2019, two nations with the largest nuclear arsenals announced their withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Russia's interference in U.S. elections and the invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated tensions between the U.S. and Russia. These actions bring renewed attention to nuclear nonproliferation efforts worldwide. In this troubling context, but finding inspiration from Hibakusha testimonies, we propose one way to teach nuclear war and nonproliferation.

Nature and time have long been key concepts of educational thought. Educational thinkers from both the East and the West have tried to imitate and follow nature (conceived as "tien" or "physis"). They have also considered time in relation to human formation and growth. This article attempts to connect these two key concepts of education through the medium of the seasons. The seasons bridge both time and nature. Our experience of nature is temporal and manifests itself in the transition of the seasons. On the other hand, our experience of time is conditioned by the seasons. Seasons are a concrete manifestation of time and nature. It seems that philosophy has not paid enough attention to this. In this article, Japanese arts (such as the Katsura Imperial Villa and waka poetry) are used as the examples of how the arts can help to form our sensibility toward the seasons, which has ethical and educational implications. The article also asks questions about contemporary environmental discussions that, in the aspiration to be global and universal, often overlook concrete experience of the seasons conditioned by local climate.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on a designed research methodology to distil existing research findings from an esrc/ahrc funded japan/uk network on location-based virtual reality experiences for children in order to generate new knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: The structured co-production methodology was undertaken in three stages. These were: (1) a collaborative workshop which produced a series of collage narratives, (2) collaborating with a non-human entity in the form of a digital coded tool to reconfigure the workshop responses and mediate the hierarchy of roles, (3) the co-production of a zine as a collaborative reflection method, which shared via postal service enabled a dialogue and exchange of round Robin interventions by the network members. Findings: The analysis of the data collected in this study highlighted five themes that could be used by other researchers on a wide range of projects. These were: (1) knowing through making, (2) the importance of process, (3) beyond linear representations, (4) agency of physical materials and (5) agency of digital code. Research limitations/implications: The context of the study being undertaken during the first phase of the global pandemic, revealed insight into a method of co-production that was undertaken under emergency remote working conditions. The knowledge generated from this can be applied to other research contexts such as working with researchers or participants across global borders without the need to travel. Originality/value: The research provides an innovative rethinking of co-production methods in order to generate new knowledge from multidisciplinary and multimodal research.

Polymathy may be defined as the productive pursuit of multiple endeavors, simultaneously or serially, across a lifetime. As such, polymathic breadth of interest across knowledge domains characterizes Nobel laureates in the sciences, literature, economics, and peace, though interest patterns vary between groups. Economics laureates, like science laureates, demonstrate significant trans-domain interests in mathematics and science but differ from scientists by focusing additional interests in the humanities and social sciences rather than in visual arts or crafts. Literature laureates share strong interests in visual arts with science laureates, but they engage far less in crafts and more in humanities. Literature laureates share with economics laureates a high interest in the humanities and social sciences but engage far less in the sciences. Peace laureates focus their multiple interests in the humanities and social sciences along with literature and economics laureates, but they differ from both by participating far less in arts or science. In addition, Nobel laureates are also intra-domain polymaths, engaging in more than one discipline within their primary field. Overall, Nobel laureates are significantly more likely to be trans- and intra-domain polymaths than the average person. Moreover, patterns of interest suggest that different professions select for or attract individuals with reasonably discrete combinations of talent.

In both England and Japan, art education was viewed as having nothing to do with self-expression, but was considered to be an efficient means for industrial development. In England, it was designed to train the eyes and hands of artisans. The art critic Ruskin has often been referred to in the context of the transition to self-expression in the history of art education. This article shows, however, that Ruskin was not an advocate of self-expression. In Japan, drawing was introduced into the general education curriculum at the beginning of the Meiji era, and the aim of that instruction was to train the students' eyes and hands. In response to this trend, the Free Drawing Movement was introduced by Kanae Yamamoto. He attempted to introduce the methods of creation used by professional artists into general education. But this aspect was neglected by both his supporters and opponents, and Yamamoto has been presented instead as an advocate of self-expression. Drawing on the genealogical approach, as developed by Foucault, this paper re-examines this well-known history of art education. By replacing Ruskin and Yamamoto in the historical context of the transition of art education in two respective countries, the genealogy of self-expression will be revealed.

In the last two decades, the issue of comfort women--the women and girls who were forced into sex slavery for the Japanese army before and during WWII--has risen to global attention. Tens of thousands of comfort women (the average estimate is anywhere between 80,000 and 200,000) were confined at comfort stations managed by the Japanese Imperial Army throughout the Asian Pacific. The vast majority (an estimated 80% to 90%) of these women were from Korea, the closest Japanese colony at the time, though they were also from China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and throughout Southeast Asia. Memorials and dedications have cropped up everywhere outside of Asia, including, in the United States alone, Glendale, California; Fairfax, Virginia; Southfield, Michigan; and Union City, New Jersey. In Winnipeg, the recorded testimony of comfort woman survivor Lola Fidencia David (''Lola Fidencia David Breaks the Silence'' 2013) when she visited in October 2013 will be part of the oral history collection at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR). Starting with the accounts of this visit sponsored by the CMHR, this article recounts the recent history of how the issue of comfort women has risen to global prominence and come to be a persuasive emblem of human rights. The comfort women movement, originally rooted in a deep and specific anticolonial activism dedicated to demanding legal redress from Japan, has morphed into a global women's and human rights agenda based on testimony, sympathy, and remembrance. This article considers what has been lost and gained in this shift, as well as its consequences for an ever-expanding human rights industry. It is divided into three parts. First, the author recounts details of the CMHR event in October 2013 and provides an overview of comfort woman testimonies, including the narrative and political constraints within the presentation of this history. Second, she traces the 20-year-old grassroots activism movement within Korea regarding military sexual slavery, and how this became subsumed under a global women's and human rights discourse. Lastly, she concludes with a comparison of comfort women's art to a Park Gun-Oong (2013) cartoon to argue for how distance and anonymity may be more strategic and ethical ways of caring for difficult knowledge than commemoration and memorialization in what Erika Doss (2013) refers to as the current era of ''memorial mania.''

This study investigates the priority needs of museum service accessibility for visually impaired visitors. For this purpose, conjoint analysis was utilized. Four conjoint attributes of museum services were selected: A--facilities for wayfinding; B--exhibitions and collections including objects for touching, hearing, smelling, etc.; C--information in braille, audio and large print; and D--assistance and interpretation by museum staff and volunteers. Participants were 30 visually impaired adults ranging in age from teenagers to septuagenarians. The results revealed that the priority needs in services for visually impaired visitors were accessibility to exhibitions and collections, and staff assistance. This finding was also supported by statements gathered in interviews. Based on this result, the potential for promoting museum accessibility for the visually impaired population in Japan is discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Portable terminals such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones are very convenient because it is possible to use them anytime and anywhere. Portable devices can be used for efficiently supplying various modes of information ranging from text and images to and audio and movies at the user's discretion. This mode of information delivery has many advantages. However, priority has been given to the technical development of systems for portable devices, while design aspects that focus on the user have been neglected. User-centered design (UCD) places the user at the center of the design process. This paper reports on how UCD should be an integral part of any design process by detailing research conducted in Japan on viewing support systems using mobile phones and PDAs in art museums. (Contains 14 figures and 6 notes.)

Describes a course on Japanese Buddhist art taught in English to second-year university students in Japan. The course was team taught by an English-as-a-Foreign-language teacher and a teacher who is a specialist in Japanese art. Suggests that learning about the art of a country by listening, reading, talking, and writing is effective for improving English language skills. (Author/VWL)

Inclusive education has been promoted in recent years; however, its inadequacies and the difficulty of its practical application have been pointed out. Hence, this study presents a scheme of learning according to the conditions of a person's disability and proposes a hypothetical teaching method that accommodates various degrees of disability. The method implements teaching materials developed for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities with people with moderate to mild disabilities. The authors conducted classes for 15 students enrolled in two special needs schools and an art club that utilises art activities that highlight positive aspects of individuals. Through qualitative analysis, 11 types of learning concepts were extracted and classified into broad categories of basic literacy, cognitive skills, and social skills. Additionally, by categorising learning schemas based on the level of communication and physical movement, rather than the type of disability, six types of instructional methods are proposed. This provides a viable guidance system for inclusive group learning for people with various disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the significance of the exhibitions of Western arts and crafts organised by Yamanaka & Co., a recognized specialist dealer in East Asian art. The author examined Bijutsu Kōgeihin Tenrankai: Ōbei Saishin Kōan, an exhibition catalogue published in 1928. This catalogue, owned by Yamanaka & Co., shows what was exhibited and the prices of some of the exhibits. The exhibition focused on modern French sculpture and Western artefacts, both of which were small pieces for interior decoration. Yamanaka & Co. presented these works to the creators of Japanese arts and crafts as models to improve the design. They argued that European design imitated Japanese design, whilst developing Japanese elements to the present day and encouraging the improvement of Japanese craft design. President Sadajirō Yamanaka was deeply involved in the collection of the exhibits and in the promotion of the exhibition. After this exhibition, Yamanaka & Co. continued to actively import European crafts, targeting the emerging middle classes of the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk factors for severe COVID-19 associated with people living with HIV (PLWH) have not been well studied in Japan. In this study, we aim to reveal how having AIDS and comorbidities affect adverse COVID-19 outcomes. This observational, retrospective study examined the clinical outcomes for PLWH hospitalized as COVID-19 inpatients in Japan, using data extracted from hospitals with the Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) system between January 2020 and December 2021. From 4672 records of HIV patients receiving antiretroviral therapy, 85 adult PLWH became hospitalized with COVID-19. The associations between patients' AIDS diagnosis, comorbidities, and their adverse COVID-19 outcomes (mild/moderate and severe/death) were analyzed. Among 85 studied patients, 78 were male (91.8%) with mean (SD) age of 48 (14.4) years. 75 (88.2%) were found to be COVID-19 mild/moderate; 9 (10.6%) were severe; 1 (1.2%) died. Older age (p = 0.002) and hypertension (p = 0.032) were significantly associated with progressing to severe COVID-19 or death. AIDS and other AIDS-defining illnesses were not found to be significant risk factors in this study. While interpretation of the results from this hospital claim database study warrants caution, we found that among PLWH hospitalized as COVID-19 inpatients in Japan, those who are older or with hypertension have a higher risk for progression to severe COVID-19 outcomes, suggesting a careful monitoring of clinical course for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Art engagement, which includes individual art activities and museum and gallery visits, potentially contributes to improving psychological well-being. However, there is insufficient evidence of its effects on the older population, and few reports are from Asia, including Japan. This study examined the association between art engagement and psychological well-being among older adults in Japan. An observational cross-sectional study design was used. Community-dwelling older adults aged ≥60 years were recruited from the visitors to public facilities (including community centres, sports centres and cultural centres) in Aichi, Japan, in 2022, and completed questionnaires. The psychological well-being assessment included five domains according to Seligman's PERMA framework: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning and Accomplishment. Regarding art engagement, the frequencies of active art engagement (e.g. activities by individuals and participation in groups, such as music and painting) and receptive art engagement (e.g. visiting museums, galleries and the theatres) were assessed. A total of 522 participants were included in the analysis (mean age = 74.1 years; 78.0% females). Results from the multivariable linear regression analysis, which adjusted for demographic and socio-economic factors, revealed that higher frequencies of active art engagement were significantly associated with higher scores in all five PERMA domain scores. Higher frequencies of receptive art engagement were significantly associated with higher levels of Positive emotion, Engagement and Meaning domain scores, but were only marginally associated with the Accomplishment domain and were not associated with the Relationships domain. This study indicates that art engagement has the potential to enhance psychological well-being among older adults. National and local government strategies to increase accessibility to art and cultural activities for older adults are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars exploring the entwinement of "authenticity" and "race" in cultural production demonstrate that artists are frequently evaluated according to racialized standards, whereby differences in musical expression are believed not only to be the result of cultural differences but to be rooted in ethnic and racial differences in the popular imagination. Heretofore, the research has focused either on evidencing that authenticity is entirely a social construct or on tracing racially informed discriminatory practices against artists of color. Exponents of an artform traditionally associated with a racial group other than their own are frequently deemed "inauthentic." However, less attention has been devoted to investigating whether, and if so how artists resist, or otherwise deal with, this racialized construction of authenticity. This article contributes to the literature on authenticity, race, and identity in creative work by examining the ways in which artists navigate racialized representations of authenticity in Western art music. The analysis is informed by qualitative research conducted among 75 Japanese musicians in France, Poland, and Japan. It draws on performative theories to conceptualize both authenticity and race as something that people "do" and "redo," rather than "have" or "are." My findings demonstrate that Japanese artists are doing authentic music self through race by self‐aligning with a Western personality, a Western sense of music, and by training their bodies to fit Western instruments. The various means available to an artist to resist racialized preconceptions and appraisals are additionally examined and their feasibility and effectiveness assessed. I argue that an artist has considerable, albeit limited, agency and that the hierarchical racial divisions in Western classical music can therefore be temporarily dissolved to make it more inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de la Asociacion Aragonesa de Criticos de Arte is the property of Asociacion Aragonesa de Criticos de Arte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Arts and cultural engagement has the potential to reduce social deficits such as loneliness and social isolation. However, as most evidence is from Western countries, less is known whether the protective association of engagement with social deficits can also be seen in different cultural settings such as Asia. We explored the associations of arts and cultural engagement, focusing on engagement continuity and type, with loneliness and social isolation among older adults in Japan, one of the fastest-ageing countries. This three-year longitudinal study involved 4,383 individuals (mean age = 74.3 years; 51.3% women) from the Japan Gerontological Evaluative Study 2019; 2022 waves. To assess engagement continuity, respondents were categorised into four groups: none, decreasing, increasing and sustained engagement. A latent class analysis identified four classes of engagement type: low, receptive, creative and diverse engagement. Loneliness and social isolation were measured using the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) 3-Item Loneliness Scale (range: 3–9) and the Social Isolation Index (range: 0–5), respectively. We applied ordinary least squares regressions to investigate the associations between engagement and the outcomes. Regarding engagement continuity, those who increased or sustained their engagement across waves reported lower loneliness compared with those who did not engage (increased: coef. = −0.22, 95% confidential interval [CI] = −0.41, −0.04; sustained: coef. = −0.26, 95% CI = −0.36, −0.16). Individuals who sustained their engagement also reported lower social isolation (coef. = −0.18, 95% CI = −0.27, −0.09). Regarding engagement type, engaging in diverse activities was associated with lower loneliness compared to low engagement (coef. = −0.34, 95% CI = −0.59, −0.10), while creative and diverse engagement were associated with lower social isolation (creative: coef. = −0.13, 95% CI = −0.22, −0.04; diverse: coef. = −0.33, 95% CI = −0.54, −0.12). These findings suggest that offering a diversity of creative arts and cultural activities and supporting sustainable engagement of older adults may help alleviate their social deficits. • Arts and cultural engagement may reduce social deficits (loneliness and isolation). • This study focused on engagement continuity and type among older adults in Japan. • Increasing and sustained engagement showed lower social deficits three years later. • Diverse and creative engagement indicated lower levels of subsequent social deficits. • Sustained offering of diverse creative arts and cultural activities may mitigate social deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental enrichment is essential for the well‐being of zoo animals. Recent advances in sensor and video technologies may contribute to improvements in enrichment in terms of their flexibilities and time constraints. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether interactive movie art can be used as a form of environmental enrichment. We implemented interactive movies designed by a professional artist, a visual art aiming to reflect naturalistic forest habitat, in an indoor chimpanzee enclosure at Kyoto City Zoo in Japan. Motion‐tracking sensors embedded in buoys were installed at several locations around the indoor enclosure; the chimpanzees could change the movie contents by physically interacting with these objects. We recorded behaviors by observing entire troop of chimpanzees (six) between March 16 and 20, 2020 (control condition), then recorded behaviors when the interactive movie was presented (experimental condition) between March 21 and 29, 2020. Behaviors were recorded via direct observations and video recordings to examine any changes after the installation of interactive art. The chimpanzees spent more time in the indoor enclosures during the experimental condition than during the control condition. Activity budgets did not change substantially during the study period. There was no evidence of habituation to the movie during the study period. Three chimpanzees, including two young chimpanzees, interacted with the movie more frequently than the others; these young chimpanzees occasionally showed playful expressions when interacting with the movie and exhibited different reactivities to the movie scenes. These results demonstrate, first, that the interactive art did not negatively affect chimpanzee behavior, and second, that some of the chimpanzees indeed showed positive responses to the art. This study, therefore, introduces a novel possibility for environmental enrichment in zoos, involving a collaboration between science and art. Research Highlights: We investigate whether technology‐based interactive movie art can be used as a form of environmental enrichment by analyzing their behaviors.The chimpanzees spent more time in the locations where the arts were presented and did not lose interest across the experimental condition. Two young chimpanzees particularly used it and showed play face in relation to the interactive arts.These results demonstrate that the interactive art did not negatively affect chimpanzee behavior, and that some of the chimpanzees indeed showed positive responses to the art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The defeat of Japan in 1945 saw the return of hundreds of thousands of injured soldiers to Japan from other countries. Once celebrated for their bodily sacrifice by the Japanese Imperial Government, these wounded war veterans were repatriated to a society quickly trying to forget the war, while their bodies produced a constant reminder of it. Following the end of the Allied occupation of Japan in 1952, the Japan Disabled Veterans Association (JDVA) was formed. Although Japan attempted to create a new postwar narrative that emphasised "healthy body and nation", the JDVA's members had to find their own way to fit into postwar society. This article explores how wounded war veterans saw and represented themselves in postwar Japan. By looking primarily at the comic strips and images included in the monthly publication Disabled Veterans Monthly Gazette (Nisshō Gekkan), this article examines how maimed veterans expressed both acceptance and disavowal of their bodies, which were permanently inscribed with the memory of the war. I argue that the comics demonstrate the challenges disabled veterans faced as they attempted to participate in, and conform to, Japan's postwar recovery even as their bodies maintained the scars of war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on the Echigo‐Tsumari Art Festival (ETAF) in Niigata, Japan, we propose a novel conceptualisation of the role of art in rural revitalisation, focused on how local farmers experience art as a catalyst for social, cultural and natural change. Scholarship on the role of art in rural revitalisation has often focussed on arts' problem‐solving affordances (e.g., economic, demographic) or on how rural engagements matter to art development. Instead, we turn our attention to the middle‐ground: how art intervenes in the everyday life and practices of farmers in the festival area. Based on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, our analysis draws on the theories of Tsurumi Shunsuke and John Dewey to offer a broad and inclusive notion of 'art' and 'aesthetic experience'. With this framework, we explore how farmers relate to different artworks presented at ETAF and how art can spur farmers to reflect on their lives, their farming and the environments they inhabit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western European and East Asian cultures show marked differences in aesthetic appreciation of the visual arts. East Asian aesthetics are often associated with a holistic focus on balance and harmony, in contrast to Western aesthetics, which often focus on the expression of the individual. In this study, we examined whether cultural differences also exist in relation to the aesthetics of dance. Japanese and British participants completed an online survey in which they evaluated synchronous and asynchronous dance video clips on eight semantic differential scales. We observed that the aesthetics of group dance depend on cultural background. Specifically, British participants preferred asynchronous over synchronous dance whereas Japanese participants equally liked synchronous and asynchronous dance movement. For both cultures, preferences were based on distinct semantic associations with movement synchrony. We argue that cultural differences in aesthetic perception of group dance relate to the culturally specific social signals conveyed by unison movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Setting out from Okakura Kakuzō and Ernest Fenollosa's famous "discovery" of the Yumedono Kannon, this article will trace the contested construction of the categories of "religion" (shūkyō) and "fine art" (bijutsu) in Meiji Japan. In religious studies circles, it has become commonplace to think of "religion" as the only disciplinary master category with issues. However, not only was "religion" invented in Japan, but "fine art" was invented there too. Indeed, categories from "culture" to "society" to "politics" have similar issues. Attending to these will help refocus crucial debates away from an obsession with translation and onto more fundamental issues about "cultural categories" as such. This paper will advance the debate by explaining the attendant constructions of "religion" and "fine art" as process social kinds. In doing so, it will showcase the museum and the temple as central sites of materialized disputation over global categories and their local instantiation. It will show how assimilation to the world-system in the long nineteenth century was a complex multi-generational process of negotiation and contestation, producing new hybrid spaces, returns, transformations, and innovations that then reflected back on global systems, changing them in subtle but profound ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: After the hepatitis A virus (HAV) outbreak among men who have sex with men (MSM) around 2018, the importance of HAV vaccination was emphasized, especially for MSM‐living with human immunodeficiency virus (MSM‐LWHIV). Aimmugen® is licensed and distributed exclusively in Japan. While administration of three doses is recommended, 85% of recipients in the general population were reported to acquire seroprotection after the second dose. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of two or three vaccine doses along with predictors associated with the response to Aimmugen® in MSM‐LWHIV. Methods: We retrospectively examined anti‐HA‐IgG titers of MSM‐LWHIV vaccinated with Aimmugen® in our hospital. Patients' data were collected from medical records. Results: Between January 2018 and October 2019, 141 subjects whose median age was 46 years old, were examined. All the subjects were on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the median CD4 count was 615/μL. The acquisition rate of protectable anti‐HA‐IgG titers after the second and third dose was 71.1% and 98.6%, respectively. In 114 subjects whose anti‐HA‐IgG titers were tested after the second‐dose, factors significantly associated with better response were prolonged ART duration and higher CD4 count. The titers of anti‐HA‐IgG after the third dose were higher in those who became seropositive after the second‐dose than those who did not. Conclusions: Three‐dose of Aimmugen® for MSM‐LWHIV was effective while two‐dose was less effective compared to non‐HIV‐infected people. People‐LWHIV with shorter duration of ART and lesser CD4 cell count achieved lower titers of anti‐HA‐IgG and might require an additional vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Mirai. Estudios Japoneses is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Turtles/tortoises hold great significance in many ancient cultures. Often perceived as the foundation for the beginning of things or an emblem of cosmos, they have a sacred role in mythologies, legends and folklore around the world, especially so in East and Southeast Asia. In Chinese culture, tortoises are generally viewed as a symbol of longevity, endurance, stability and wisdom because of their long lifespan and unique appearance. In early modern and modern Japanese culture, turtles/tortoises with a tail made of seaweed and algae can be seen as a symbol of several legendary creatures and deities. Accompanied by a crane, they are favored, auspicious motifs appearing in visual arts, crafts and even in modern-day popular culture. But what about ancient times? Besides turtle-shaped prehistoric objects, turtle motifs can be found on bronze bells, bronze mirrors, stone structures, carvings, textile art, frescos of burial mounds and other artifacts from ancient Japan. How did people who lived in the Japanese archipelago during prehistoric and ancient times depict these animals? What cultural-historical factors influenced the development of these peculiar motifs and mysteriously-shaped objects? In this paper, the author explores early Japanese depictions of turtles and tortoises from the middle Jōmon period to the Asuka period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Curated by socio-cultural anthropologist Fuyubi Nakamura, the exhibition entitled A Future for Memory: Art and Life after the Great Japan Earthquake at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC in British Columbia addresses the sociocultural role of art produced in situ in the aftermath of the triple disaster which occurred in the Tōhoku region of northeast Japan in 2011. The exhibition's curatorial project was born in the affected regions through anthropological research, and the selections of works brought to British Columbia are by The center for remembering 3.11; Lost & Found Project; Lost Homes Scale Model Restoration Project; Chihiro Minato; Atsunobu Katagiri; Masao Okabe; Rias Ark Museum of Art; Tsunami Ladies film project team. This article engages with the conversations that the curator, artists, and collaborators wove through the exhibition. The construction of social memory building on the experiences of a drastically changing environment is its main theme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rocznik Gdanski is the property of University of Gdansk / Uniwersytet Gdanskim and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In empirical art research, understanding how viewers judge visual artworks as beautiful is often explored through the study of attributes-specific inherent characteristics or artwork features such as color, complexity, and emotional expressiveness. These attributes form the basis for subjective evaluations, including the judgment of beauty. Building on this conceptual framework, our study examines the beauty judgments of 54 Western artworks made by native Japanese and German speakers, utilizing an extreme randomized trees model-a data-driven machine learning approach-to investigate cross-cultural differences in evaluation behavior. Our analysis of 17 attributes revealed that visual harmony, color variety, valence, and complexity significantly influenced beauty judgments across both cultural cohorts. Notably, preferences for complexity diverged significantly: while the native Japanese speakers found simpler artworks as more beautiful, the native German speakers evaluated more complex artworks as more beautiful. Further cultural distinctions were observed: for the native German speakers, emotional expressiveness was a significant factor, whereas for the native Japanese speakers, attributes such as brushwork, color world, and saturation were more impactful. Our findings illuminate the nuanced role that cultural context plays in shaping aesthetic judgments and demonstrate the utility of machine learning in unravelling these complex dynamics. This research not only advances our understanding of how beauty is judged in visual art-considering self-evaluated attributes-across different cultures but also underscores the potential of machine learning to enhance our comprehension of the aesthetic evaluation of visual artworks., (© 2024. The Author(s).)