Canon

Overview

Sharing the beauty of Japanese culture with current and future generations

Sharing the beauty of Japanese culture with current and future generations

Many of Japan’s precious ancient cultural assets are not normally available for public viewing in Japan, such as the “Waves at Matsushima” folding screen by Tawaraya Sotatsu, which is now part of a collection overseas, and the “Pine Trees” folding screen by Hasegawa Tohaku, which is carefully preserved as a national treasure.

Many of Japan’s precious ancient cultural assets are not normally available for public viewing in Japan, such as the “Waves at Matsushima” folding screen by Tawaraya Sotatsu, which is now part of a collection overseas, and the “Pine Trees” folding screen by Hasegawa Tohaku, which is carefully preserved as a national treasure.

We launched the Tsuzuri Project in March 2007 with the aim of giving as many people as possible the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of such cultural assets. We aim to protect and preserve the precious originals from deterioration, and pass their beauty on to future generations.

We launched the Tsuzuri Project in March 2007 with the aim of giving as many people as possible the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of such cultural assets. We aim to protect and preserve the precious originals from deterioration, and pass their beauty on to future generations.

We produce high resolution facsimiles of Japanese cultural assets using Canon’s cutting-edge digital imaging technology and craftsmanship that draws on the traditions of Kyoto. This not only enables us to protect the precious originals, but also provides us with facsimiles so faithful to the original that they can also be used for various purposes, including research on the works, public exhibitions at the institutions they are donated to, or teaching in schools.

We produce high resolution facsimiles of Japanese cultural assets using Canon’s cutting-edge digital imaging technology and craftsmanship that draws on the traditions of Kyoto. This not only enables us to protect the precious originals, but also provides us with facsimiles so faithful to the original that they can also be used for various purposes, including research on the works, public exhibitions at the institutions they are donated to, or teaching in schools.

Flowers on Woven Fences, by Kano Sanraku and Kano Sansetsu, can be found at Tenkyuin temple, a subtemple of Myoshinji Temple in Kyoto. These paintings adorn sliding panels encircling a spacious tatami room rich with the scent of the matting. Their gold hues sparkle brightly as the sunlight touches them. As time passes, this sparkle changes, and there are also changes in the hearts and minds of the people who look at it. We offer a unique opportunity to be transported back to the time when the piece was first created, to see it in its original environment, and to experience what people felt then.

Flowers on Woven Fences, by Kano Sanraku and Kano Sansetsu, can be found at Tenkyuin temple, a subtemple of Myoshinji Temple in Kyoto. These paintings adorn sliding panels encircling a spacious tatami room rich with the scent of the matting. Their gold hues sparkle brightly as the sunlight touches them. As time passes, this sparkle changes, and there are also changes in the hearts and minds of the people who look at it. We offer a unique opportunity to be transported back to the time when the piece was first created, to see it in its original environment, and to experience what people felt then.

Through the Tsuzuri Project, Canon seeks to preserve and pass on the beauty of Japanese culture, ensuring that it captures the hearts of people both now and in the future.

Through the Tsuzuri Project, Canon seeks to preserve and pass on the beauty of Japanese culture, ensuring that it captures the hearts of people both now and in the future.

Overview

The "Tsuzuri Project" (Official Title: Cultural Heritage Inheritance Project) is a joint project organized by Canon and the Kyoto Culture Association (NPO). The Project aims to create and make use of high resolution facsimiles of cultural assets from Japanese antiquity, with keeping the original cultural assets in more favorable environments.

Creation of high resolution facsimiles
Canon SLR cameras are used to capture folding screens, sliding doors and other precious cultural assets from Japanese antiquity. The high resolution digital images are processed using Canon's unique precision color correction technology, and then printed out in their original size using Canon large format printers. Traditional crafts are combined with this digital technology, such as gold leaf application and mounting work wherever necessary to complete near-perfect replications of the original works. Using a specially designed pan-tilt head that allows multi-segmented photography, and Canon's unique color matching system vastly reduces the time and effort needed to produce the facsimiles with color rendition that is more faithful to the originals.
Use of high resolution facsimiles
By using high resolution facsimiles, the "Tsuzuri Project" makes it possible for the original works to be kept in more favorable environments, thereby preventing deterioration and ensuring that cultural heritage will be passed down to future generations.
These high resolution facsimiles are donated to the owners of the original works, to the shrines, temples, and museums that owned them before they have been owned in other countries, or to universities, local authorities, and others with a particular connection to cultural heritage. The facsimiles are then displayed to the public in various parts of Japan, allowing a greater number of people to get a closer look at these precious assets. Some schools use the facsimiles as 'living aids' for teaching Japanese history, art, and culture. In this way, the Project represents a new challenge that goes beyond the possibilities of conventional digital archives.
High resolution facsimiles are providing a greater number of people with the opportunity to experience outstanding works of Japanese art.
Themes of the ”Tsuzuri Project”
  • *High Resolution Facsimiles of Japanese Art Abroad
    The purpose of this theme is to donate high resolution facsimiles of precious Japanese cultural assets that have been owned in other countries over the course of history to their former owners, art museums, etc. in Japan.
  • *High Resolution Facsimiles of Historical Cultural Assets
    This theme promotes the use of high resolution facsimiles as 'living aids' for teaching Japanese history, and targets cultural assets that most people may remember from their history textbooks in elementary and junior high school.
Project organizer
Kyoto Culture Association (NPO)
Partner organization
Canon Inc.