- Convenor:
-
Sakiko Kawabe
(National Museum of Japanese History)
Send message to Convenor
- Format:
- Panel
- Section:
- Interdisciplinary Section: Digital Humanities
Short Abstract
This session explores new ways of understanding Japanese historical materials by focusing on provenance information. Drawing on Digital Humanities approaches, it examines how describing and visualizing provenance through metadata can reshape perspectives and expand the use of historical materials.
Long Abstract
New possibilities are emerging for advancing the understanding of Japanese historical materials and expanding the ways in which they can be utilized. These possibilities lie not only in the intrinsic value of the materials themselves, but also in focusing on their extrinsic significance, including the processes through which they have reached the present and the ways in which they have been interpreted and positioned over time—that is, their provenance and shifts in interpretation.
Traditionally, historical materials have been discussed primarily in terms of their original state or their current form. In reality, however, they pass through multiple stages, transitioning from materials in active use to “historical materials,” and undergoing processes of preservation, organization, and utilization before reaching the present. In recent years, particularly as an increasing number of modern materials are being reclassified as historical materials, efforts have been advancing within the context of historical materials research to describe such materials together with records of their provenance and use, and to visualize and analyze them in a cross-cutting manner by incorporating perspectives and methodologies from Digital Humanities.
This session aims to reposition provenance information not as supplementary data attached to historical materials, but as a foundational element that can generate new research perspectives and modes of utilization. Drawing on recent discussions surrounding the description and use of provenance information, as well as the metadata technologies that support it, the session will examine the possibilities for visualizing provenance information and constructing metadata for Japanese historical materials, and will explore new prospects for the use of historical materials that differ from conventional approaches.
| Abstract in Japanese (if needed) | 日本の歴史資料の理解の高度化と、その活用のあり方を拡張する新たな可能性が示されつつある。それは、資料そのものが持つ内在的な価値に加えて、それらがどのような経緯で現在に至ったのか、またどのように理解され、位置づけられてきたのかといった、来歴や解釈の変遷に関わる外在的な意義に着目することである。 従来、歴史資料は、そのオリジナルな状態や現在の形態に主眼が置かれてきたが、実際には、現用の段階から「歴史資料」へと転換され、保存・整理・利活用される複数の過程を経て現在に至っている。近年、特に現代資料が歴史資料として位置づけられる事例が増える中で、こうした来歴や利活用の記録を含めて資料を記述し、それらを横断的に可視化・分析しようとする試みが、Digital Humanities の視点や方法論を取り入れながら、歴史資料研究の文脈において進められている。 本セッションでは、来歴情報の記述とそれを支えるメタデータ技術、そしてその活用に関する近年の議論を踏まえながら、来歴情報を歴史資料の「付随情報」としてではなく、新たな研究視点や利活用を生み出す基盤として再定位することを目指す。あわせて、日本の歴史資料における来歴情報の可視化やメタデータ構築の可能性、さらにそれらを通じた、従来とは異なる歴史資料活用の展望について議論したい。 |
Accepted papers
Paper short abstract
Clarifying chronology is vital for provenance data, but historical documents often use ambiguous time expressions and Japanese calendar dates. This work presents a historical knowledge base that enables flexible temporal descriptions and improved retrieval and comparison.
Paper long abstract
In order to utilize the provenance information of historical documents, it is necessary to clarify their chronological context. However, the temporal information related to provenance is not always clear, and there are many ambiguous expressions such as "around 1945" or "mid-Edo period." Furthermore, dates in the Japanese calendar are used in Japanese historical documents, and it is necessary to process these appropriately.
Regarding the processing of ambiguous times, Theory and methods have been established for describing periods with ambiguous start and end points and for retrieving and comparing them. Regarding the Japanese calendar, a system for converting to other calendars, including the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and Linked Open Data resources containing information on Japanese era names years, months and dates from before the Edo period are provided. These digital humanities technologies and resources are widely used in Japanese studies, particularly historical research.
This presentation will introduce the construction of a historical knowledge base on events and people along a time axis, which is being constructed using above technologies and resources. This basic data will enable flexible description of temporal information by using expressions such as event-based time expressions (such as "before the Pacific War" or "around the Perry Expedition") and time expressions associated with people (such as "after the death of Hideyoshi Toyotomi") as time information in various metadata, including the provenance information of historical materials, and is expected to facilitate retrieves and comparisons with other information.
| Abstract in Japanese (if needed): | 歴史資料の来歴情報を活用するためには、それらの時間的な前後関係を明確にする必要がある。しかしながら、来歴に関する時間情報は必ずしも明確ではなく、「昭和２０年頃」や「江戸中期」のようなあいまいな表現が少なくない。また、日本の歴史資料では和暦の日付が用いられており、これらの適切に扱うことも求められる。 あいまいな時間の処理については、始点・終点があいまいな時間の記述し、それらの検索や比較を行う仕組みが確立されている。和暦については、西暦を含む他の暦へ変換する仕組みや江戸時代以前の年号や年月日に関する情報を含むLODリソースが提供されている。これらのデジタル・ヒューマニティーズの技術やリソースは、日本研究、特に歴史研究において、幅広く活用されている。 本報告では、これらの技術やリソースを用いて構築が進められている時間を軸とした出来事や人物などに関する歴史知識辞書の構築について紹介する。これらの基盤的なデータにより、出来事に基づいた時間表現（「戦前」や「黒船来航前後」など）や人物に関連付けられた時間表現（「豊臣秀吉の没後」など）といった表現を歴史資料の来歴情報を含むさまざまなメタデータに時間情報として用いることで、柔軟な時間情報の記述を実現するとともに、検索や他の情報との比較を容易にすることが期待される。 |
Paper short abstract
This paper explores the value of recording and analyzing object biographies in studies of mingu collected in Japan. It shows how focusing on objects’ life histories beyond original use reveals changing relations between people and things, and how Digital Humanities methods advance research.
Paper long abstract
This paper examines the significance of recording and analyzing object biographies in the study of mingu and their collections in Japan, and explores how approaches from the Digital Humanities can contribute to advancing such research.
A wide range of everyday objects—including tableware and cooking implements, furniture, transport equipment, clothing, ornaments, and tools used in subsistence activities such as cultivation, fishing, carpentry, forestry, and blacksmithing—have been identified as objects of scholarly interest and collectively referred to as mingu (民具) in Japan. Across the country, regional mingu collections have been formed and have come to serve as important narrators of local culture and history, particularly in the period following Japan’s postwar high economic growth.
However, the collection and documentation of mingu have traditionally emphasized their primary or original functions, with the aim of clarifying the aspects of local culture prior to modernization and/or the continuity of cultural essence within the region. As a result, the life histories of individual objects—including their reuse, reinterpretation, and circulation in everyday life or in museum or heritage context—have often been insufficiently recorded. This approach has tended to capture only limited aspects of objects and their relationships with people and society.
This paper introduces research that focuses on multiple phases in the life of mingu, from their production and everyday use to their collection and preservation as museum objects. It argues that recording and analyzing object biographies is essential for understanding the dynamic relationships between objects, people, and social change. Furthermore, the paper discusses how Digital Humanities methodologies and technologies can enhance the recording, analysis, and sharing of object biographies, thereby enabling more comprehensive and innovative studies of mingu and its collections.
Paper short abstract
This paper examines models for describing the provenance of Japanese historical materials, drawing on diverse sources. Through multiple case studies, we propose methods for describing provenance information according to material properties and present application examples.
Paper long abstract
In recent years, the digitisation of historical materials has been actively undertaken, but the enrichment and utilisation of metadata remain challenges. Methods for describing provenance information have been an issue since before digitisation regardless of materials' original formats, and the difficulty of systematic description as metadata has become increasingly apparent. This paper examines models for structuring and describing provenance information, using as case studies Meiji-era manuscripts held by the Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo, and contemporary school materials in Oshu City, Iwate Prefecture.
The Historiographical Institute has collected historical materials and conducted research and reproduction for approximately 150 years. Manuscripts in its collection lack documentation of their creation circumstances and detailed provenance, making it difficult to trace their histories. We focused on information about manuscript origins scattered throughout diverse historical sources, including compilations of correspondence regarding material lending and borrowing, acquisition diaries, and catalogues. We examined a model that structures this information as provenance data, emphasising action-based descriptions, and links it to manuscripts via catalogue databases. Specifically, we explored detailed descriptions of actions using PROV-O and its extensions, methods for describing action authority, and approaches for integrating with existing databases to express manuscript provenance using RDF. This demonstrates that systematic description becomes possible through the integration of information from diverse sources.
Comparative analysis across time periods yielded essential insights into material collection practices. For the Meiji period, we analysed correspondence compilations, catalogues, and records, whilst for the present day, we examined provenance information from the digital imaging progress management system, clarifying the distinctive characteristics of collection activities in each period.
Regarding school materials, collection, survey, preservation, and digital archiving at school closures are being practised in Oshu City. We analysed the transition from active school materials to museum collections through participant observation and interviews with curators in Oshu City. We examined a provenance description model and proposed methods for describing and archiving the process from active use through archival transformation to subsequent utilisation.
Through these case studies, we demonstrate the potential for systematic description and utilisation of provenance information in metadata for historical materials.
| Abstract in Japanese (if needed): | 近年、史資料のデジタル化が盛んに行われているが、メタデータの充実と活用が課題となっている。とりわけ、来歴情報の記述方法については史資料の元の形態を問わずデジタル化以前からの課題であるとともに、メタデータとしての体系的記述の難しさが浮き彫りになっている。本稿では、東京大学史料編纂所が所蔵する明治期に作成された写本と岩手県奥州市における現代の学校資料を事例として、来歴情報を構造化して記述するモデルを検討した。 東京大学史料編纂所は、およそ150年にわたり史料を収集し調査研究や複製を行っている。同所が所蔵する写本は、作成の経緯や詳細な由来が写本本体に記されておらず、来歴の参照が困難である。発表者らは、史料貸借に関する手紙のやりとりをまとめた簿冊群、蒐集時の日記、目録といった多様な史資料中に点在する写本の由来に関する情報に着目した。特に行為に関する記述を中心に来歴情報として構造化し、目録データベースを通じて写本に関連付けるモデルを検討した。具体的には、PROV-Oとその拡張による行為の詳細な記述、行為の典拠を記述する方法および既存データベースとの連携手法を検討し、写本の来歴情報をRDFを用いて表現した。本手法により多様な史資料からの情報統合が可能となり、写本の来歴を体系的に記述できることを示した。加えて、複製史料の来歴情報の通時的な比較分析を通じて、史料収集実践の重要な知見が得られた。明治期については影写本・謄写本に関する『往復』(史料貸借に関する往来信の綴り)、目録、記録類を、現在については史料画像デジタル化進捗管理システムによる来歴情報を分析し、各時期の史料収集活動の特徴を明らかにした。 学校資料については、岩手県奥州市において閉校時の学校資料の収集、調査、保存とデジタルアーカイブ化が実践されている。発表者は参与観察および学芸員への聞き取りを通じて学校資料が博物館資料へと変化する過程の分析を行った。この研究および実践を踏まえ、学校資料の来歴情報記述モデルの検討を行い、現用から資料化の過程とその後の活用を記述してアーカイブする方法を提案した。 以上の事例研究を通じて、異なる時代と資料種別における来歴情報の構造化手法を提示し、史資料のメタデータ記述における来歴情報の体系的な記述と活用の可能性を示した。 |