Creating a Digital Archive of Manuscripts in the National Museum of Ethnology

Objectives

Minpaku has a large number of original, hand-written paper and papyrus manuscripts, which are mainly concentrated in the “Nakanishi Collection”. This is a collection of printed materials, manuscripts and crafts inscribed with scripts from around the world. Recent research has finally started to uncover the outstanding academic and artistic value of these materials on an international level. However, they continue to be undervalued, due partly to language accessibility issues, but also because Minpaku’s database does not comply with international standards for the publication of textual materials.

The aim of this project, therefore, is to improve the accessibility of the manuscripts in the collection by constructing a Japanese and English platform and hosting a database compliant with international standards to promote global academic research. The focus of the database will be manuscripts from the Nakanishi Collection written in various languages from Central and Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Description

The “Nakanishi Collection” is a collection of printed materials, manuscripts and crafts inscribed with scripts from around the world that was amassed by the late Akira Nakanishi, founder of Nakanishi Printing Company, and has been used as a valuable source of materials for Minpaku’s exhibitions. The research-themed database “Nakanishi Collection: Writing Systems of the World” has also been made publicly available in Japanese, along with images of script samples. However, as this database is only available in Japanese, it is not well known to researchers outside of Japan. In recent years, international awareness has finally started to grow through the international dissemination of results by researchers in Japan, and its outstanding academic and artistic value has started to become clear (e.g. Talinn Grigor (2025) “Who Is the Modern Diasporic Artist?: Intentionality Markers and Centrifugal Method for Armenian Art History” Journal of the Society of Armenian Studies. 30: 187-225). In other words, Minpaku is an important academic resource for promoting international joint research as an Inter-University Research Institute.

This project will focus on 73 manuscripts in the Nakanishi Collection, written in various languages from Central and Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean region, with the following aims: (1) Improve the accessibility of the collection materials by constructing a Japanese and English platform; (2) Ensure that images comply with international IIIF standards to promote international research; (3) Establish a research network infrastructure that will help develop international joint research based on the new database.

Regarding (1), we will create a database in Japanese and English conforming to the basic platform common to all Info-Forum Archives of Human Culture projects. For (2), instead of using the existing images of script samples used in the current database, we will use optical techniques to create multi-layered image data for each sheet of manuscript and develop a system for publishing data that is in line with the IIIF. For each item of image data, we will also add text and image notations. In addition, working with the Minpaku early career joint research project “Mobility and Materiality of Manuscripts – Towards a Multi-disciplinary Study and Creating Digital Archive of Manuscripts in the Nakanishi Collection” (Project leader: Karen Hamada, Oct 2025 – Mar 2028), we will aim to create scripts using OCR technology with AI learning capabilities (AI-OCR). Regarding (3), in collaboration with the aforementioned early career joint research team, we will create a research network infrastructure for developing future international joint research on the manuscripts in East Eurasian script included in the Nakanishi Collection, as well as manuscripts in the Minpaku library.

Expected results

By developing an IIIF-compatible database and a pilot model of digital humanities featuring Minpaku’s textual materials, this project will contribute to the foundation of an infrastructure for joint research. While collaborating with other projects and working with researchers in Japan and overseas, we aim to stimulate international joint research through the shared use of the database, and in particular, develop this project in the future with the aim of conducting international joint research in collaboration with Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.