Huang Goodman · Art Forgotten

Art Forgotten

Art from public museum collections. A mismatched real Japanese law, and some other factoids.

Every object, image and description comes from the museum's own catalogue record, and every object links to its original. Japanese records are machine-translated into English; the museum's Japanese is kept beside the translation because it is the authoritative form. Each law carries its official number and links to e-Gov 法令検索, the Japanese government's statute database.

Full Moon on Kanazawa, Musashi
{Full Moon on Kanazawa, Musashi · Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858) · 1857 · Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0}

Late in his career, Hiroshige explored the poetic theme of setsugekka, “snow, moon, and flowers,” in a set of three triptychs. This panoramic scene shows the autumn moon over Kanazawa, near Tokyo. Hiroshige’s contemporaries would have recognized the coastline dotted with villages, fishing boats, and the distinctive double-arched bridge at the bottom right.

View the original at Cleveland Museum of Art →
The law
京都国際文化観光都市建設法
Kyoto International Culture Tourism City Construction Act
昭和二十五年法律第二百五十一号 · Act No. 251 of 1950

A national statute written for one city. Article 1 recites the beauty of Kyoto and its historically, culturally and artistically important position in the world, and gives two purposes: to raise international culture and serve the ideal of permanent world peace, and to contribute to the economic recovery of Japan. It was passed five years after the war ended.

The cool part. Article 3 lets Kyoto designate culture tourism preservation districts and, by ordinance, prohibit building, rebuilding, removal, changes to the shape of the land and the cutting of bamboo, trees and stone, with compensation for ordinary loss. Then Article 4 does something statutes almost never do. It places a duty on the mayor personally: in the spirit of local autonomy, and with the cooperation of residents, the mayor must engage in ceaseless activity to complete the city. Nara received its own Act, number 250, the day before.

Verify at e-Gov 法令検索 →

Use it The border is the idea. Use it as an edge treatment and leave the centre empty.

Description source: museum curator text — not generated