Implement disaster prevention measures to protect cultural assets

Heavy rains and typhoons have caused severe damage to cultural treasures in quick succession. The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, which operates national museums and other facilities, will open a disaster prevention center for cultural properties in October.

The center will have six bases across the nation to create a system for protecting cultural properties from disasters and to promote rescue activities for cultural properties in the event of a disaster. The center will provide the results of its research to other facilities and local governments.

In July, the heavy rains flooded Aoi Aso Shrine’s worship hall, a national treasure in Kumamoto Prefecture. Across the nation, about 100 national cultural properties alone were damaged.

Due to Typhoon No. 19 in autumn last year, the basement repositories of the Kawasaki City Museum were flooded and about 230,000 photos, paintings and archaeological items were damaged. The work to remove those items from storage ended in June, but full-fledged restoration work has not started.

Items that have been exposed to water or mud will grow moldy and bacteria- ridden over time and will deteriorate. Restoration is not an easy task, as advanced techniques are required for processes such as sterilization, cleaning and drying.

There are a number of cultural facilities located near rivers or other locations where there is likely a high risk of flood damage. It is important for each facility to raise awareness of disaster reduction, to establish storage methods for cultural treasures in advance and to map out measures to be taken in cases such as when a typhoon is approaching.

The facilities should also estimate what measures they can take in the event that actual damage occurs. Furthermore, it is important to develop technologies for restoration and to gather past examples of restoration.

Disaster prevention for privately owned cultural treasures, such as at private homes, temples and shrines, is also an issue.

Unlike cultural assets designated by the national and local governments, there is a possibility that privately owned items could be discarded as disaster waste in the event of a disaster. Cultural property rescue activities work to quickly remove such items and provide provisional care for them.

These activities began in the wake of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, and there are more than 20 groups of researchers and volunteers across the nation who carry out such work.

In Kumamoto Prefecture after the heavy rains in July, a rescue team entered affected areas and rescued about 870 items, including historical documents and armor, from private homes, temples and shrines.

The team went around the disaster- hit areas based on a list of undesignated cultural assets that the prefecture had previously compiled.

Once a disaster occurs, local government officials become busy with evacuation efforts for residents. This is a good example of how cooperation between the public and private sectors can be successful.

Few local governments have a good grasp of the overall picture of what and where such items are stored. It is necessary to conduct a thorough survey and devise measures to minimize damage on a local basis.