Conservation

Speaker: ISHIWATARI Takashi, NDL

December 10, 2004

Mr. Ishiwatari gave us a lecture on overview of preserving books.

  1. The best condition: temperature 18-22 centigrade, humidity 45-55 % Even materials are kept in the best condition, the drastic environmental change damages materials. He showed some examples damaged even by electric light which include UV.

  2. He explained the types of Japanese books and methods of mending: the nature of paper, the ways of binding of Japanese books relating to methods of mending books.3 rules of mending:
        a. do not break
        b. restore
        c. keep documents

  3. We had hands-on experience of handling scrolls, and mend torn page with WASHI.

  4. We had a tour in the preservation section and observed that they preserved Japanese traditional books. They have mentioned about the lack of programs where they train young people who are interested in learning preservation. Also, it was noted that there is little working place for trained young people.

    [Prepared by Keiko Yokota-Carter.]