About the Book

This book examines the making of heritage in Japan, investigating the ways in which particular objects, practices and institutions come to be seen as forms of heritage that are ascribed public recognition and political significance.

It shows how claims to heritage status in Japan stress different material qualities of objects, places and people, based upon their ages, originality and usage, questioning the interpretation of material heritage as an enduring expression of social relations, aesthetic values and authenticity that, once conferred, undergoes no subsequent change. The contributors explore how the heritage value of items such as textiles, automata, paintings, tea utensils and Noh masks, is made and re-made through the relationship of these objects to the instruments of their display. Appraising the construction of heritage in cases where the heritage value resides in the very substance of the object’s material composition, including architecture, landscapes and designs, they show how the heritage industry adds values to existing assets. This volume furthermore considers the role of people as agents of heritage production, analyzing the relationship between persons and objects in matters of death, succession and the commemoration of heritage.