2007 ICCROM Award: Prof Katsuhiko Masuda
Laudatio

East meets West!

8 November. Katsuhiko Masuda was born in Tokyo on July 9th, 1942. Soon after his graduation with a BA in Agriculture-Studies in 1965 at the Tokyo University of Education he started as an apprentice at the Endo Tokusuiken Studio, a private workshop for the mounting and conservation of Japanese traditional paintings and paper objects. His training as a traditional Japanese mounter and conservator lasted 8 years.

In 1975 Masuda-san joined the Tokyo National Institute of Cultural Property for which he worked as a researcher and conservator until his retirement in the year 2000; also in 1975 that the Department of Restoration Techniques, Paper and Textile Section, was founded. The first director of this new department was Mr. Tomokichi Iwasaki, who received the ICCROM Award in the year 1986. Later on Masuda-san followed Iwasaki-san as head of department. They were not only colleagues but friends: having the ICCROM Award in common also reflects their amazing relationship.

Already during his early years at the Tokyo National Institute of Cultural Properties, Masuda-san applied to be a participant to the ICCROM Mural Paintings Conservation Course. This was his first contact to ICCROM and at the same time his first exposure to the international conservation environment.

His 1976 stint at ICCROM was not only fascinating but at the same time challenging, bringing contact to participating colleagues and staff members from all over the world as well as their different cultures.  This period was also necessary for his understanding of the 'Western' concept of conservation and restoration which was so different from the Japanese way. He also recognized that here in the 'West' nobody knew much about the Japanese conservation methods. Thus, the idea was born to introduce Western conservators to Oriental methods of conservation and to share experience between East and West.

Back in Japan, enriched by the Roman and ICCROM experiences, Masuda-san developed a programme; as early as 1981-82 he was sent at the request of UNESCO by the Japanese Government to Rome to hold the first course on "the Restoration of Oriental Art on Paper" at ICCROM.           

I first met Masuda-san in 1982 at ICCROM when I was a participant in the Scientific Principles of Conservation Course. After the conclusion of SPC I had the chance to also attend Masuda’s course which was one of the most important experiences at the start of my professional career. The wonderful Japanese materials and tools as well as the understanding that conservation can also be taught by the hands-on method of doing and watching and not, as we had been used to in the West, by  merely attending lectures, was eye-opening for me as a very young conservator and conservation teacher.

The possibility to learn and to adapt different measures and techniques to the 'particular problem' of conservation - restoration was Masuda-san’s idea which he followed consistently during his life-long teaching and research. The West could and should learn from the East and vice versa:  this was the concept leading to success.

When I returned to ICCROM as a staff-member and programme-coordinator in 1986, a priority was to re-establish the ICCROM Japanese Paper Conservation Course, not in Rome but in Japan, in the authentic cultural environment. Katsuhiko Masuda was the key figure for the establishment and realisation of the programme. At the, time, H. Mabuchi was the Japanese representative to the ICCROM General Assembly and Council Member. With his support and efforts the course was successfully established in Japan. Since then, Masuda-san has guided and managed 7 courses in Japan - in Tokyo and Kyoto. Even after his retirement from TNICP in 2000, the course is still being offered and remains one of ICCROM’s postgraduate training highlights! In total 10 courses have been organized and 121 participants had the chance to attend this unique training in Japan. The positive experience with the Japanese Paper Conservation Course gave also birth to the second ICCROM course agenda in Japan, the Conservation of Urushi-Objects.
 
Besides important technical information, the JPC-training programme offers a confrontation with the Japanese environment and an insight into cultural aspects - a necessary basis to understand the technology and manufacture of Japanese and Oriental paintings. With this course - Katsuhiko Masuda not only contributed to an active exchange of working experience between East and West but also to a better and more profound cultural understanding of each side.

Masuda is not only an excellent teacher - his present students at the Showa Women’s University in Tokyo are now the lucky beneficiaries - but besides teaching his professional life has been dedicated to research in traditional paper making, paper history and the exploration of new conservation techniques, like the "micro-dot-pasting". Specific contributions could be made in research into ancient paper making in Japan (Nara period, 7-8th c.) and the study of early paper decoration techniques (11-12th c.).

As one of Masuda-san’s former students and later colleague I was very happy that he had been selected this year for the ICCROM Award! All those who know him personally and who once had the chance to work with him or to attend one of his courses will share my opinion that he is the ideal recipient of this prestigious honour.

Gabriela Krist
ICCROM Council Member
October 2007

updated on: 13 November, 2007