How can digital preservation needs meet photographic technology and exhibition? Starting in 2018 Canon (yes, as in Canon camera!) embarked on the Tsuzuri Project, which brought their technical expertise in high resolution images and video to the work of National Center for the Promotion of Cultural Properties. The result has been creating a variety of high-res facsimiles of distinctive Japanese artworks.

Their project website discusses the overall project, features historical and material information on the works, and showcases dozens of the gorgeous paintings, screens, and more from the Heian to Edo periods. There’s also a series of videos that introduce many of the works and the process of photographing these important cultural assets (see the example below).  If you’re currently in Japan you’ll also find info on where to view many of these objects currently on display. Happy viewing!