From left to right: Kumiko Fukui, Minako Taguchi, and Manae Kobayashi. The tablets and smartphone display, from left to right: the Edo-Tokyo Museum’s smartphone app Hyper Edohaku, the web app Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum Map & Guide, and the museum’s online exhibition Meta Bath ~A digital view of a Tokyo-style bathhouse~
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People Inside Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture Vol. 3: Role of TOKYO Smart Culture Project Staff at Arts Council Tokyo [Part 2/2]
This article series focuses on people working in the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture to explore their jobs and personalities. This edition introduces the jobs of the TOKYO Smart Culture Project staff. In the second part, we spoke with Kumiko Fukui, Manae Kobayashi, and Minako Taguchi about their past careers and what they value in their work.
*Department names and titles are as of the time of the interview
(Back to Part 1/2)
Manae Kobayashi: Leveraging experience gained as curator
Manae Kobayashi became responsible for the TOKYO Smart Culture Project in FY2023 and now manages the collection database for Tokyo’s metropolitan museums and art museums, ToMuCo —Integrated Database Search for Metropolitan Museums—. She also oversees the 3D digitization of collection items and data utilization. She has worked on creating 3D data for objects in a wide range of sizes and shapes, from small items like koban (a gold coin from the Edo period) and inro (pillbox) at the Edo-Tokyo Museum to the sento(public bathhouse) Kodakara-yu at the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum. The collected data is also used in the Edo-Tokyo Museum’s smartphone app Hyper Edohaku and the online exhibition Meta Bath ~A digital view of a Tokyo-style bathhouse~.
Now in her tenth year as a foundation staff member, Kobayashi had already built a career as a curator before joining. She has experience working as a part-time staff member and managing facilities with small teams. Since joining the foundation, she was assigned to various positions, including the department responsible for the permanent exhibition at the Edo-Tokyo Museum, the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the department overseeing the collection management at the Edo-Tokyo Museum, and made a great effort in each of them. Before transitioning to her current role, she was already involved in digital archiving efforts. At the Edo-Tokyo Museum, “I was handling large-scale relocation of collection items and organizing numerous rooms in preparation for a major renovation, including storage rooms managed by my department, while preparing for the full-scale launch of digitization efforts.”
Hyper Edohaku also provides introductions to the collection items
Minako Taguchi: Captivated by art and valuable materials, embracing new challenges
Minako Taguchi joined the foundation in 2024. She is currently responsible for digitizing and organizing databases of materials from Tokyo Bunka Kaikan and Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. She is also involved in the 3D digitization of collection items, newly launched at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum this fiscal year, while overseeing the updates for the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum Map & Guide, which was developed and released in FY2023.
Screens of the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum Map & Guide. It requires no app download and can be used for free on smartphones and tablets
“My interest in digital archiving began when I was involved in news video archiving at my previous jobs in a broadcasting station and news agency,” says Taguchi. Later, while working at facilities managed by the foundation, she encountered the fascinating world of art. At her next workplace, she was involved in creating databases for valuable materials, such as performance records and photos related to traditional performing arts. She decided to apply for the TOKYO Smart Culture Project position with the hope of further studying digital archiving.
“The time I spend working with materials is still as enjoyable as ever,” says Taguchi. “At the same time, the work I do is full of new challenges. Most of my tasks in the past were contained within the facility or department, but now, nothing progresses without collaboration with all the facilities.” She emphasizes that she tries to visit the facilities as much as possible and maintain communication.
Kumiko Fukui: It all began with encounter with media art and digital archiving
Kumiko Fukui joined the foundation in FY2023 and is responsible for overseeing the progress and budget management of the entire TOKYO Smart Culture Project, while also managing individual projects. She has worked with the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo on the migration (data transfer to different system environments and its conversion) of video works and other materials. Since FY2024, she has also taken on the role of overseeing the music appreciation support program,
Come Join a Concert! Where You Can Watch Music and Listen to Video Projection, at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan.
Fukui studied media art and created works at an art university. “After that, I got a job at a printing company and worked on the digital archiving of an exhibition space at an art museum. That was the beginning of my journey in archiving,” she says as she looks back on the starting point that led to her current career.
She then worked at galleries and museums, where she became aware of the significance of sketches, manuscripts, and other materials that artists keep with themselves. Even now, she continues to engage in archiving artists’ materials as a personal endeavor. “When handling a vast amount of materials, it’s important to step back and take a broader perspective. That sometimes means avoiding deep focus on a single item and instead managing multiple materials at the same time,” says Fukui. She seems to be a perfect fit for the TOKYO Smart Culture Project team, which manages materials in art, history, folklore, music, and architecture.
She then worked at galleries and museums, where she became aware of the significance of sketches, manuscripts, and other materials that artists keep with themselves. Even now, she continues to engage in archiving artists’ materials as a personal endeavor. “When handling a vast amount of materials, it’s important to step back and take a broader perspective. That sometimes means avoiding deep focus on a single item and instead managing multiple materials at the same time,” says Fukui. She seems to be a perfect fit for the TOKYO Smart Culture Project team, which manages materials in art, history, folklore, music, and architecture.
Interview and text: Nodoka Sakamoto, photography: Aya Hatakenaka, translation: Erika Ikeda
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