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Introduction

If the ultimate aim of public archaeology is to make archaeology more relevant to contemporary society, then one of its most important tasks is to critique the role of archaeologists as mediators between archaeology, and more generally, tangible cultural heritage, and the general public. This applies particularly to public archaeology in Japan, where more than 90% of all archaeologists work for local governments or foundations established by them and are often involved with issues directly relating to the public, such as educational activities.

The growth of archaeological survey in Japan was underpinned by postwar economic development and a national imperative for salvage excavations. Since the economic slowdown in the mid-1990s, many critical questions about Archaeological Heritage Management (AHM) and public archaeology have emerged. The subsequent long-term economic slump and expanding neoliberalism in politics have further complicated the situation, and as a result Japanese archaeology today seems to be at a stalemate.

I believe that the key to the revitalization of Japanese archaeology lies in archaeologists’ relationship – or attitude – to society at large, particularly their ideological stance toward the public, rather than their individual skills and abilities. I wish to make this point clear in the present paper by first outlining the development of AHM in Japan after World War II; next, I analyze the current relationship between archaeology and the Japanese public; and finally, I discuss the prospects for the future of Japanese public archaeology.

The Development of Japanese AHM

Since the development of Japanese AHM in the postwar era has already been described in detail elsewhere (Agency for Cultural Affairs 2001; Fawcett 1995: 237–241; Okamura 2000; Okamura and Matsuda 2010; Tanaka 1984; Tsuboi 1992; Tsude 1995: 298–299), only a general outline of it is provided here. During the first two decades of the postwar period, archaeological bodies, such as national research institutes, local museums, and universities, were responsible for conducting archaeological excavations. This situation changed in the 1960s, when archaeologists working for local government boards of education were in charge of rescue archaeological operations. The current national system of AHM has its origins in this period, when the nation’s economy began to grow rapidly (Fig. 6.1). As archaeologists were increasingly employed and positioned at the local government level, an administrative system for managing what was legally defined as “buried cultural properties” and conducting rescue excavations gradually evolved, first at prefectural and then municipal levels under the national government’s supervision.

Fig.  6.1
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A chart of Japanese AHM

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In the mid-1970s, local governments began setting up units for managing and protecting cultural properties, and in some cases instituted self-governing foundations called “centers for buried cultural properties” (maizo bunkazai senta) that were in charge of excavations, analysis and storage of archaeological finds, and dissemination of archaeological knowledge and information (Agency for Cultural Affairs 2001: 272–273; Tsuboi 1992: 10). The reason for establishing these “semipublic” foundations was largely economic: local governments could avoid the financial burden of directly employing archaeologists, whose salaries were incorporated into the budgets the foundations presented to the developers for funding (Tanaka 1984: 83). The number of maizo bunkazai tantou senmon shokuin or specialists in charge of buried cultural properties employed in local governments or semipublic foundations rose from 8 in 1965 (Tsuboi 1992: 3) to a maximum of 7,111 in 1997 (Seino 2009: 41).

Today, even during a recession, approximately 9,000 rescue excavations are still carried out yearly across the country. These rescue excavations account for approximately 95% of all archaeological excavations conducted in Japan. All 47 of prefectural governments and over 65% of municipal governments (1,192 out of 1,834) employ archaeologists in charge of buried cultural properties. On the prefectural level, 1,120 archaeologists work for local governments and 1,122 for semipublic foundations. At the municipal level, 3,095 archaeologists work for local governments and 918 for semipublic foundations (Seino 2009: 41–44). These figures attest to the nationwide AHM operation today.

How has AHM been able to develop so rapidly in Japan? An important factor is the “polluter pays” principle that originated in the period when the Japanese economy was growing fast. The principle was first adopted in 1958, when rescue excavation was required in advance of the construction of the Meishin Expressway and financed by the developer, the Japan Public Highway Corporation (Agency for Cultural Affairs 2001: 268–269). Thereafter, the same principle came to be applied, through convention, to private developers as well. Although the polluter pays principle has not been clearly stipulated in the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties (Tanaka 1984: 84), it has guaranteed a source of financial support for AHM in Japan and has fundamentally helped its development.

It is interesting to note that the notion of buried cultural properties as the “common property of the nation,” as defined by the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, has been adopted by both the government and the developers in their cooperation in rescue excavations. For the government, it has been important to preserve archaeological materials – albeit mostly by record only – on the grounds that they are legally relevant to us, namely, all Japanese. The developers, on the other hand, have been funding rescue excavations not only for the promotion of a socially committed corporate image of themselves, but also because of the need to understand and respect the past of our ancestors, namely, the forefathers of the Japanese people.

Financially supported by the polluter pays principle and technically aided by state-of-the-art techniques of excavation, such as the use of conveyer belts and aerial survey (Tsuboi 1992: 11–19), AHM in Japan has developed into a system of prompt and efficient excavations; it has produced a massive amount of archaeological data, including up to 2,000 site reports a year. It is worth remembering, however, that AHM in Japan has always needed close cooperation with bureaucrats, and this has resulted in the reproduction of a public administrative hierarchy. It can be said that AHM in Japan has developed on the assumption that the traditional governmental system will sustain itself.

Two Phases in the Relationship Between Archaeology and the Japanese Public

In terms of the relationship between archaeology and the Japanese public, the 60-year period after World War II can be divided into two phases, which reflect two contrasting economic and political conditions of Japanese postwar society. It might be possible to call the first phase the time of engaged archaeology, and the second the time of consumed archaeology – the first phase can be characterized by words, such as rational, active, and developing, and the second by words, such as conservative, passive, and developed.

A landmark event in the first phase was the excavation of the Tsukinowa tumulus in Okayama Prefecture in 1953. Reflecting the nationwide democratic movement in the early 1950s, 10,000 people, including archaeologists, historians, villagers, school teachers, and students, took part in this excavation (Fawcett 1995: 236; Kondo and Nakamura 2007; Yoshida 2006), which was, in a sense, a precursor of what would later be called “community archaeology” elsewhere in the world (Moser et al. 2002; Pyburn 2003; Schadla-Hall 2004; Start 1999). The excavation was a collaborative endeavor between researchers and villagers committed to scientifically clarifying the history of their locality and regarded as part of the nationwide movement called “The People’s History Movement” (Kokumin-teki Rekishigaku Undou).

In the first phase, many members of the public across the country were actively interested in the preservation of archaeological sites endangered by development. For instance, in 1962, the movement to protect the ancient Heijo Palace site in Nara (a World Heritage Site since 1998) threatened by railway construction was supported by not only scholars, such as archaeologists and historians, but also many ordinary citizens. Their efforts to save the Palace evolved into a nationwide movement, and its success had a great impact on later public actions for site preservation. Marxist archaeologists and historians played a pivotal role in these actions (Fawcett 1995: 234–236), which deserve a reexamination and reevaluation from the viewpoint of public archaeology today (Okamura 2000: 56).

The second phase began in the 1970s. As a nationwide system of AHM incrementally developed, it became rare to see members of the public directly engaging with archaeology. While the professionalization of archaeology in AHM, on the one hand, removed the role of avocational and amateur archaeologists, on the other hand it rapidly increased the amount of information on archaeological discoveries available to the public. The discovery of elaborate seventh-century wall paintings in the Takamatsuzuka Tomb in Nara Prefecture in 1972 was an epochal event, which was reported on the front page of major national papers. The nationwide public interest in archaeology was further strengthened by the discovery of an iron sword at the Sakitama-Inariyama Tomb in Saitama Prefecture in 1978. An inscription on this sword mentions the fifth-century emperor Yuryaku alluding to his career and early state formation in Japan.

Since that time, the mass media has broadcast and published a variety of information on archaeology (Fawcett 1996: 60–62; Okamura 2000: 62; Tanaka 1984: 83) − and it has become more visible to the public, developing an enthusiastic following among nonprofessionals. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, successful preservation and reconstruction of major archaeological sites, such as the Yayoi-period Yoshinogari site in Saga Prefecture (Okamura and Condon 1999: 66–67) and the Jomon-period Sannai Maruyama site in Aomori Prefecture (Habu and Fawcett 2008: 97–99), resulted in hundreds of thousands of people visiting them every year. This led many local governments to recognize the possibility of exploiting archaeological sites as a financial resource and carry out their reconstruction and presentation as tourist attractions.

Since the 1970s, archaeology has contributed to, and become part of, Japanese consumer culture because of the increase of media reports on archaeological discoveries as well as relevant publications, exhibitions, lectures, and tourism opportunities. Although the number of major archaeological discoveries has recently decreased because of the latest economic slump, it can be said that the Japanese public is still closely related to archaeology.

The Implications of AHM-Dominated Archaeology

It is no exaggeration to say that Japanese archaeology has gradually become dominated by AHM as the latter has developed and expanded since the mid-1960s. There are four implications from this: an inclination toward a cultural–historical approach to archaeology; the weakening of university training in archaeological research; a change in the meaning of being archaeologists; and an overemphasis on the standardization of preservation and utilization of archaeological materials. Each is briefly discussed below.

AHM does not necessarily require innovative theory and usually fits rather well with a traditional, cultural–historical approach to archaeology, for which meticulous recording of objects is of primary importance. The rapid development of AHM has made Japanese archaeology as a whole strongly draw on the typology of objects – particularly ceramics – for the establishment of detailed chronologies of different localities. This emphasis on “objects” has encouraged Japanese archaeologists to be more descriptive, cultural–historical, and empirical, rather than exploring the disciplinary or interdisciplinary potential of theory-driven archaeology (see Hodder 1997: 14–15).

The development of AHM has eclipsed the influence of universities in archaeology in two senses. First, more information on archaeological finds has become available in the AHM sector than in universities. Secondly, there has been an increasing demand for universities to train archaeology students in the practice of excavation rather than research. The rapid expansion of AHM has made students realize that it is possible to earn money by digging an archaeological site and recording finds. This situation has adversely affected the mission of universities to develop research in archaeology.

AHM tends to regard archaeological finds as “buried cultural properties,” and by doing so prioritizes administration – or bureaucratic procedures – over research. In this context, skills and knowledge of archaeology are required only as a means of preserving remains and objects – mostly by record only – as cultural properties. For this reason, archaeologists working in the AHM sector have not been viewed, both socially and by themselves, as “archaeologists” in the strict sense. They have instead been referred to as “specialists in charge of buried cultural properties” (maizo bunkazai tantou senmon shokuin). Also related to this is the confusion caused by the similar pronunciation of the words “koukogaku-sha” (archaeologist) and “kouko-gakusha” (great scholar of archaeology). The second evokes the image of research specialists which does not fit well with the reality of the AHM sector, where the notion of public administration prevails. Presumably because of this, the word “koukogaku-sha” (archaeologist) has often not been used to describe those who work for AHM.

The meaning of doing archaeology has also changed. The word “archaeology” (koukogaku) conveys the image of a researcher committed to a personal quest, and as such is not consonant with officialdom associated with “cultural properties.” Consequently, research is considered an individual pursuit and has virtually become taboo in publicly funded archaeology. This results in members of the public often feeling alienated from archaeological research.

The material remains, past cultures, and societies of Japan, a country 3,000 km in length, are obviously not homogeneous. Despite this, the Agency for Cultural Affairs suggests that the preservation and utilization of archaeological materials should follow standardized procedures respecting administrative hierarchy. For example, according to the Agency’s policy of maizou bunka-zai no hozon to katsuyo (the preservation and utilization of buried cultural properties), which is currently used as administrative guidelines for AHM in Japan, the hozon (preservation) of archaeological remains is to be made through the establishment and maintenance of a system regulating rescue operations. If the preservation of archaeological remains is to be standardized, their katsuyo (utilization) inevitably tends to be standardized. Indeed, one can often find only specific types of katsuyo, such as the reconstruction of sites, installation of visitor centers and explanatory panels, organization of family and educational events, and display of finds, across Japan. Although this is also partly because most ancient archaeological remains in Japan are badly preserved and, therefore, cannot be physically used for multiple purposes, there is clearly an overemphasis on the standardization of the preservation and utilization of archaeological materials.

In sum, there seems to be a paradigm of object-centered – or cultural property-centered – archaeology in Japan which was created in the period of prosperity for AHM and has been maintained to date. It is important to remember that young Japanese archaeologists, in particular those under the age of 40, have only worked under this paradigm and would therefore find it difficult to imagine a different, alternative way of doing archaeology.

Culture Property-Centered Archaeology and the Belief that “We Are the Same”

Earlier, I stated that archaeology has become closely related to the Japanese public as a result of the development of AHM. But does this mean that archaeology has become more relevant to the Japanese public? This does not seem to be the case. The large amount of publications and media reports on archaeology, the mass attendance at site explanation meetings following significant archaeological discoveries, and the presence of enthusiastic followers of archaeology might tempt archaeo­logists to think that what they do is indeed relevant to, and is supported by, a significant portion of the general public (Fig. 6.2). However, this impression is likely to be the result of their overconfidence or overoptimism caused by working in a socially closed environment. I believe that archaeology is not popularly enjoyed across the broad spectrum of Japanese public, but only by a small section of it.

Fig.  6.2
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A site explanation meeting in Osaka. Do archaeologists really understand what this mass gathering means, or do they simply satisfy themselves with the large number of attendants? (photo by author)

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In my view, the root cause of the above is the paradigm of AHM-dominated, cultural property-centered archaeology. This paradigm has generated archaeologists who are strongly concerned with “objects” but do not pay enough attention to people, who are, and can be, interested in those objects in various manners. The paradigm has also prevented archaeologists from explaining to the public what they as “archaeologists” do because of the distorted meaning of the term: as stated, about 90% of the Japanese archaeologists, namely, those working in the AHM sector, are not called as “archaeologists” but “specialists in charge of buried cultural properties.”

To make the situation worse, there is no Japanese term that is equivalent to the English word “heritage.” The term bunka-zai (cultural properties) is defined by laws and used in relation to governmental projects and administration. Because of this, the term maizo bunka-zai (buried cultural properties) also implies government involvement. When archaeological sites and artifacts are called maizo bunka-zai, they sound dry and detached, and do not evoke the notion of heritage. Thus, there is no term that both archaeologists and the members of the public can use to discuss how archaeology and cultural properties can be relevant to the lives of people today.

A similar problem exists with the katsuyo (utilization) of archaeological materials. Archaeologists working in the AHM sector are today under increasing pressure to utilize archaeological resources so that Japanese society at large can more benefit from them. However, at the core of this utilization seems to lie the notion of archaeological materials as “properties” rather than a means of engaging people in the exploration of the past. There is little consideration for the interests and concerns of the people living in the present in the current practice of utilization, which tends to treat archaeological materials as fetish objects. Is the question that really counts how archaeological materials can be used or what they can mean to the user, namely, the people? Unless the latter becomes more dominant, archaeology is unlikely to become more relevant to the Japanese public.

Ironically, although the Japanese public seems interested in knowing about the exciting and mysterious aspects of past human cultures, Japanese archaeologists tend to present a static, materialistic view of the past or present historical narratives with connotations of national identity and local pride. This is arguably because the vast majority of archaeologists feel that they serve the public in the sense of officialdom and, therefore, think that they need to exclude “adventure” elements from their portrayal of the past. Thus, although archaeological discoveries are still being made across the country on a daily basis, the current practice of archaeology is dominated by the unexciting concept of “cultural properties” in the eyes of the public.

I wish to suggest that the cultural property-centered paradigm in Japanese archaeology originates from a deeply rooted belief within Japanese society that “we are the same.” This belief has exerted great influence on Japanese archaeology since the 1970s by turning the notion of buried cultural properties as “common property of the nation” into a legal and spiritual anchor of AHM. As argued, this notion has helped AHM resolve differences of opinions among the stakeholders of rescue excavations and encourage them all to contribute to the preservation of archaeological sites threatened by development. In this sense, national identity has been a sustaining force behind the growth of AHM in Japan. It is also important to note that archaeology thus carried out has resulted in reinforcing the idea that Japanese culture is, and has always been, homogeneous (Fawcett 1996: 76).

In reality, however, a close examination of the Japanese people reveals a great diversity in them, particularly in terms of culture, wealth, and ethnicity (Denoon et al. 1996). In view of this, one of the tasks for Japanese archaeology is to break away from the cultural property-centered paradigm and to adopt an approach that can address cultural diversity and complexity in both modern Japanese society and past societies in the Japanese archipelago.

Conclusion

It has been more than a decade since 1997, the year in which archaeological survey in Japan reached its peak. The profession has since seen a reduction in the employment of field archaeologists, and today only 3% of them are in their twenties (Watanabe 2008: 37). If this trend continues, archaeology in Japan will soon face a crisis. I believe that this crisis cannot be resolved unless archaeologists are socially positioned as the mediators between the public and the material remains of the past.

Looking back on the last 60 years of Japanese archaeology, one can learn that the treatment of archaeological resources as “cultural properties” has provided a means of resolving conflicts among the stakeholders of rescue excavations. It has also helped generate a steady demand for archaeologists working in the AHM sector. However, the notion of “cultural properties” essentially implies that there is value inherent in them which contradicts the idea increasingly embraced by theorists of cultural heritage management, that value is contingent and generated as a result of people’s communication and negotiation (Avrami and Mason 2000; Darvill 1995; Pearson and Sullivan 1995). In this regard, the cultural property-centered or object-centered paradigm is not helpful in beginning a dialogue with the public on archaeo-logy and, more generally, the past.

Archaeological materials never “speak by themselves,” and their meaning and value are created by those who contemplate them. In view of this, public archaeologists in Japan need to shift their focus from objects to people, from the utilization of cultural properties to engagement with the public, so that society as a whole can attribute more meaning and value to archaeology.

Will it be difficult for the Japanese archaeologists to achieve this change? I do not think so. The entire profession of archaeology comprises individuals who, I am sure, felt excitement at their first experience of excavation. It is only a matter of making more effort to share that excitement with the public.