Museum Storerooms: Can Precious Items Be Protected with Storage at Full Capacity?

Editorial

15:29 JST, May 22, 2025

Museums across Japan are facing a shortage of storage space for their collections. It is important to ensure that necessary collections are passed on to future generations by clarifying the rules for items’ preservation and disposal.

The Nara Prefectural Museum of Folklore, which exhibits old farming instruments and folk tools, has suspended exhibits in its main building since July last year because the storeroom is full and the museum needs to organize its collections, among other tasks.

According to a survey by the Japanese Association of Museums, about 60% of all museum storerooms in Japan are “full” or “nearly full.”

In addition to the collections they have gathered on their own, museums also receive many donations from local residents and others. Most of the museums were built in the 1960s and ’70s, or during the period of the so-called bubble economy in the 1980s and ’90s. While these museums are currently aging, it is difficult for them to build additional storage space due to local governments’ financial difficulties.

Collections at museums are valuable assets that convey Japanese history and culture. All the parties concerned should focus their wisdom on how to protect these important materials in the limited space available.

Nearly 20% of all museums have not even created a ledger that lists the years when the materials were collected, among other information. Without a clear understanding of what kinds of materials they hold, there is no hope for proper management. First, they need to work to organize the collections.

If storage space absolutely cannot be secured, there might be no alternative but to consider disposing of some items. In such a case, it is essential to sufficiently seek the opinions of experts and determine the appropriateness of the disposal.

Situations must be avoided in which museums easily dispose of items, only to spark an uproar by discovering their value later.

Some museums have stored their collections in former school buildings. Although there are issues such as inadequate temperature and humidity control, this may be a useful approach as part of securing new storage locations.

One idea would be collaboration among multiple museums, so facilities with full storage capacity can borrow space from those that still have it.

To promote the creation of storage space and other improvements, it is essential for museums to increase their revenue.

In recent years, some museums have increased the number of visitors by organizing events that allow visitors to tour the storage facilities themselves, opening a window to their backstage areas. Museums need to devise ways to communicate and publicize their attractions, such as by strengthening multilingual explanations for foreign visitors.

Museums can be called an indicator of a country’s cultural standards. The preservation of materials is also an important role of museums. It is vital for the central government to establish standards for the storage and disposal of stored items without leaving such measures up to local governments and to support museums financially as well.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 22, 2025)