visitors
Finished ！
Wishing a quick and complete recovery to the all victims of
the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in 2024.
At 16:10 on 1 January 2024, there was a magnitude 7.6 (preliminary) earthquake in the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.
Many roads are reported to be sinking or collapsing. Rescue operations in the affected areas have been delayed because of these problems.
We wish our deepest sympathies to all people who are staying at home or in shelters in the cold winter days.
We also pray for you to rebuild the region with great strength.
Cultural Heritage Basic Research
文化財基礎調査
Associate Professor Keisuke Ogata (Department of Cultural Properties, Tsurumi University)
Cooperation / Guidance: Associate Professor Ogata, Department of Cultural Properties, Faculty of Letters, Tsurumi University
Cooperation:
(2017～) Keisuke Ogata Associate Professor (Tsurumi University)
Volunteer:
(2018～2019.3) Akira Sugiyama (Prefectural Kanai High School)
(2018～2019.3) Aya Nakayabu (Tsurumi University High School)
(2018～2019.3) Hikaru Tamura (Totsuka Junior High School)
Based on the private cooperation by Professor Ogata of Tsurumi University Department of Cultural Properties, we conducted fundamental investigation of cultural properties. We are proceeding with digital photograph record investigation of about 200 reliefs in this cave. Some reliefs are digging characters that can not be read with the naked eye. We aim to archive recorded photographs of weathering and degradation relief and to decode these characters by digital processing.
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Survey of relief digital image recording photography.
※ with a high school student volunteer.
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Consideration of relief
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Inscription reading
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Inference of age
Relief shooting survey is conducted with two high school student volunteers after the admission time.
This is an introduction page about the outline of the photography survey in the extremely small and high humidity space of Taya Cave.
This page introduces how to decipher relief inscriptions in the cave and how to estimate the statue age. (It is under renewal)
Photography Method in Cave
洞内浮彫レリーフ撮影メソッド
Cooperation / Guidance: Associate Professor Ogata, Department of Cultural Properties, Faculty of Letters, Tsurumi University
Taking photographs of reliefs in the cave...
What should we be careful about...?
Dark, narrow...
What kind of photographic equipment do we need...?
Here we introduce some of the difficulties we experienced during the filming survey.
Filming research involves these difficulties...
The passage is so narrow that it's very difficult to fit the relief into the angle of view!
Some reliefs are where only one person can pass through!
Reliefs are basically above the height of a person's head!
At the highest point, the reliefs are almost 6 metres high!
Reliefs and walls are the same colour!
We can't see the figure unless we use lighting to create shadows!
High humidity space of almost 100% all year round!
Condensation on photographic equipment! Lenses...
We asked Nikon, located near Taya Cave, for technical guidance and cooperation, but unfortunately they were unable to help us, so we are trying to select equipment and filming techniques by trial and error on our own.
The photography with the 360° camera (THETA) was done with the cooperation of Ricoh Co.
Method-One
Ultra-small Space Photography
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Cannot look through the camera viewfinder!
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Must use Wifi or Bluetooth-enabled camera!
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Small cameras
Method-Two
High Position Photography
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Cannot look through the camera viewfinder!
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Must use a Wifi or Bluetooth-enabled camera!!!
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Must use a lightweight camera!
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Must use a remote rotating mount head!
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Must use a 6.0m camera tripod ( less swaying)!
Method-Three
Lighting
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Use power and hand lighting!
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Important to create shadows as the relief has no colouring!
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White balance unevenness increases if too close!
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Need to control the illumination intensity for each relief!!!
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Cannot use lighting stands because the space is too small!
Method-Four
Ultra-high humidity
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Condensation on equipment immediately after cave-in!
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Condensation on equipment during the survey!
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Condensation again immediately after exiting the cave!
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Must use waterproof camera!
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Condensation even inside the camera!
Inscription Reading & Aetas Estimation
銘文解読・年代推考
Cooperation / Guidance: Associate Professor Ogata, Department of Cultural Properties, Faculty of Letters, Tsurumi University
Technical cooperation : Associate Professor Yusuke Hayakawa, Hokkaido University
So many beautiful reliefs in the cave.
Wonder when they were sculpted...?
Here, we introduce the reading of the inscriptions and the guesses about the age of the reliefs.
Now Under Renewal
Cultural property survey activities
文化財調査活動の様子
Cooperation / Guidance: Associate Professor Ogata, Department of Cultural Properties, Faculty of Letters, Tsurumi University
The following section introduces research activities conducted in practice.
Public Administration visit by Tokyo Cultural Property Institute and Yokohama City (Cultural Property Division)
東文研 ・横浜市（文化財課）来洞視察
Researchers in conservation and restoration and related specialist researchers from the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, visited the cave and instructed us in basic research. In addition, members of the Cultural Properties Division for Lifelong Learning, Yokohama City Board of Education office also visited the cave and confirmed the details of the conservation activities.
Supervision and research by Prof. Ogata, Tsurumi University
鶴見大 緒方 教授による指導・調査
With the personal cooperation of Professor Keisuke Ogata of the Department of Cultural Heritage at Tsurumi University, we have received instructions on documentary photography methods, Edo art, etc. He has also helped us with various research and conservation activities.
(Note: personal cooperation and not official cooperation of Tsurumi University).
Survey by junior and senior high school volunteers
中高生ボランティアによる調査
Volunteers from junior and senior high school students carried out the survey. A digital camera photography survey of all the reliefs in the cave has been carried out every Saturday after hours for visitation. The cave was a very small space with high humidity, and, in some spots, the photography was carried out at heights of more than 2 m. We considered the problems related to photographing under difficult conditions together on site and solved them one by one as we worked.
Photographic surveys in ultra-small spaces
極小空間での撮影調査
There are narrow spots where there is less than 1 m from the camera lens to the relief. Nevertheless, the relief is so large that there are many reliefs where the camera cannot look through the viewfinder even when the camera is set up. It was very difficult to set up the camera tripod so that the relief would fit in the viewfinder.
High altitude reliefs photography survey
高所レリーフ撮影調査
There are a number of dome-shaped spaces in the cave. The tallest one has reliefs in positions above 5.5 m. The floor is not horizontal, and it is difficult to adjust the level of the camera equipment. It is a difficult task to adjust the level of the high altitude photographic equipment while photographing, as the floor is not level. Obviously, it is not possible to look through the camera's viewfinder. Lighting is also a very difficult task.
Water place reliefs photography survey
水上レリーフ撮影調査
There is a river Otonashi in the cave, where the underground water gathered. Above the surface of the water there is a long relief of the Eighteen Arhats. This photography required setting up a tripod in the water. A person had to enter the water to light and photograph it.
360 degree photography survey
360度画像撮影
In dome-shaped spaces and extremely small spaces, photography survey was carried out with a 360-degree camera (THETA). Ricoh Co. , Ltd. cooperated with us about photographing technique.
Similar Cultural Heritages survey
類似施設調査
Fortunately, our preservation activities are supported by various experts. We have access to detailed descriptions and documentation of similar cultural properties and underground spaces in various regions. We are carrying out comparative studies with similar cultural properties and underground spaces at donation and international level.
