Cultural properties can be Japan-South Korea diplomatic opportunity

Tokyo should step up efforts to identify artifacts that ought to be returned

The return of cultural properties should be used as a catalyst for reconciliation, not as a spark for new conflict. Here, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, left, and Korean President Lee Myung-bak shake hands after signing an agreement returning Korean royal books in November 2010 in Yokohama.

NOBUYUKI GOHARA, Nikkei staff writer

July 9, 2023 10:00 JST

TOKYO -- Tokyo National Museum's Toyokan (Asian Gallery) has a section dedicated to cultural properties from the Korean Peninsula, including an extensive collection of ceramics, ancient ornaments and accessories neatly exhibited on display shelves.

The Ogura Collection of the Toyokan Room 10 embodies the rich tradition of Japanese archaeological research and the history of the arts in the Korean Peninsula. But the collection, named after Japanese businessman and art collector Takenosuke Ogura (1870-1964), also symbolizes the simmering question of the restitution or return of cultural properties brought to Japan from the peninsula during the period of Japanese colonial rule.