Masatomo Kawai
Masatomo Kawai is an art historian and professor emeritus at Keio University, Japan. He is an expert on the history of premodern and early modern period Japanese paintings. He completed his studies in aesthetics and history of fine arts in 1964 at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Letters, Keio University. He pursued the graduate degree at the same university, which he completed in 1971 without diploma. He spent several years as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Letters before his professorial position in 1988, where he remained until retirement in 2007. Today, he is a professor emeritus of the same university. He also assumed the directorial office at the Chiba City Museum of Art between 2012 and 2021.
Yukio Lippit
Yukio Lippit has been a member of the History of Art and Architecture Department, Harvard University since 2003, having attained his degrees in literature at Harvard in 1993, and M.A. and Ph.D. in Art and Archaeology at Princeton University in 1998 and 2003, respectively. He also affiliated with Centre Parisien d’ Études Critiques between 1993 and 1994, as well as with the University of Tokyo between 1998 and 2000 as a visiting scholar. He spent a year between 2002 and 2003 as Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., followed by a year for the Getty Postdoctoral Fellowship from 2004 to 2005. He has taught as a visiting professor at various universities, including the University of Tokyo, Heidelberg University (Germany), University of Campinas (Brazil), Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá), and the University of Melbourne (Australia).
Kazumi Murose
Lacquer artist Kazumi Murose is a title holder as important intangible cultural property of Japan. He completed his studies in lacquer art (shitsugei) at the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts. His work has been highly acclaimed with remarkable accolades, including the Governor of Metropolitan Tokyo Award from the Japan Traditional Art Exhibition. He was recognized as a preserver of important intangible cultural properties in 2008, a status widely known as Living National Treasure in Japan. In the same year, he was also decorated with the Medal of Honor with a Purple Ribbon by the Government of Japan, and with the Order of the Rising Sun, Golden Rays with Rosette in 2021. He currently resides as a vice president of Japan Kōgei Association. His work is housed at the government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Tokyo University of the Arts, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is also dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage, taking part in various activities to present his work and give talks about the exquisite qualities of Japanese lacquer art.
Tokugo Uchida
Tokugo Uchida graduated from Keio University. He holds a Ph.D. in Aesthetics and the field of specialty is the history of Japanese kōgei (craft arts). Presently, Director of MOA Museum of Art and Hakone Museum of Art in Japan. He has researched far and wide in the area of Japanese craft art history, and his expertise in the field is the basis for his recent activities in exhibitions, critiques, and lectures on modern kōgei. He has taught as a visiting professor at Kyushu University and delivered lectures at other higher educational institutions, such as the Graduate School of Ochanomizu University, Keio University, the Tokyo University of the Arts, Musashino Art University, and Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts. He also variously contributed as committee member for the Council for Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, Shizuoka Prefectural Council for Cultural Affairs, and Industrial Structure Council of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. He has been selected to be a Culture and Creation Advisor for Ota City, Tokyo. He is the author of Research on Lacquered Vessels and Studies on Kōrin’s Makie. He also co-authored Kōgei 2020- Aesthetics and Forms of Nature and Living National Treasures of Japan (Shanghai), among others.
