Mie Ishii Associate Professor

Research overview

Providing technologies for the conservation of historic textiles to the world, as well as focusing on domestic and international human resources development Preserving and conserving historic cultural properties to ensure they are passed down to future generations
I specialize in textiles. My research in this field covers a variety of topics, including technologies for the preservation and conservation of museum collections and cultural properties, as well as their display and promotion. I also focus on the continuation of traditional techniques to ensure that tangible cultural properties are passed down to future generations. In relation to my interest in historic textiles, I conduct scientific studies into topics such as the analysis of natural dyes, color fading caused by museum lighting, and conservation materials tests such as synthetic adhesives.

■Conservation and restoration activities overseas
As part of my research, I have worked to help train conservators in cultural heritage sectors in places like Armenia, Taiwan, and Egypt. In Armenia, where I have been teaching conservation and restoration techniques since 2011, I was commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in fiscal year 2020 to work with the Echmiadzin Cathedral Museum under its Networking Core Centers for International Cooperation in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage Project . In Egypt, since 2008, I have been involved in a capacity development project run by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at the Conservation Centre in the Grand Egyptian Museum Since 2016, I have been working with conservation experts here as the team leader responsible for the conservation and display of 57 textiles associated with King Tutankhamun. These activities in Egypt were awarded with the 27th Yomiuri International Cooperation Award in 2020.

■Activities in Japan
In Japan, I am actively involved in activities seeking to put my research results into practice. For example, I participated in rescue work at the Rikuzentakata Municipal Museum, which was damaged during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and offered technical guidance on the cleaning of historic textiles that were damaged during the fire at Shurijo Castle in Okinawa in 2019. My extensive activities in Japan also include historical research on Saga Nishiki and Kashima Nishiki textiles.

■Educational support for passing down techniques
In my overseas and domestic conservation and restoration projects, I have been focusing on educational support by providing technical guidance to local museum professionals. I also serve as a training instructor for the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), an international non-governmental organization. In 2019, I hosted an ICCROM summer school at Saga University's Arita campus, bringing together experts in cultural property conservation from different countries and fields.

My work in the conservation and restoration of cultural properties involves revealing the history of humanity by examining textiles in detail, and passing them down to future generations. Delicate work of this kind requires specialized skills, but there are very few textile conservators in Japan. By nurturing talented textile conservators, I strongly believe that this course at the Graduate School in Regional Design in Art and Economics will help ensure that Japan’s invaluable cultural properties can be passed down intact to the next generation.