TOKYO, Aug 07 (News On Japan) - Serious concerns have arisen over insufficient storage space for materials and specimens in museums across Japan.
The National Museum of Nature and Science expresses a growing sense of crisis that its fundamental roles of collection and preservation are becoming unattainable.
Kazukazu Shinoda, Director of the National Museum of Nature and Science, one of Japan's foremost museums, located in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, said valuable collections that no longer fits in the storage rooms are stacked in the corridors. "Items that we can't seem to store adequately are piling up. In reality, the storage facility itself is already full."
According to a survey conducted by the Japan Museum Association in 2019, approximately 60% of museums and art galleries reported that they either have "materials that cannot fit" or that they are "over 90% full."
In some cases, researchers who wish to donate collected materials are forced to dispose of them themselves due to the lack of space in museums to accept them.
Source: ANNnewsCH