The Idea and the Role of Field-Museums in Japan

Recently, the number of 'field-museums(F.Ms.)' in Japan has increased. Although they are very diverse, the essential commonality is that each has a field arranged as a kind of museum. In this study, we examine the 'F.M.' mainly through documents in order to understand the concept of the F.M. and the direction of further studies. Before examining the cases of F.Ms., we explore the history of the F.M. and the role of museums in order to establish the background of the development of F.Ms. The term F.M. first appeared and evolved in 1990s. It is suggested that F.Ms. are positioned on the same lines as development of museums, and that the field of museums and the field of landscaping is beginning to overlap. Concerning the role of museums, we examined the definition of museums in terms of conventional museums and regional planning. Next, the documents of 36 cases of F.Ms. are checked regarding their types and roles. Consequently, we found that while most F.Ms. cases have both the role of conventional museums and the role of regional planning, it is difficult to say that the role has some connection with the type. It seems that F.Ms. emphasize 'education' rather than 'collection', 'pleasure' and 'research', compared with conventional museums. In addition, the role of regional planning is strongly expected. In many cases, the F.M. is expected to be a method of regional management, not merely a museum. In order to use F.Ms. for regional planning and landscaping effectively, it is desirable for F.Ms. to be defined from this viewpoint. For this purpose, it is necessary to determine the extent of F.Ms. The problem is which extent to choose, geographical unity or administrative border. Hence, further comparative research is needed clarify the association between the extent and the identity in order to establish a more effective size of F.Ms.