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Museology emerged in Europe and North America, leading to museum standards and examples, and producing abundant literature that applies to these areas. In comparison to this, information about Asian museums and museology is still limited in number. This book presents up-to-date information about museums and museology in present-day Asia, focusing on Japan, Mongolia, Myanmar and Thailand.The peer-reviewed chapters in this volume are written versions of the invited lectures delivered at the international symposium “New Horizons for Asian Museums and Museology” held on 21, 22 February 2015 at the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan (Minpaku). The symposium was an opportunity to present the outcomes of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Core-to-Core Program “New Horizons in Asian Museums and Museology” (FY2012–2014). At the same time, it represented one of the achievements of Minpaku’s more than 20-year-long efforts in international cooperation and human resource development for museums and museology.In this introductory chapter, the history and outline of 20-year museology training courses at Minpaku are briefly described to help the understanding of the project background. Then, results of studies carried out as a part of the project during FY2012-2014 are summarized, and the objective and contents of the symposium described.

The history of Myanmar museums from the earliest such as ancient palaces and Pitaka libraries, through museums established before independence such as Bagan Archaeological Museum, to the most recent-days is described. The establishment of the Ministry of Culture in 1952, 4 years after regaining independence, led to construction of the first National Museum (Yangon) and several other museums. Currently, Myanmar museums under the Ministry of Culture can be classified as national museums, archaeological museums, regional cultural museums, and memorial museums. Other kinds of museum are now appearing under other ministries and in the private sector in Myanmar. There is an urgent need for collaboration between these different museums to form a nation-wide museum organization, in order to work together for the improvement of Myanmar museums, and to facilitate international cooperation.

From the middle of 1920s to the 1990s, the museum affairs of Mongolia were dominated by communist-socialist ideology, demolishing the culture of the exploiter class and creating the culture of the exploited class. The democratic movement since the 1990s brought a big change in the field of culture, particularly for the protection and conservation of historic and cultural heritage, and for the museum activities. It was necessary to improve working conditions in museums, train professional staff, and to participate in international cooperation between museums. New museums were set up as to replace dissolved museums, and other museums were established anew including those under private ownership. Mongolia’s museums have achieved much in the implementation of their goals, but much remains to be accomplished.

There are 41 national museums in Thailand. Since the Act on National Education of 1997, national museums have been expected to provide more educational services and facilities, but a lack of museum personnel and inadequate budgets remain big problems. Recently the decision was made to reduce the number of national museums, and the small-scale national museums, formerly monastery museums, have returned to being monastery museums. To improve the image of national museums, three pilot projects are undergoing: the first project is establishment of seven national museum storage units – a main central storage unit in Pathumthani Province and six regional national museum storage units –; the second project is renovation of the National Museum Bangkok; and the third project is development of the Kanchanaphisek National Museum which will represent all ethnic groups in Thailand.

Under the “National Project for Digitization of Cultural Heritage” started in 2005, a total of 42 organizations are involved in the registration and information state database of cultural heritage, using RCH (Registration of Cultural Heritage) software. So far, 45,645 names and 65,211 movable objects have been registered. For immovable historical and cultural properties, the registration is conducted using RICH (Registration of Immovable Cultural Heritage) software. So far, a total 32,124 historical and cultural immovable properties from 3,100 cultural sites in 15 provinces have been registered. Registration for ICH (Intangible Cultural Heritage) covers 329 soums (sub-provinces) and 9 districts, and 7,206 individuals identified as ICH bearers. In 2014, the “National Project for Digitization of Cultural Heritage-2” was approved, aiming to register and document cultural heritage, to take control of conservation and preservation of cultural heritage, to create a digital database for tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and to improve the system used for registration and information database of cultural heritage.

At the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan (Minpaku), ImageFinder was designed to connect different kinds of information on an object through a new digital device: People search information not by using text but images of the objects instead. Another instrument called MAP (Minpaku Anthropological Phototheque) shows pictures taken by Minpaku staff in their fieldwork. These examples show that rapid progress in the design of digital devices and growth of the Internet community have changed the way to offer information on exhibitions and the museum itself. By connecting the information, visitors and users might find additional information or produce new contents and feed them back to the museum. As Minpaku collects materials concerned with human culture, we can show the existence of material culture in each period all over the world. Objects and information related to them would be our inheritance of intelligence on this planet.

Two specially customized computer programs have been developed at the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan to facilitate the analysis of the museum environment: a pest monitoring data analysis program; and a temperature/relative humidity (RH) monitoring data analysis program. These analysis programs improve understanding of the museum environment and support efficient and quick discovery of any abnormalities from a preventive conservation point of view. Daily and advanced uses of these data analysis programs were described. For example, a comparative study of the results of temperature and humidity control under the normal regime and under the power-saving regime was carried out based on actual readings, and permitted use of more energy-efficient air-conditioning control since FY2014. For the next development, it is intended to incorporate these analytical programs into “data analysis small packages” that can be used freely by other museums and related institutions.

The National Museum (Nay Pyi Taw) is under construction and the first phase was opened on 15 July 2015. The exhibition policy is: to present national prestige and integrity; to reveal national cultural heritage to show the soft power and ability of the nation; to build a museum fitting the nation’s prestige and grade; and to construct the museum as a good, modern, and attractive one with the right preservation techniques and of a high standard. A total of 12,975 objects have been collected, some excavated from ancient sites and others provided by donation, exchange, or given as awards. Each object arriving at the museum is systematically documented and is being conserved with simple chemicals and ordinary equipment. There is a need for modern techniques of conservation, documentation, and exhibition.

The development of an enclosure-type insecticidal treatment for ethnographic/folklore artifacts using carbon dioxide is described. After the successful installation of the system, the technique was applied on a larger scale using a special enclosure-type bag (11.5 m in length, 10 m in width, and 2 m in height). Since one of the preconditions for development of the system was that the treatment procedures could be performed by museum staff, close attention was paid to worker safety. Other challenges faced were to: minimize the decrease in humidity inside the bag when carbon dioxide is supplied; achieve a uniform distribution of carbon dioxide concentration in a large-scale treatment facility; and establish supplementary methods for killing insects that resist by carbon dioxide treatment (e.g. longicorn beetles).

The community museums in the North of Thailand have different patterns: Ethnicity museums and local historical museums. Most ethnicity museums are located in the community of those ethnic people, and present ethnic identity, history, and folklore. Local historical museums are located in historical areas related to the folk life of the communities, and present the history of the areas and the communities. The author considers community museums in Thailand just one type of local museum managed by people, temples, and private units. The situations of the local museums might not be as stable as those of the national museums because the idea of each community unit is different in its understanding of the museum’s social function. And nowadays, most local museums are just used as tourist places for the community economy.