制度としての文化財

明治期における〈国宝〉の誕生と宗教・美術の問題

抄録

　Every object acquires its social significance by being multiply defined from various domains of values, such as the political, the economic, the historical, the aesthetic, the religious and so on. The definition of Cultural Property in Japan (Bunkazai) is one of such domains. If something is registered as an Important Cultural Property, this signifies not only its historical and artistic importance, but means also that the thing has been introduced into a new value domain. However, when an object with religious value is registered to be a cultural property, its two definitions ('religious' and 'cultural') from the different value domains are not always compatible. This is so, because its definition as a cultural property, being institutionalized and authorized by the state and supported widely by the people, easily overwhelms its religious definition.
　The purpose of this paper is to doubt sociologically, with the help of historical facts and documents, the taken-for-grantedness of the value domain called "Cultural Property". It was in 1897 that the definition "National Treasure", the highest category of Cultural Property, was newly introduced by the Old Shrines and Temples Preservation Act. And it was this act that served as the basis for the present Cultural Properties Protection Act enacted in 1950. After analyzing 1) how the conception of "fine art" was interpreted in Japan over a thirty year period, from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until 1897, 2) why things with religious value became the objects of preservation, and 3) what kind of discussion was held in the Imperial Diet in approving the act, one conclusion seems clear. That is, that the value "National Treasure" was brought forth in order to meet two demands: the spiritual demand which was enhanced by the nationalistic trend of the time and the demand for the promotion of overseas trade to increase the national wealth.
　The birth of the National Treasure can be interpreted, from one side, as a symbolic example of the secularization of religion during the modernization process of Meiji Japan. But from the other side, it was a conversion of a religious symbol into a national symbol which was none the less sacred.