Butt-ugly Buddha bust, bah

[Taro Toporific]

japan-stolen-statue.jpg

Four South Koreans held over theft of Tsushima Buddhist statue
The Japan Times (KYODO) Nov, 25, 2014
Four South Korean men were taken into police custody Monday on suspicion of stealing a Buddha statue from a temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, local police said.
The four men, whose ages range from 47 to 70, allegedly committed several thefts of local cultural assets as a team, the police said. Their immediate charge is the theft Monday morning of a Buddha statue from a temple in the town of Mitsushima on the island, which is located in the Sea of Japan midway between the two countries.
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Was this butt-ugly statuette really a "gift" from Silla Korean kingdom?
Or, was the statuette of Buddha "presented" to Nagasaki Prefecture's Bairinji temple in the 9th century as forced tribute?
The previous times Koreans stole Buddha statues from Japanese temples the statues were tribute that were being repatriated---Stealing back stolen stuff.

[Coligny]

D00d, I feel the J-pain here, them eGyptians want us to send back the obelisk from place de la concorde and all the swag we have at the Louvres...

Them dirkas are not even a country anymore, just a giant litterbox with rubbles and random explosions...

[matsuki]

Have any of these things actually had litigation...I mean, I got little faith in the Japanese courts but to just go out and steal the shit without even trying the legal channels first is just scummy. If they already tried and "IF" what they claim is true, more power to em.

[Taro Toporific]

Droll comment made on reddit.com/r/japan by derioderio.

So there is this object that a long time ago happened to originate from what is now present-day Korea.
......Korean Nationalists: It belongs to Korea! It must be returned to Korea!
............Normal people with common sense: Um guys, this object was given to the governor of Tsushima as a gift, and as a sign of friendship between Silla and Tsushima.
......Korean Nationalists: It belongs to Korea! It must be returned to Korea!
............Normal people with common sense: OK, just arrest the idiots already.

[Samurai_Jerk]

D00d, I feel the J-pain here, them eGyptians want us to send back the obelisk from place de la concorde and all the swag we have at the Louvres...

Them dirkas are not even a country anymore, just a giant litterbox with rubbles and random explosions...

I've always wondered about the Egyptian antiquities at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

[Coligny]

D00d, I feel the J-pain here, them eGyptians want us to send back the obelisk from place de la concorde and all the swag we have at the Louvres...

Them dirkas are not even a country anymore, just a giant litterbox with rubbles and random explosions...

I've always wondered about the Egyptian antiquities at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Someone forgot the "don't give them idea" rule...

[Wage Slave]

D00d, I feel the J-pain here, them eGyptians want us to send back the obelisk from place de la concorde and all the swag we have at the Louvres...

Them dirkas are not even a country anymore, just a giant litterbox with rubbles and random explosions...

I've always wondered about the Egyptian antiquities at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

Someone forgot the "don't give them idea" rule...

It is a real issue. The sight of those serried ranks of hacked off Bhudda heads at the Louvre and less so at the British Museum is depressing and unsettling. And then there are the human remains and plenty more sacred objects at the British Museum. And the Greek stuff ....

Some was paid for - sort of from people with dubious title to it, some was just taken and some was exacted as "gifts". Some should go back - especially if there is a statue in a temple missing its head somewhere and especially human remains that were laid to rest according to local sacred tradition.

[matsuki]

If you think about it from their perspective, the situation is pretty fucked. Some wealthy foreign dude found artifacts of your ancient history or whatever and then spirited them away to his country (or his sponsor's country) museum because your country is/was too poor to fund such excavations or proper museums.

The U.S. is pretty terrible in this respect...there is probably more ancient foreign shit in U.S. museums than there are artifacts from ancient America...as in, before white people America.

[kurogane]

Some wealthy foreign dude found artifacts of your ancient history or whatever and then spirited them away to his country (or his sponsor's country) museum

Are you racist against rich white people?????

because your country is/was too poor to fund such excavations or proper museums.

At least here you have identified the true White Man's Burden. Why should we be blamed for caring more than the caretakers themselves!!?????


Anyhoo, as a childhood museum buff and former staff member I have come to the conclusion that most traditional museums are rather creepy, and the fundamental idea of museums is pretty creepy too. They simply reek of the passion for possession.

[Wage Slave]

I see the British Museum is in fact returning human remains less than 1,000 years old, after a change in the law in 2005. I suppose that's a start.

The Trustees have welcomed this new power which has enabled them for the first time to give serious consideration to a claim made for two cremation ash bundles. The claim is made by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre: the TAC has made several previous claims which could not be considered until the law was changed in 2005. The Trustees are therefore pleased to announce that, at their meeting today, they have decided to transfer the two Tasmanian Aboriginal cremation ash bundles to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre in response to the claim from the Centre made last year.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/management/human_remains/repatriation_to_tasmania.aspx

[matsuki]

Some wealthy foreign dude found artifacts of your ancient history or whatever and then spirited them away to his country (or his sponsor's country) museum

Are you racist against rich white people?????

The problem is definitely not limited to white people.

because your country is/was too poor to fund such excavations or proper museums.

At least here you have identified the true White Man's Burden. Why should we be blamed for caring more than the caretakers themselves!!?????


Anyhoo, as a childhood museum buff and former staff member I have come to the conclusion that most traditional museums are rather creepy, and the fundamental idea of museums is pretty creepy too. They simply reek of the passion for possession.

Meh, they've probably got other priorities like food and sanitation...but how is this type of thing handled nowadays by most countries? I can't imagine them letting foreign dudes come in and take whatever they find with them??

[kurogane]

On any return trip to Canada whilst employed at the museum I was always asked 3 or 4 questions by Customs and Immigration about any excavational activities and resulting booty, so it shows that there is an effort to enforce the treaty controlling the traffic of rare and valuable cultural items, WTF it's called.

[Wage Slave]

Meh, they've probably got other priorities like food and sanitation...but how is this type of thing handled nowadays by most countries? I can't imagine them letting foreign dudes come in and take whatever they find with them??

Depends on how much of as decent government the country has. If they are any good then you need a licence to export anything of significance. Stuff still gets out of course but if it turns up on the open market it will be seized and returned. Still, there are plenty of private collectors and dodgy dealers who don't ask too many questions. Even in the UK I have seen people with statuettes hacked off cathedrals, monasteries and such.

I agree with Kuro - There is often something fetishistic about the whole business.

[kurogane]

Yeah............I think Wilde had something witty to say about it; wish I could remember what.

My rich finance friends have been getting into Acquisition (they actually call it that). They're nice guys, but it's creepy.

As is this ad, which I first saw reading my weekly Economist, and promptly barfed a little:

[legion]

You don't actually own Photoshop, you just rent it on Creative Cloud

[Coligny]

You don't actually own Photoshop, you just rent it on Creative Cloud

Or like normal people, you give up on adobe shit and use gimp

(Without access to pirated copy when they were teens i don't know a lot of pro today that would waste time training with photoshop...)