The 24th Asia Pacific Research Prize - winner: Dr. Zahra Moharramipour

Title of Dissertation: “Expanding the Concept of the ‘Orient’ in Early Twentieth Century Japan:Perceptions of Persia among Ito Chuta and the Japanese Architects, Art Historians and Historians”

Dr. Zahra Moharramipour

- Career -

Zahra Moharramipour is Assistant Professor at International Research Center for Japanese Studies. Her research focuses on the formation of the idea of “Persia” in early 20th-century Japan, employing an interdisciplinary approach that integrates art history, architectural history, archaeology, history, and literature. She was previously a JSPS fellow at the National Museum of Ethnology and received her PhD in Comparative Literature and Culture from the University of Tokyo in 2023. Her recent book in Japanese, Transforming the “Orient”: Persia in Japanese Art Historiography was published by Nagoya University Press in 2025.

- Summary -

   The T?y?-kan of the Tokyo National Museum has a section dedicated to the art of West Asia and Egypt. Japanese visitors today might not question why art from these regions is categorized under the framework of “Oriental art” (T?y? Bijutsu). However, in early 20th-century Japan, the term “Oriental art” referred specifically to the art of Japan, China, and India. This raises the question: when and how did West Asian and Egyptian art come to be included in this category?
   This dissertation addresses this question by exploring the reception of Persian art and the formation of the concept of the “Orient” in early 20th-century Japan, with particular attention to the architect and architectural historian It? Ch?ta (1867?1954). The study covers the period from the 1890s, when investigations into shrine and temple treasures led to discussions about the Sassanian origins of H?ry?ji Temple’s textile Brocade with Four Horsemen Hunting Lion, to 1929, when the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum, in the course of its post-Great Kant? Earthquake reconstruction, expanded its concept of the “Orient” to include lands “up to around Persia.” Through discourse analysis, this study demonstrates how understandings of Sassanian art shaped broader perceptions of Persian art and contributed to the inclusion of West Asia in the concept of the “Orient.”
   The study primarily traces It?’s work following his 1893 publication of “On the Architecture of H?ry?ji,” while also examining the travels of historian Kuroita Katsumi (1874?1946) through Persia and the activities of art dealers. By analyzing their publications, exhibitions, and lectures, this study reveals how the field of “Oriental art history” was formed in Japan.
   Japanese “Oriental art history” encompasses forms of Asian art perceived as the origins of Japanese art. In the early 20th century, Persian art gained significance not only due to international recognition of its influence on textiles such as the Brocade with Four Horsemen Hunting Lion, but also as the culmination of West Asian artistic heritage. Consequently, Persian art played a key role in expanding the concept of the “Orient” to include the entire region of West Asia.
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