Cultural Restitution

January 25, 2020
JAPAN
SHARE ARTICLE

Japan

Updated June 2025

Below is a schedule of successful restitutions made by Japan to a country or community of source. Entries are updated regularly.



June 2025

In the first ever return of human ancestors from Japan, three Japanese collecting institutions have returned ten First Nations ancestors to Australia

minister.infrastructure.gov.au



October 2023

A South Korean Supreme Court ruling means a stolen Buddhist statue must be returned to a temple in Japan, ending a decades-old dispute

ArtDaily



September 2022

Japan agrees to return to South Korea more than 1,200 royal books removed during its 1910 to 1945 colonial rule in a move to improve diplomatic relations

The Korea Times



December 2011

Important historical archive of 1,200 Korean documents, looted during Japan's annexation of the peninsula, returned  to Seoul

Daily Telegraph




More News

Imperial Gold Hairpin to return to Ethiopia

December 5, 2025
A rare and important 19th century gold hairpin once owned by Empress Tiruwork, wife of the Abyssinian Emperor Tewodros II, will be returning to Ethiopia following negotiations by the Royal Ethiopian Trust with the Rome auction house Bertolami Fine Art

Protests in favour of a Benin Royal Museum frustrate ambitions of Nigeria’s Museum of West African Art

November 25, 2025
In 2022 several western collections made a decision to transfer ownership of their Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. Reassured by progress on the construction of a major new facility in Benin City, they understood their Benin artefacts would be exhibited in a new museum to be called the Edo Museum of West African Art

Why the Rosetta Stone will not be returning to Egypt ... just yet

November 11, 2025
After years of delay and political distraction, the official opening of the new Grand Egyptian Museum finally took place in the shadow of the pyramids on the evening of November 1st attended by monarchs, world leaders, heads of state and government