Cultural Restitution

January 25, 2020
JAPAN
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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

Birmingham Museum helps shrink ‘The Elephant in the Room’

July 3, 2025
“Would be nice to have a more frank discussion about how objects are collected for the Museum. Saying ‘Donated’ is not enough”

Naga ancestral remains to be returned to their homeland

June 17, 2025
Last week, a delegation of Naga people signed a declaration that will lead to the return of 41 Naga ancestral remains currently held in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

Campaign to repatriate Maya artefacts to Belize escalates

May 24, 2025
Village leaders at San Benito Poité in southern Belize, formerly British Honduras, are claiming that an important collection of artefacts removed from the ancient city of Pusilha is not the lawful property of the British Museum