NHK launches new 8K documentary in Partnership with Tokyo National Museum

NHK and the Tokyo National Museum have been engaged in a joint research project Cultural Heritage in 8K. The aim is to produce an ultra-high-definition 3DCG digital inventory of the artifacts in the museum including national treasures. This makes it possible to capture every detail of the artifacts inside and out for the viewers to see. NHK offered the latest technological knowledge and innovative storytelling, while the museum curated the selection of the artifacts and advised how best to show them. Combining their expertise, both organizations collaborated to seek new ways of art appreciation in the forms of VR, AR, Projection Mapping and other digital means.

A TV series Fresh Encounters with our Cultural Heritage is part of this unique joint research. Each episode looks into one artifact – namely, a 3000-year-old mysterious Dogu (clay figurine), a 400-year-old golden Byobu screen depicting the life of the Samurai and people in Kyoto, and a highly artistic wooden statue of the Kudara Kannon deity which is part of the world’s oldest existing wooden architecture from Horyuji temple, all in 8K. NHK has succeeded in recreating a 3DCG model of each artifact by using hundreds of extremely high-resolution images which were photographed and 3D-scanned. For instance, in order to recreate the golden Byobu screen of Rakuchu Rakugai Zu (Picture of the inner city and outskirts of old Kyoto), 210 images at 8192 x 8192 pixels were used. Interactive CG content which shows 8K quality 3DCG in real-time was also developed. Looking at these recreated artifacts on the latest 8KHDR LED panels or projector, the program’s host, by manipulating the gaming console, could examine each artifact in ways which wouldn’t be possible in physical reality. This would potentially reveal answers to the questions academics and researchers have been asking for years.

NHK’s 8K channel controller Hakuno Takahiko said: 'We are proud to be able to offer NHK’s 8K technology and the knowledge we had accumulated over the years to this new series by building a good partnership with the museum'. And Tokyo National Museum’s curator for Japanese painting, Matsushima Masato, added: 'The pandemic has led museums and galleries all over the world to seek new ways to serve people. 8K imaging has huge potential.” In 2022, when the museum will be celebrating its 150th anniversary, there is a plan to hold a special exhibition based on this joint research'.