“Rescued” antique paper doors
Three paper doors and antique documents hidden inside them, which were found out in the tea house last March were “rescued” by the municipal government, that is, we passed over them to the expert of the local authority for temporary repair and decipherment. “RESCUE” OF CULTURAL PROPERTIES In a more common word, “salvage” of cultural properties. Maybe experts have used the word “rescue” since long before, but it’s more widely known after the Great East Japan earthquake on March 11, 2011. Precious local cultural properties in the areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami, as well as a mandatory evacuation due to the nuclear accident in Fukushima, were in urgent need of salvage: temporary safekeeping and expeditious restoration. Such salvage activities are implemented not only in Japan, and the wording “rescue” (settled down in Japan as a loan word) may sound a bit unnatural. But I still like the collocation. Since usually the word “rescue” is associated with human being...