A Cultural Affairs Agency sub-committee looking into ways of preserving the Kitora tomb in Asukamura, Nara Prefecture, has decided to recommend that two famous wall paintings be removed from the tomb and restored elsewhere. The works subcommittee of the agency's investigation and research committee decided Tuesday to restore the white tiger on the tomb's west wall and the blue dragon on the tomb's east wall by carefully removing from the tomb the plaster on which they are painted.

The proposal, which the subcommittee is due to submit to the main research committee on Monday, is likely to pose a new set of problems for the agency. There are almost no other examples of Japanese cultural treasures being removed for restoration elsewhere.

The decision regarding whether to return the wall paintings--which date from the late seventh or early eighth centuries--to the tomb once restoration work is finished, or whether to permanently preserve them elsewhere, appears to have been held back till Monday's meeting.

According to some subcommittee members, the proposition that restoration would not be possible without removing the white tiger and blue dragon came from the agency itself. A clear majority of subcommittee members supported the proposal, they said.

The meeting then discussed ways of removing the plaster and the safety of the entire operation. No agreement was reached on what to do about the tomb's other wall paintings.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040708wo61.htm