Dr. Shohko Iwakura

Dr. Iwakura is Professor of the History of Western Fine Arts at Shuujitsu Women's University, Okayama, specializing in the history of Japanese-Italian relations. She received her B.A. from Waseda University in 1961, majoring in the History of Fine Arts, and her M.A. in 1963, specializing in the History of Western Arts. From 1964 to 1970 she was at the University of Rome, studying Medieval Italian Art under Prof. De Francovich. She then returned to Waseda to complete the Ph.D. course in the History of Western Fine Arts. In 1994 she was curator of the exhibition "Japan Discovers the Western World: A Diplomatic Mission, 1871-73" held at the Japanese Cultural Institute in Rome, and in connection with the exhibition she edited the book "Before and After the Iwakura Mission: Unpublished Documents", and wrote the article "The Iwakura Mission and Italian Art" for the exhibition catalogue.
Adapted from "The Asiatic Society of Japan Bulletin No. 2", February 1996, compiled by Hugh Wilkinson.
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