How to find and freely use images of Japan

Do you have a project you want to illustrate with a classy image from Japan’s vast art heritage? Where can you find just the right one for your blog post that conveys a concept intrinsic to Japanese culture? Are you after historic or contemporary photos of locations in Japan? There are massive collections of images you can use, either licensed or public domain.

What the Japanese law says

Japan’s copyright law specifies that the copyright on works ends 70 years after the death of the creator. This is similar to copyright law in other countries. Besides expired copyright works, many creators and owners dedicate their works to the public domain. You can freely use public domain images without a reference. Usually, when I use public domain images, I’ll include a link to where I found it. 

The Met

New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, known affectionately as “The Met”, is the largest museum of art in the U.S. with over two million objects. Now, I’ve never been to New York but in the blink of an eye, I can go visit its Asian collection which contains 16,057 objects. On the website, you can search by keyword, material or type of object, and era. At the bottom of the images, look out for public domain designation.

A hanging scroll by Shibata Zeshin appealed to me as it captures the spirit of autumn, The Met

The Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is best known for housing Dutch masters’ paintings, but it also has a million objects of art including Asian collections in a dedicated pavilion. The Netherlands has had a long history of relationship with Japan and holds many artworks. You can browse the collections and stumble upon museum patrons’ own “sets” of images. One that I’m drawn to is museum patron VVak’s Netsuke, a set of these tiny sculptures in the museum's collection.

Wiki Commons

Besides audio and video, Wiki Commons has millions of images that you can use freely as long as you follow the license conditions. You need to know what you’re looking for to get the most out of the search. I search by genres, artists’ names, geography, and eras. I’ve found historic and contemporary photos of places I've visited, many dedicated to the public domain.

ColBase

The full name of this database is a mouthful - the integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan. ColBase contains works owned by four of Japan’s museums and a research institute. All works are no longer covered by copyright. Some of the images have elaborate descriptions while others have brief notes.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s cat painting has a note that Edo-era people believed cat pictures would ward off mice, ColBase

Do you have a favorite repository of licensable or public domain images? Which ones are easiest to use?