The Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties is based in the ancient city of Nara which was formerly the capital of Japan in the 8th century. NARA, as it known, conducts research and provides support to the Agency of Cultural Affairs as well as hosting an extensive library that holds 360,000 books and 5,000 titles of magazines on cultural properties, including site reports from excavations and conservation reports of historic buildings. NARA are very active on the dissemination of information, such as managing databases containing various cultural property information and publications of research results. By making their archaeological reports available to the public and linking these with cultural events, NARA have increased their registered reports from 920 in 2008 to over 23,000 eleven years later with around 3,800 downloads a day.
Nara wish to benefit from the latest data management techniques being developed and applied within ARIADNEplus and have already actively disseminated information about the research infrastructure in their local region. Articles about the project have been published in three regional newspapers (Asahi Shimbun, Nara Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun) about how NARA is the first organisation from Asia to participate in ARIADNEplus which will help archaeological information to becomes accessible worldwide and improve the management of digital data. In addition, a feature was broadcast on the NHK television channel. The project is delighted to have created this impact in Japan within the first six months and is also keen to learn lessons on engaging the public with their work thereby increasing the recognition and appreciation that the Humanities make to society.