In recent years, there have been remarkable advancements in digital image technology. More and more film-based photographs taken from the late nineteenth to the twentieth centuries are being stored and used in digital format. Furthermore, it is not only old photographs from the collections of major institutions but also individually owned photographs that are being digitized. Digitized photographs a "second life." For example, the British Library's to preserve archives such are being used once again in Endangered Archives Programme aims as photographs held by individuals by enabling archivists to formulate a plan and apply for a grant (Kominko 2015).

However, applicants to this program must be archivists with specialized knowledge. People who do not have this knowledge or know an archivist with this kind of knowledge cannot take part in the program. In this paper, I will introduce a program of the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka (hereinafter “Minpaku"). Researchers with no knowledge whatsoever about photography archives can apply and, if accepted, Minpaku will provide them with support to digitize and database their photographs. The program is a unique experiment that provides not only financial and technological support but also support tailored to the characteristics of the individual photograph collection. It would be interesting to describe the database system, which can flexibly accommodate a wide range of needs, but unfortunately, that is outside my area of expertise. The only thing 1 will mention about the system is that it can be customized by choosing which categories are displayed. In this paper, I will mainly discuss non-technical aspects and the objective and issues of the program.