In Japan silk, paper, wood, and lacquer, rather than oil and canvas, are the materials most often requiring treatment. For laying down loose paint, glue or rice paste were formerly used. Synthetic resins have now been found to be more satisfactory particularly polymethyl methacrylate and polyvinyl alcohol. Optical methods for pigment analysis, such as X-radiography and beta-ray back-scattering, are particularly valuable for scroll paintings, where even inicrosamples cannot be taken. The effects of fungicides onvarious pigments have been investigated.