Japan's cultural homogeneity, developed over millennia, has nurtured the evolution of systems for the transmission and support of common goals, including artistic activities . Canada can learn from Japan's support of heritage, since there is an exceptional opportunity as a relatively new country to preserve and analyze the material evidence of human populations in transition and settlement; to study the dynamics of contact between indigenous peoples and newcomers. It is in the areas of national and international collections, and attitudes towards them, where Canadian and Japanese traditions have diverged. This is largely due to differing historical and cultural circumstances. Conservation in the East and the West is evolving towards what works best, a trend in the direction of a common path.