A key issue in those days was the protection of temple architecture, as many temples had been badly affected by haibutsu-kishaku (the anti-Buddhist movement in the Meiji era that resulted in the destruction of many Buddhist temples), and so Tadashi SEKINO conducted field research to record the year of construction of the major buildings located in Nara and Kyoto.
当時、廃仏毀釈で大きな打撃を受けた寺院建築の保護が課題となっており、関野貞は奈良・京都の主な建築を調査し、それらの建築年代をまとめていった。