PART Recent Trends and Developments in Government Policies in Education, Science and Culture
Chapter 7 Promotion of Culture
2 Creation of the Japan Arts Fund
In response to the aspirations of artists and other people for
the creation of a nation-wide fund for the promotion of arts and culture and
the increasingly positive attitude of private enterprises for supporting the
creation of the fund, the Ministry included, in its supplemental budget for 1989,
government endowments amounting to 50 billion yen to a Japan Arts Fund, and in
March 1990 reorganized the National Theatre into a Japan Arts Council, by partial
amendments to the National Theatre Law, and created the Japan Arts Fund to be
administered by the Council.
With interest income from the government endowments amounting
to 50 billion yen and the private sector endowments amounting to 10 billion yen,
the Fund will be utilized in assisting a wide range of artistic and cultural
activities with the aim of "developing and disseminating a wide range of outstanding
artistic and cultural activities" and "promoting community development with emphasis
on cultural elements." The Fund is thus intended to contribute to the broader
participation of people in artistic and cultural activities.