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Special Feature2
Realization of a Nation Based on Culture and the Arts

Part 3 Cultural Administration of Other Countries

Approaches to culture differ among countries, reflecting each country's history and tradition. Interactions between cultures and governments also differ depending on how large a role the government plays in the people's lives.

In the previous two sections, we introduced our ideas about Japan's cultural administration. To provide readers with a basis for comparison, we will introduce cultural administrations of the United Kingdom, France, the United States, China and South Korea in terms of organizations in charge, promotion of culture and the arts, protection of cultural properties and international cultural exchange.

1 Cultural Administration of the United Kingdom (UK)

(1) Outline

With the huge wealth it gained during the industrial revolution from the 18th to 19th centuries, the UK came to exert global influence in terms of politics, the economy, and culture. Those involved in culture and the arts in the UK received patronage of royalty and nobility just as those in other European countries did, but at the same time they also had the support of wealthy bourgeoisie, which helped them develop an independent and autonomous character. This was reflected in the idea of “arm's length” as it was applied to cultural administration to ensure freedom and independence of the arts. Today, too, the UK's cultural administration is based on a principle of maintaining a certain distance from the arts while offering them support, thereby ensuring the freedom of expression and independence of the arts. While the UK government today allocates huge sums to sponsor cultural and art organizations, the sponsorship is not made directly from the government, but through the Arts Councils, public organizations consisting of specialists that were established in 1946.

In 1992, the UK established the Department of National Heritage as a national body for cultural policies, which has been changed to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) since 1997. The DCMS aims to improve the quality of life for all through cultural and sporting activities and offer opportunities for everyone to enjoy excellent culture and arts. The department thus seeks to remove unnecessary rules and obstacles that block sound development, help create effective and competitive markets and promote the arts to be appreciated both at home and abroad.

As major public bodies directly supporting culture and the arts, the Arts Councils work under the DCMS, while the British Council, an independent body under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), aims to promote UK arts and culture overseas through exchange activities.

(2) Promotion of Culture and the Arts

▲A piece of sculpture created with a subsidy from the Arts Councils Angel of the North (Newcastle) ©www.britainonview.com

The Arts Councils play central roles in promoting fields including fine arts, theater plays, music, and literature. The Arts Councils are public bodies to grant subsidies to groups and projects engaging in these fields. While the Councils gain necessary funds from the DCMS and the National Lottery, they keep certain distance from these sources and thus maintain their independence. In addition to economic support, the Arts Councils actively engage in art education, art management, search for sponsors, and partnership with companies. They also utilize their expertise to realize active presentations of artistic activities in tie-ups with local governments. Promotion of films is carried out by the British Film Council, which embodies government policies to support film production and enhance international collaboration in filmmaking.

Separately, the DCMS directly subsidizes a significant number of national museums and art galleries. Nevertheless, state subsidies in most cases account for 50% or less of funding, with the rest of the needed funds procured independently by each museum and gallery through private donations and other sources. Furthermore, each museum and gallery has its own board of directors, which maintains the institution's autonomy by carrying out independent tactics and management policies.

(3) Protection of Cultural Properties

The UK regulates policies to protect cultural properties pursuant to legislation including the Revised Law Concerning Historic Buildings and Conservation Areas 1971, the Town and Country Planning Act, the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953, and the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

The DCMS carries out various measures in cooperation with organizations such as English Heritage, an Executive Non-departmental Public Body. Sponsored by government funds and private donations, English Heritage purchases historic ruins and buildings for conservation purposes and grants subsidies to individuals and organizations for their conservation initiatives. English Heritage also provides specialized advice to the DCMS regarding conservation registration of historic remains and approval of the state of conservation.

The DCMS furthermore subsidizes the Heritage Foundation, designed to protect cultural properties; protects precious cultural properties feared of being moved overseas; and sponsors improvement of infrastructure related to both natural and cultural heritage.

The work of the DCMS also covers conservation, maintenance and management of cultural properties associated with the Royal Family; maintenance and management of historical parks; and coordination with the National Trust, a private membership non-profit organization that preserves historic buildings, gardens and the natural environment.

(4) International Cultural Exchanges

The British Council acts overseas to promote cultural exchanges and familiarize people with UK culture and arts. The council was established to disseminate English language and culture overseas and promote ongoing relationships with other countries in academic and technological fields. It currently operates in 233 cities in 109 countries, mainly supporting artistic activities abroad, such as fine arts, theater plays, films and operas.

As a cultural exchange with Japan, the major event “Japan 2001” was held from May 2001 through the end of March 2002, in which more than 2,000 events were promoted across the UK. Events will also be held across Japan in 2008 as part of UK-Japan 2008, which is aimed at introducing the UK of today in the areas of the arts, science and creative industries.

2 Cultural Administration of France

(1) Outline

▲Bastille Opera (Op é ra Bastille - photo Christian Leiber - copyright Op é ra national de Paris)

France began to transform into a firmly centralized state from around 1680. Along with the enhancement of its military and police institutions, the ruler of the time Louis sought to unify the people through the instillment of French culture, with the dissemination of a standard French language as the core strategy. Since that time, culture has always been seen as a significant factor underpinning the existence of France as a state. This has set a course of cultural policies with a strong centralized nature. In the 19th century, France emphasized the educational and enlightenment effects of its cultural policies. Against the backdrop of these traditions, France came to a turning point when it established the Ministry of Culture in 1959

At the outset of the Fifth Republic, President Charles de Gaulle founded the Ministry and named literatus André Malraux as Minister of Culture. The Minister made a drastic shift in the goal of cultural policies from education and enlightenment to the expansion of opportunities for the general public to appreciate culture. One instance of this new move was the establishment of “Maisons de la Culture” across the country. Minister Malraux also called for “applying one-percent of the state budget to cultural policies,” and strove to realize this target. It was met in the 1990s after a drastic surge in cultural budgets that began in 1981. As of 2006, a level well above one percent of the state budget was allocated for measures to promote culture.

In the 1970s, France sought cultural promotion under partnership with its local administrative institutions and various cultural organizations. Cultural Minister Jack Lang, who took office in 1981, sought institutional enhancement of cultural promotion through doubling of cultural budgets and a 10-fold increase of the number of staff at the directions régionales des affaires culturelles (local affiliates of the Ministry of Culture). He also sought the promotion of art education at school and growth of the youth culture such as jazz and rock, as well as mode, art photography and cooking. At the same time, culture found strengthened ties with industry, which paved the way for the rise of mécénat, corporate sponsorship for culture and the arts. The government also began support for small-to-mid-sized film theaters and enacted the law for the resale price maintenance system of books. Further, expectations for the roles of television and radio increased at around the time when the Ministry of Culture was reorganized as the Minister of Culture and Communication.

Although France's state-led cultural policies met with criticism in the 1990s, the policies' basic framework remained unchanged, as did state support for culture. France furthermore called strongly for the idea of “cultural exception” during the final phase of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations. France suggested that cultures should not be treated merely as a commodity but instead exceptionally in the face of economic globalization. France further advanced this idea to the concept of “cultural diversity,” which bore fruit in the form of the Convention on Cultural Diversity adopted by UNESCO in 2005.

▲Louvre Museum (Pyramide du Louvre, Architecte I.M.Pei ©C.Moutarde)

(2) Promotion of Culture and the Arts

The Ministry of Culture and Communication exerts cultural promotion policies characterized by an emphasis on the support for creating stage arts such as theater plays, dance and music, as well as on art education for the youth. Traditionally, film art receives particularly substantial support, including tax exemption measures applied to small and medium-sized film theaters. In recent years, tax exemptions have also been applied to domestically shot film productions. Film productions have also been supported under the initiative of the French National Film Center, using the tax revenues from the film and television industries. France is also committed to policies to promote books and reading culture, such as support for writers and bookstores; one example is the protection of small and medium-sized bookstores under the law for the resale price maintenance system of books. Public libraries such as Bibliothèque Nationale de France are also well supported.

Public business entities are in charge of operating museums and art galleries such as Musée du Louvre, theaters such as Palais Garnier, and other cultural facilities such as Chateau de Versailles. The Ministry of Culture and Communications is committed to their operation and supervision by subsidizing these entities (in the case of Palais Garnier, the subsidy amounts to 100-million euro, two-thirds of its total budget).

(3) Protection of Cultural Properties

France has a long tradition of protecting its cultural properties; a law enacted in 1887 to govern the protection of historic buildings remains in place today, through numerous amendments, and serves as the basic law for the protection of cultural properties.

The protection of cultural properties is based on the rating for historical monuments, which comes after the registration of properties in the “complementary catalog.” Residents of buildings located within historical preservation quarters are eligible for favorable measures on taxes and state subsidies, while strict regulations are imposed on buildings within a 500 meter-radius of an authorized historical monument. These regulations are largely credited with the orderly arrangement of streetscapes in Paris. Licensed professionals are in place to work for cultural asset protection, while various schools offer programs to develop professionals and staff to protect these properties.

As for the use of cultural properties, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (National Monument Center), founded in 1914, is in charge of the management and disclosure of historical monuments; creation, distribution and publication of tourist guides and other materials; and research activities, based on the proceedings of the entrance tickets for nationally-held monuments (such as Mont Saint-Michel and Châteaux de la Loire). A database entitled Inventaire général des richesses d'art de la France, or the General Inventory of Monuments and Art Treasures, has been improved and updated since 1964 to currently register more than 700,000 relevant items.

The administration of cultural properties is carried out by the Bureau of Buildings and Cultural Properties within the Ministry of Culture and Communication. Tasks of the Bureau include: () the maintenance of buildings to protect historical and cultural values; () survey, study, protection, preservation and popularization of cultural properties; () management of architects; () supervision of professions related to cultural properties and maintenance of their quality; and () education, training of experts, and research and study concerning buildings and cultural properties.

(4) International Cultural Exchanges

In order to cater to international cultural exchanges, the Ministry of Culture and Communication maintains the policies of “promotion of cultural diversity” and “development of international cultural cooperation.” Specifically, these policies are aimed at: () introduction of foreign cultures in France; () introduction of French culture abroad; and () dispatch of French culture experts; and () cooperation within Europe. Association Francaise d'Action Artistique (FAA, French Association for Artistic Action) is in place to promote international cultural exchange. This association organizes various programs, such as years in which mutual introduction of the cultures of a particular partner country and France is carried out.

In the history of cultural exchanges between Japan and France, some cases suggest traces of Japanese culture inspiring French artists, such as the influence of ukiyoe wood print on Impressionist painters and Japanese cuisine contributing elements to the birth of nouvelle cuisine (a French cooking style that emerged in the early 1970s, characterized by light use seasonings in order to highlight the flavors of primary ingredients). In recent years, manga comics have become popular in France.

3 Cultural Administration of the United States

(1) Outline

In the United States, the promotion of culture and the arts is based on the idea that instead of the government playing the leading role, organizations voluntarily run by art-loving citizens must take the initiative. There are thus no government agencies or organizations that are exclusively in charge of governing culture and art policies. The scale of public organization is also quite limited in terms of their activities and direct subsidiaries for culture and the arts.

Moreover, culture and the arts in the United States are categorized into “commercial art” represented by Hollywood and Broadway on one hand and “non-profit art” performance and activities on the other. Some people argue that the promotion of “commercial art” should be funded privately and not be intervened in or sponsored by the federal government. On one hand, “non-profit art” activities are seen as difficult to be funded privately and thus considered eligible for government support.

On the other hand, the Cold War era was met with recognition in the United States that assistance to culture and art activities could serve as a diplomatic leverage. In light of this, the federal government established the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 1965 as its directly subsidized fund receiving the federal budget for sponsorship of cultural and artistic activities.

As independent nonprofit organizations, the Smithsonian Institution and Kennedy Center, among others, carry out independent activities to set up and manage culture and arts facilities.

(2) Promotion of Culture and the Arts

The NEA plays a central role in assisting outstanding activities in culture and the arts. The NEA maintains a council of members chosen from among experts on arts and culture from across the country. NEA activities include surveys on cultural policies, offering of advice to state governments and cultural organizations, and assistance to cultural activities by means of subsidies. Since the second half of the 1990s, the NEA has also been lobbying to include culture and the arts in the policy programs of government agencies. It furthermore seeks to provide more occasions for citizens to access outstanding culture and art works, through the dispatch of artists to local areas, educational assistance to increase the familiarity of youth with culture and the arts, and programs aimed at fostering relatively small art organizations that work in close liaison with local communities. In addition to offering programs for art organizations, the NEA also subsidizes individual composers, jazz musicians, and players of traditional performing arts.

As for museums and art galleries in the United States, the Smithsonian Institution, a non-profit organization, runs 28 museums across the nation. The federal government covers about two-thirds of the funds necessary to run these institutions. Similarly, many American museums are run by non-profit organizations that receive subsidies from state and local governments and the NEA.

(3) Protection of Cultural Properties

Traditionally, cultural asset protection in the United States mainly focused on buildings commemorating the nation's independence and sites associated with the Civil War. Protection was further limited to those properties located on lands owned or managed by the federal government, but the target of protection gradually spread to private properties.

Among many pieces of federal legislation to govern cultural asset protection, the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) was established in 1966 to clarify the responsibility of the federal government for maintaining and managing historical heritage. Specifically, NHPA stipulates that the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to expand and maintain a National Register of Historic Places composed of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture.

Cultural asset protection is carried out by the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, as well as state agencies and related organizations. All these bodies are supervised by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), which advises the President and Congress on historic preservation programs. Specific areas in which the ACHP advises the President include: formulation of basic policies concerning the protection, repair, restoration and renovation of cultural properties; measures to coordinate organizations, bodies and individuals for preservation activities; and public relations activities.

(4) International Cultural Exchanges

The United States in recent years has highlighted cultural diplomacy, making culture a major player in US diplomatic policies. That means that the United States does not merely introduce American culture abroad but regards its culture as a means to fulfill the purposes of its diplomatic policies and as an object to be governed by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State. The Bureau cooperates with US Embassies abroad to promote academic and cultural exchange programs overseas.

Cultural exchanges between Japan and the United States are promoted by a broad range of people from both sides. In 2003 and 2004, the two countries promoted the 150th Anniversary of the US-Japan Relationship to commemorate the signing of the US-Japan Treaty of Peace and Amity in 1854. The two countries observed the anniversary, holding various exchange programs aimed at further deepening the understanding and friendship between their peoples and creating even more prosperous bilateral relations in the future.

4 Cultural Administration of the Republic of Korea (South Korea)

(1) Outline

In South Korea, control over culture and other aspects of society persisted under the military rule since after the end of the Korean War. Changes came during the administration of President Roh Tae Woo (1988-1992), along with the progress of democracy. The government established the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT), in 1990 with the merger of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, which had governed cultural, art and sports policies, and the Ministry of Transportation, which had covered tourism policies.

The MCT is characterized by the following points: () cultural policies are positioned as a main function for national development, to be catered to by a dedicated ministry; () cultural and tourism policies are unified; and () the Ministry also covers policies for cultural industry (it established the Cultural Industry Bureau in 1994).

As an affiliate organization of the MCT, the Cultural Heritage Administration is in place to manage cultural heritage. The MCT also has a number of other culturally-related affiliated organizations, including: the Korean Arts and Culture Foundation; the Korean Broadcasting Institute (KBI); Korea Culture and Content

Agency (KCCA); and the Korea Film Council (KFIC). Additionally, the MCT possesses cultural facilities such as the National Museum of Korea; the National Institute of Korean Language; and the National Library of Korea.

In 1994, a law to promote local culture was enacted with the aim of helping local governments carry out cultural policies of their own and fostering and promoting locally indigenous cultures through measures such as the establishment of cultural facilities.

(2) Promotion of Culture and the Arts

A major law governing the promotion of culture and the arts in South Korea is the basic law of 1972 for promoting culture and the arts. Furthermore, as a basis for preserving cultural heritage, the law aims at contributing to the transmission of Korean traditional culture and arts, creation of new culture and the arts, and creativity in and transmission of the Korean ethnic culture. A basic law of 1999 for promoting cultural industries prescribes those issues that are necessary for assisting and fostering cultural industries as the legal basis for fostering the fields of cultural contents industries. This law was fundamentally amended in 2002 to more actively cope with advanced digital technologies and other rapid changes in cultural industries and to assist the digital cultural content industries.

▲The National Museum of Korea Photo from the Korean Cultural Center, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Japan

Major means of promoting culture and the arts include fostering and training of emerging artists, promotion of cultural and artistic performances and exhibitions, and promotion of culture and the arts by the use of the Internet.

Assistance to film promotion focuses exclusively on penetration into overseas markets, international exchanges, expansion of the film-viewing population, and creation of quality content. A 1995 law for promotion of films facilitates a screen quota system, aimed at securing the screening of domestically produced films by setting a compulsory number of days per year on which film theaters are to show Korean films.

(3) Protection of Cultural Properties

South Korea's cultural asset-related legislation includes a 1972 law for protecting cultural properties which sets forth items covering: the definition of cultural properties; management and protection of cultural properties; protection of buried cultural properties; and designation of cultural properties by local governments, as well as a law of 1987 to preserve traditional temples.

▲Pansori, a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Photo from the Korean Cultural Center, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Japan

The Cultural Heritage Administration, which became independent from MCT in 1999, is responsible for the protection, transmission and use of cultural properties. The Administration's major objectives include preservation and maintenance of cultural heritage, promotion of tourism resources through the protection and use of cultural heritage, and introduction overseas of Korean tradition and cultural heritage. The Administration has affiliated organizations including the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritages; the National Korean University of Cultural Heritage; the National Palace Museum of Korea; and the National Maritime Museum.

(4) International Cultural Exchanges

A characteristic program South Korea promotes in its international cultural exchanges is the “Korea Month,” in which a series of events introducing Korean culture and arts are run in a major city overseas for a period of about a month. As for international exchanges of films, South Korea manages booths introducing its domestic films at major film markets and international film festivals. The country also supports international film festivals at home by hosting the Pusan International Film Festival and Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. Another endeavor is the Asian Cultural Partnership Initiative (ACPI), in which cultural leaders and artists from Asia are invited to participate in training programs at culturer-elated facilities in South Korea in order to deepen their understanding of Korean culture.

Cultural exchanges between Japan and South Korea have been accelerated by the Year of Japan-ROK Cultural Exchanges 2002, held in liaison with the joint hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan and the Japan-Korea Friendship Year 2005, which commemorated the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between Japan and the ROK. The two countries have been actively promoting bilateral cultural exchanges on both government and private levels and in virtually every area, including the cultural, economic and social fields.

5 Cultural Administration of the People's Republic of China

(1) Outline

Since the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, cultural administration has been carried out mainly by the Ministry of Culture and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.

Major tasks of the Ministry of Culture include: () formulation of basic principles, policies and legislative bills concerning cultural and artistic activities and supervision of their implementation; () formulation of and guidance for development strategies and plans for cultural industries; () management of the cultural and artistic industries and guidance for the creation and production of artworks; () market management for cultural industries and operation of social/cultural programs; () management of libraries nationwide; and ) cultural exchanges overseas. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage is in charge of the protection, succession and use of cultural properties.

Major themes of the country's cultural policies include the following four: () the policy of “culture and the arts serve the people and socialism” (a policy embracing the ideas that culture is one type of public resource, which all the people are equally entitled to appreciate; that state policies concerning culture should be so formulated that they embody the interests of the people; and that the development of cultural and artistic projects must ensure priority in social and public interests); () the policy of “let one-hundred flowers bloom and one-hundred scholars debate” (any work is allowed to exist so long it does not violate law, proves harmless to the ideology, and brings to the people artistic joy and entertainment); () use old resources for the sake of today, use foreign resources for the sake of China, and promote aged resources for the creation of new products; () protection as the main task and relief as the emergency priority measure (emphasizing the protection of the cultural heritages of all ethnic groups).

(2) Promotion of Culture and the Arts

Measures to promote culture and the arts in China include the training of emerging artists. The capital Beijing is home to eight universities and colleges for artistic studies, while Peking University has the Teaching & Research Section of Art. The country also promotes the China Art Festival as a pageant intensively catering to the achievements of stage performances. It also establishes state awards for excellent stage works. Furthermore, the promotion of “cultural industries” was designated at the 16th National People's Congress of China in 2003.

(3) Protection of Cultural Properties

In China, legislation and measures concerning the protection of cultural properties are based on the law of 1982 for protecting cultural heritages. In 1992, the country established a policy emphasizing the protection of cultural heritage by regarding protection as the main task and relief as the emergency priority measure. Furthermore, in 1995 the country laid out the principle of “effective protection, rationale use and reinforced management” of cultural heritage, whereby the protection of cultural heritage is attributed to state responsibility and socialist duty, while the whole of society is called upon to participate in the protection.

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage, in charge of the protection of cultural properties, follows these basic themes and principles of the government to carry out the study of basic policies; formulations of mid and long-term plans; study of the protection of and emergency relief for cultural heritage; and the maintenance and repair of cultural heritage, buildings and other objects. The Administration also controls museums such as the Palace Museum, the National Museum of China, and the Lu Xun Museum, as well as academic institutions such as cultural heritage study centers.

(4) International Cultural Exchanges

International Cultural Exchanges are promoted by the external cultural liaison bureau within the Ministry of Culture. Concerning international cultural exchange, the bureau manages programs, formulates policies and creates international cultural treaties. Diplomats in charge of culture are dispatched to 108 of the Chinese Embassies located worldwide.

As for cultural exchanges between Japan and China, the two countries promoted a series of events of exchanges in various fields in the “Japan Year” and “China Year,” jointly set in 2002 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between Japan and China. To further commemorate the 35th anniversary of the diplomatic normalization, the two countries identify 2007 as the Japan-China Exchange Year of Culture and Sports 2007, as a joint opportunity to seek a significant expansion of their bilateral exchanges of people, culture and sports, enhancement of mutual understanding among both peoples and further development of bilateral friendship and cooperation.