� 1 Increased Expectations for the Promotion of Culture, and Cultural Policy
4. Future Directions of Cultural Policy
(4) Promotion of artistic and cultural activities at the local level
Along with increasing the number of opportunities for participation in cultural activities in daily life. regional development policies that emphasize the cultural aspect are being formulated, such as the rediscovery of tangible and intangible traditional culture inherent in the community, as well as encouragement of new artistic and cultural activities that are nevertheless rooted in local tradition. Local governments need to take steps in the direction of encouraging this type of development, placing culture at the nucleus of policies that serve to enrich the local living environment.
Recently, civic centers, public and private art museums and other such facilities are being constructed as bases for local artistic and cultural activities. In addition to these, not only the future promotion of the establishment of facilities with specialized functions, but the improvement of software such as facility management and support for cultural activities will also be necessary. It is also necessary to promote the "Programs for the Promotion of Culture in Local Areas" (cf. Chapter 2, Section 2, 2(3)) and other positive forms of assistance for the development of comprehensive cultural centers in local areas. In order to remedy cultural disparities between different localities and to make opportunities to enjoy excellent art available to people in all regions, it is necessary to promote programs that feature travelling exhibitions, programs that bring performing arts and excellent art works to localities where they could not usually be enjoyed and projects that organize such cultural events as the "National Culture Festival" in local areas.
