Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERNMENT POLICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1993 > CHAPTER 1 �2 1

Since World War II, numerous innovations have been brought about in many fields of society, and the field of culture has been no exception.Compared with the pre-war years, nolicy for the tcromotion of culture has progressed greatly. The Ministry of Education. Science and Culture has gradually been engaged in building an organizational environment that is conducive to the promotion of culture.

lnamediately after the war. the Ministry created the Arts Promotion Division in 1945. for the purposes of reviving Japan culturally as a nationand of activelv promotinn policies for art and culture. The first National Arts Festival was held the following year, and an Art Encouragement Prize was established in 1950 as a means of selecting and recognizing artists in many fields as pioneers in their genre by virtue of their distinguished achievements. In 1959, the government also began to grant subsidies to private organizations which made great contributions to the advancement of art and culture in Japan.

In the area of Japanese language policy, the main deliberations of the National Language Council centered around the improvement of the written Japanese language in order to respond to the need for its simplification, which had been a topic of discussion even during the period before the war. A series of improvements were made, including the compilation of the "Table of Chinese Characters Designated for Everyday Use (Toyo Kanji Table)" and "Contemporary Kana Usage" in 1946. The copyright system was another area dealt with, as measures were needed to cope with diversification and complexities in the forms of copyright use. To this end, a Copyright Division was established within the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture in1949, which made improvements in the application of copyright regulations and diffused the copyright system. The Copyright System Council began deliberations in 1962 and made a thorough review of the former copyright laws and regulations. In the area of religious affairs, basic administrative changes were made in accordance with the principle of the freedom of religion and the separation of religion and state as put forth in the new Japanese Constitution, which led to the enactment of the Religious Juridical Persons Law in 1951.

As for the protection of cultural properties, amidst fears that these would be scattered and lost in the face of the confused postwar period, in 1949, a Division for the Preservation of Cultural Properties was set up to improve the system of protection for cultural properties. In the following year, this system was consolidated and reinforced by the enactment of the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, which added intangible cultural properties and buried cultural properties to the list of those to be protected. The Law also created the Commission for the Protection of Cultural Properties as an external organ of the Ministry of Education. Science and Culture. Positive policies for the protection of cultural properties thus began to be developed.

As policies for the promotion of culture were carried out under the above mentioned new structure. in 1966, in recognition of the growing demand that existed for not only the material affluence resulting from Japan's high economic growth, but also for a spiritually fulfilled cultural life, the Ministry reorganized within itself related divisions in various bureaus dealing mainly with art and culture to form a Culture Bureau. This also contributed greatly to the promotion of cultural activities in local areas and to international cultural exchange. With the goal of promoting local culture in mind, support began under this system in 1967 for the construction of public cultural facilities, as well as the establishment of "Selective Exhibitions of Modern Art" and "Young People's Art Theaters", which are projects that target local residents. At the same time, "Overseas Training Program" was created, under which promising young artists are sent abroad for specialized practical training. Other programs that featured an international perspective were started as well.