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Chart I-1-18 shows trends in budgeting for culture since fiscal 1980at the local governmental level.

Because this particular point in history can in some ways be referred to as the "Age of Culture" or the "Regional Age", the role that local governments play in promoting culture is becoming increasingly important. Local governments' cultural budgets are expanding steadily in parallel with the increase in the number of cultural projects and the expansion of cultural organizations at the local level.

Chart l-1-18 Trends of the Local for Cultural Affairs Government Budgets for Cultural Affairs

During the ten years from fiscal 1980 to fiscal 1989, total budgets of local governments increased from 45,780,800 million yen to 72,729,000 million yen, a 1.6 fold increase. Within this sum, the budget for culture increased by about 2.3 times, from 208,400 million yen to 482,600 million yen. While the figure for art and culture was increased by about 2.8 times and that for cultural properties by about 2 times.

This increase could be interpreted as evidence of high motivation in the area of cultural promotion in local areas. On the other hand, however, when budgeting for art and culture is examined in more detail. as of fiscal 1989, expenditures for artistic and cultural programs enjoyed a share of onlyl7.l% of the total budget for culture, compared to 55.4% used for the construction of cultural facilities. Local budgeting for culture needs to undergo a general expansion, particularly in the area of budgeting for "software" such as assistance to art organizations, creative activities and the fostering of talent.