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Part 1 Toward a Culturally-Oriented Nation
Chapter 1 Japanese Culture Today
Section 1: The Environment Surrounding Culture
2. Economic Trends Towards "Soft" and Services Sectors



(1) The Structure of Industries Related to Culture

Japan's industrial structure is undergoing great changes, due to the aforementioned transformation and diversification of values. Looking at the composition ratio of employees in the three types of industry, we can see a trend towards an increase in tertiary industries and a decrease in primary and secondary industries within the Japanese industrial structure (See Table 1-1-3 ). According to the Management and Coordination Agency's "Labour Force Survey Annual Report" (1998), primary industries comprise 5.3%, secondary industries 31.5% and tertiary industries 62.7% (See Figure 1-1-16 ). Also, according to the Economic Planning Agency's "Annual Report on National Accounting" (1998), GDP by industry was 1.7%, 31.7%, and 66.7%, respectively.

Table 1-1-3 Number of Employed Persons by Main Industry

Figure 1-1-16 Employed Persons in Each Type of Industry

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), the scale of the amusement market, comprising the film, theater, music, sports, and game industries, has reached 8.884 trillion yen as of 1999 (See Table 1-1-4 ).

Table 1-1-4 Market Scale of the Entertainment Industry and Related "Soft" Industries (1999)

The Prime Minister's Office's "Annual Report on Tourism" (FY1999) presented the following statistics regarding sightseeing with lodging and recreation travel for the year 1999. The number of trips taken per person was 1.55; the number of travelers was approximately 196 million; and the amount spent per person was 64,700 yen for a total of 8.2 trillion yen. Approximately 60% of travelers stated "viewing beautiful nature and scenery (mountains, rivers, waterfalls, etc.)" and "relaxing in a hot spring", followed by "enjoying local or specialty dishes" and "appreciating historic sites/cultural properties" as reasons for domestic travel (See Figure 1-1-17 ).

Figure 1-1-17 Reasons for Domestic and International Travel

According to the Leisure Development Center's "Leisure White Paper 2000," the scale of the leisure services market, comprising sports (sports equipment; sports services; etc.), hobbies and creative activities (musical instruments; books and magazines; films; etc.), entertainment (TV games; game software; dining out; karaoke; etc.), and tourism and outings (amusement parks; Japanese-style inns) was 78.565 trillion yen, or 15.7% of gross national expenditures.

Such social changes and increased demands for culture have been reflected in the state of Japanese industry.


(2) Corporate Cultural Activities

A trend towards supporting cultural activities has become established amongst Japanese companies. Efforts to support culture and the arts made by private corporations are called "mecenat" which means "to protect and support the arts" in French and comes from Maecenas, a chief retainer of the ancient Roman Emperor Augustus who was one of the first patrons of the arts.

The following are some examples of the ways in which the private sector plays an extremely important role in the promotion of Japanese art and culture through mecenat activities:

Setting up foundations which support cultural activities and providing capital for the establishment of public trusts. Contributing to the activities of organizations for culture and the arts Providing sponsorship and cooperation as part of advertising and PR activities Establishing cultural facilities such as art museums, theaters, and halls Sponsoring cultural events such as concerts and exhibitions Providing company facilities, equipment, and materials to be used for cultural activities Supporting employee participation in company-sponsored philanthropic activities

As will be discussed in Chapter 2 , preferential tax measures have been provided through the System for Special Public Interest Corporations in order to promote private-sector cultural activities.

As a result of poor economic conditions, conditions for corporate mecenat activities have recently become very severe, as indicated by several museum closings. However, support activities continue through the resolute efforts of many companies. According to a survey among listed companies conducted by the Association for Corporate Support of the Arts, of the 464 companies that responded, 266 (57.3%) had conducted mecenat activities in FY1998, for a total of approximately 21.4 billion yen (See Table 1-1-5 ).

Table 1-1-5 Total Amount Spent on Mecenat Activities

Music is the most popular field for mecenat activities, followed by art, theater, and traditional performing arts (See Figure 1-1-18 ). Also, the most frequent objective of mecenat activities is the introduction and spread of art and culture, followed by the promotion of regional culture, support for young artists, and support for established artists (See Figure 1-1-19 ). 82.0% of companies have allocated large budgets to mecenat activities.

Figure 1-1-18 Mecenat Activities by Field

Figure 1-1-19 The Objective of Mecenat Activities

Also, according to the "Opinion Poll on Performing Arts Activities (Group)" targeting performing arts groups by the Ministry for Cultural Affairs in FY2000, 30.1% of such groups received contributions from corporations and individuals, and quite a few received sponsorship fees from private subsidy organizations and corporations (See Figure 1-1-20 ).

Figure 1-1-20 Sources of Subsidies and Contributions

Economic Ramifications of Cultural Activities

New York is famous as the capital of show business. A study was conducted in the state of New York using input-output tables to determine the economic repercussions of cultural activities.

Following this example, a study commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs is attempting to calculate the effect of the output of theaters, entertainment groups, museums, and video/film industries using input-output tables. It concluded that the effect induced by production is almost twice the amount of expenditures.

It is difficult to say whether or not the figures are accurate, due to the fact that FY1990 input-output tables and 1994 data was used, and input-output tables for Tokyo were applied to other regions. However, the study was notable in that it produced figures indicating the economic effect of cultural activities was similar to that of public works.


(3) A Copyright System to Protect the Creation of Culture

Awareness that information and knowledge produce wealth has risen to the extent that the 21st century has been labeled "the era of wisdom." As we have already seen, the position of industries which are related to information and culture is gradually rising.

The promotion and cultivation of intellectually stimulating activities in which culture is created is essential for the steady development of culture-related industries. A copyright system would serve to guarantee profits to people involved in creative efforts and encourage further creativity by legally protecting authors who create literary, scholarly, artistic or musical works as well as performers who spread the results of intellectual creativity (singers, actors, etc.), producers of phonograms, broadcasting organizations and wire diffusion organizations. If legal protection of the fruits of creative efforts were to be insufficient, it would cause an epidemic of unauthorized use, reduce authors' creative desires, and lead to a decline in the number of culture-related industries. The role of a copyright system as an essential legal foundation for the promotion of new culture is steadily growing.

In particular, with the recent developments in information technology, the rapid expansion of ways to utilize works has given rise to the risk of unauthorized use of such works. The circulation of artistic works via methods such as electronic commerce is also increasing. Furthermore, in accordance with the fact that Japanese music, film, and game software have become widely known not only in Japan but also internationally (particularly in Asia), the incidence of unauthorized use ("piracy") is on the rise.

In order to respond to the changing times, it will be extremely necessary to properly review the present copyright system and also to establish an appropriate international order in accordance with the widespread use of works which transcend national borders, in order that the unauthorized use of works can be prevented and the profits of authors can be secured.


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