Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture 2000 > Part 2 Chapter 8 Section 2 1

The Agency for Cultural Affairs has established the Cultural Plan for Children in Community, which consists of measures to enhance mutual communication among schools, local communities and cultural facilities, and to secure opportunities for children to appreciate and participate in cultural activities inside and outside of school. Programs are implemented from the following perspectives:

In order to ensure that opportunities are provided for children to experience outstanding stage arts during school, the Agency for Cultural Affairs is providing opportunities for appreciating stage arts through such programs as the "Introduction to Stage Arts Class," which dispatches distinguished performing arts groups to elementary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools. 90 performances were held in FY1999, and 84 performances are planned for FY2000.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs is expanding children's programs utilizing cultural properties through the Program to Support Hometown Culture Succession Activities, which aims to promote research and development regarding measures to support the succession of culture in local areas by children. The program began in three regions in FY1998 and will be carried out in five regions in FY2000.

Through the organization of exhibitions for children and the Experiencing the Arts Program, in which children actually participate in creative arts and crafts activities, the Agency for Cultural Affairs is creating an environment in which children can become familiar with art. The program was implemented in four regions in FY1999 and will be implemented in 7 localities in FY2000.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs is supporting the active participation of children in cultural activities through the Participation in Stage Arts Program, which provides opportunities for children to participate in stage arts in the local community and to demonstrate what they have learned. The program started in FY1999 in two regions and will be implemented in nine regions in FY2000.