Chapter 3. For the Protection and Utilization of Cultural Properties
� 1 Systems for the Protection and Utilization of Cultural Properties
3. Preservation and Utilization of Cultural Properties in Local Areas
(1) Cultural properties and the role of local governments
It is impossible for the national government to take total responsibility for the exceedingly great number of cultural properties that exist in different locations throughout Japan, which due to their very nature, are in need of constant, total care. Cultural properties are also closely connected to the existing culture of the localities to which they belong, making the promotion of their preservation and utilization of extreme importance in the improvement and development of local cultures. For reasons such as these local governments play a vital role in undertaking the protection of cultural properties, and work together with the national government in an effort to develop a systematic policy for the protection of cultural properties.
