Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > Japanese Government Policies in Education, Science, Sports and Culture 2000 > Part 1 Chapter 3 Section 3 2

In addition, cultural properties which were created, preserved and handed down in local communities are, as mentioned in Chapter 1 , indispensable for the understanding of local history, tradition and culture. At the same time, they contribute to regional development. As such, it is necessary to continue to promote their preservation and utilization. As set out in the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, the Minister for Education, Culture and Science designates important cultural properties. In principle, the owners of these cultural properties are responsible for their management, repair and public exhibition, but the government provides guidance to the holders of cultural properties concerning their management, repair and utilization, as well as financial support for maintenance costs while restricting changes to the cultural properties.

Preservation of cultural properties is an age-old issue which involves the relationship between urban development and buried cultural properties or historical buildings. Also at issue are the fostering of successors of traditional performing arts, skills of arts and crafts and festivals; securing of technicians to preserve and repair cultural properties and tools and materials to support cultural properties; integrated preservation policies for the designated cultural properties and their surrounding environment or other related cultural properties; and the improvement of the system of local administration for preservation of cultural properties.

In order to ensure that cultural properties are preserved and passed down to future generations, all Japanese people should cherish local history and culture.

During the year 2000, which marks the 50^th anniversary of the introduction of the Law for Preservation of Cultural Properties, the government hopes to make renewed efforts to promote further understanding of the preservation of cultural properties among the Japanese people.