Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERNMENT POLICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1993 > CHAPTER 2 �2 4 (1)

Civic halls, which function as concert halls, theaters and so on, are centers of the creation of regional culture, in that they play important roles in improving and enriching the cultural life of the people.

Nationwide surveys of present conditions of public civic halls reveal that they are unevenly distributed in the localities. Comparing the number of halls per 100,000 persons. Tokyo, Aichi Prefecture and other prefectures rate about 0.4 halls, while Toyama Prefecture rates about 1.7 halls. From Chart I-2-3, it can be seen that the relatively densely populated prefectures are rather low in their distribution of civic halls.

Chart l-2-3 The Number of Public Civic Halls per 100.000Persons

In light of local inhabitants' increased demands for civic halls as well as the halls uneven distribution, and in order to make improvements in halls that are equipped with music halls, theaters and exhibition galleries, since1967, the Agency for Cultural Affairs has been actively providing municipalities with subsidies for the construction of civic halls. As of 1992,322 halls have been built under this subsidy system.

To respond to local inhabitants' expressed desires for contact with high level performing arts, since 1992 the Agency for Cultural Affairs has been granting subsidies under a new program for the purpose of establishing specific halls for different genres, for example, concert halls and dramatic halls with special acoustic equipment and stage settings.

As people are participating in cultural activities with increasing frequency, the role of civic halls as nuclei of cultural creativity becomes all the more important. It is necessary to assess the present situation and needs of local cultural activities and to make appropriate improvements in both multi-purpose civic halls and in halls designed for specific genres, such as halls for concerts or dramatic productions. These special halls need to be improved by providing excellent equipment in the areas of construction, acoustics and stage facilities.

Approximately two-thirds of these civic centers are involved in independent projects. Encouragement of and active involvement in these projects will be important future tasks.