September 13, 2018

An artists' congress consisting of 42 groups, including orchestras and theater companies, held a general assembly and a get-together on September 11 in Tokyo.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Councilors Kira Yoshiko was invited to the event, along with about 100 representatives of the 42 organizations, people from various sectors of society, and Dietmembers.

Sato Takafumi, a vice-chairman of the congress, in greeting said, "Culture and the arts are borderless and timeless activities of human beings. Performing arts have special power especially when terrible things happen. The arts gently side with people with a wounded heart and cheer them up."

Kira touched upon the one-year-old "fundamental law on culture and the arts" and pointed out that the relevant ministry's budget request for the next fiscal year is far from sufficient. She said, "The minister of culture once said in a Diet interpellation that he would secure sufficient resources for the promotion of culture and the arts, but the ministry's budget request falls far short of his stated objective."

In terms of the cultural inheritance to be passed on to the next generations, Kira said, "Many young people work long hours with low pay, so they do not have enough time and money to enjoy fine culture events and the performing arts. There are a mountain of problems to be solved." She went on to express her determination to cooperate with and support as many artists as possible to truly promote the arts and culture.

Past related articles:
> Logic 'defer to state if subsidized by state' will kill culture [July 27, 2018]
> JCP voted for culture & arts law stipulating freedom of expression [July 21, 2017]