Japan Press Weekly

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2016 October 5 - 11 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Ex-Osaka mayor allows his political party to receive state subsidies while slashing cultural budgets

The Kansai Association of Corporate Executives (Kansai Keizai Doyukai), a business organization based in Osaka, issued an appeal arguing that the cultural budgets of the Osaka City and Osaka Prefectural governments are too small and should be increased (August 4). Data of the Cultural Affairs Agency shows that in FY2014, the amount of the Osaka prefectural government’s arts and culture budget was 79.6 yen per resident, which is far below the national average of 600 yen and ranked 46th among all 47 prefectures. The Osaka City government’s budget in FY2014 was 814 yen per resident, 18th among the 20 major cities in Japan.

When Hashimoto Toru, the founder of the political party “Osaka Ishin no Kai” (currently the “Nippon Ishin no Kai”), was serving as the Osaka governor from 2008 to 2011, he abolished subsidies for the Century Orchestra Osaka (currently the Century Symphony Orchestra) and closed down the International Institute for Children’s Literature, Osaka, Japan’s first institute focusing on the study of children’s literature. After Hashimoto became the Osaka City mayor in 2011, he privatized the Osaka Municipal Symphonic Band and reduced the amount of subsidies for the traditional puppet play art of Bunraku.

Refusing to reflect on what he had done, Hashimoto refuted the business organization’s appeal by saying, “In principle, the arts should be supported by donations. The Osaka City’s cultural budget was dominated by vested interests and so I implemented a drastic reform to this structure.” (Hashimoto’s Twitter, August 5)

The Osaka Ishin no Kai in 2015 accepted about 2.7 billion yen in state subsidies for political parties, which are entirely funded by taxpayers’ money. The Century Orchestra Osaka used to receive a subsidy of about 400 million yen from the city government.

The political party subsidy is obviously a vested interest. While saying that cultural organizations should operate through donations, Hashimoto turns a blind eye to the fact that his party depends on the state subsidies. Hashimoto’s remarks reveal his arrogance.

Past related articles:
> Osaka mayor to abolish city symphonic orchestra [May 27, 2012]
> Osaka City mayor Hashimoto harms local arts and cultures [March 6, 2012]