Outline

date	May 7, 2010 (Friday), 18:00–21:00
Venue	Ono Memorial Hall
Organizer	Studies of Cultural Environment for Theatre Course :
outline	With the change of government in the autumn of 2009, the enactment of a “Theatres Act” (provisional title) is being explored; and although all the details of the law have not yet been made clear, it is certain that the bill has the potential to fundamentally change the environment for the theatrical arts in Japan. For that reason, the Studies of Cultural Environment for Theater Course held a forum entitled “Considering the Future of the Theatrical Arts Environment” to which it invited HIRATA Oriza (professor at Osaka University and Special Advisor to the Cabinet), who has stimulated debate over the Theatres Act. The forum served as an opportunity to ask him to speak about the new government’s cultural policies, especially its policy on the theatrical arts, and to discuss them with a wide range of participants involved in theatre. The fact that the forum attracted an audience that filled Ono Memorial Hall to capacity may be said to indicate the intense interest in this topic.

Details

In the keynote address that opened the forum, Mr. HIRATA gave an overview of the Theatres Act and provided a blueprint for the way public support for culture in Japan ought to be provided, setting his sights on the establishment of a Japanese-version of the "Arts Council". His starting point was that theatres, the places in which theatrical arts are performed, are different from public institutions in other cultural spheres, which have their own laws such as the Museums Act and the Libraries Act, in that they are precarious cultural establishments that are not provided for under the current law. Mr. HIRATA argues that a shift from the theatre troupe (without denying its importance) to the theatre building as the main entity responsible for the production of theatre arts is vital for their sustainable development. One reason for doing this is the fact that it will establish a system for developing talent and provide an orderly career path for young directors by making good use of the artistic director system, which is a criterion for defining a “theatre” under the Theatres Act. One more reason would be that the transfer of the main entity from the unstable (from a business standpoint) theatre company to the theatre building, which is operated on a more permanent basis, would bring about the likelihood that public funding for the theatrical arts would be more smoothly implemented than has previously been the case.
Next, the focus widened from public theatres to the support system for the arts and culture in general in Japan. Mr. HIRATA suggested that three organizations, the present Japan Arts Council , the Japan Foundation and the Japan Foundation for Regional Art-Activities, might each make use of its own unique characteristics to form a new Japanese version of the Arts Council.
Mr. HIRATA’s lecture was followed by comments from guest lecturers in the Studies of Cultural Environment for Theater Course, ITŌ Yasuo (professor at Toyama University), and MATSUI Kentarō (director of Fujimi City's Culture Hall Kirari Fujimi). Mr. ITŌ’s points were aimed at examining Mr. HIRATA’s ideas from a more sweeping perspective, namely what kind of strategies should exist at the state level above the Japan-style Arts Council, which would be close to the theater scene, and the methods of intervening in arts and culture. Likewise, Mr. MATSUI, while recognizing the legislative necessity for a Theatres Act, called attention to the difficulty for the groups, primarily the theatre troupes, which have been the driving force behind the production of the theatrical arts, of challenging a system, that is now well established, and called upon Mr. HIRATA to present some knowledge based on his experience for skillfully dealing with this system and the administration.
During the final hour, questions for Mr. HIRATA on a broad range of topics were solicited from those attending the forum. Opinions for and against Mr. HIRATA’s arguments for the Theatres Act were presented from a wide range of participants including those engaged in producing theatrical arts, theatre lovers and members of the staff of local governments; and the earnest way in which Mr. HIRATA answered each one of them was impressive. Of course, it is difficult in a three-hour forum to address all the issues and draw any single conclusion about the Theatres Act. Nevertheless, the breadth of topics discussed and the variety of opinions exchanged in the meeting hall suggest that the structural issues pertaining to the environment for arts and culture in Japan that Mr. HIRATA has drawn attention to through the Theatres Act have filtered down widely among the participants, and the forum was very productive.