Current Trends in Public Theaters and Concert Halls in Japan

The first was the emergence of a climate favoring the creation of full-scale cultural facilities as symbols of the prosperity attained after Japans period of advanced economic growth. Purpose-specific concert halls were created throughout Japan, led by the Nakaniida Bach Hall in Kami Town, Miyagi Prefecture, which opened in 1981 and attracted much attention as Japans first classical music concert hall to be managed by a town. This movement also coincided with the time when the civic halls (auditoriums used mainly for assemblies that also functioned as stages for performing arts) created throughout Japan after World War II came due for rebuilding.

The second movement, which came in the 1980s, was the reappraisal of music, theater, film, and other contemporary arts events as symbols of youth culture and urban culture. Towns that had suffered from the outflow of population to the cities improved their cultural facilities as part of town development programs intended to make the towns more attractive so that they could attract young people and draw audiences from the cities. Arts events such as the Toga Festival, which was held in a depopulated village, the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto with renowned orchestra conductor OZAWA Seiji in Matsumoto, and the Earth Celebration held on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, by the internationally active wadaiko drum group Kodô were among the
events whose successes gave the movement further impetus.

The third movement was the regional redevelopment carried out throughout Japan on the momentum of the economic bubble. A variety of facilities large and small opened both as symbols to project a community image and as tourism and leisure facilities that would attract people to the development location. This came about in part due to provisions in the Building Standards Law that relaxed regulations in the case of highquality projects in redevelopment districts, including the creation of public spaces.

It should be noted that creative activity in Japan had been supported almost exclusively by the private sector. These public theaters and concert halls came about entirely through facilities construction intended primarily as capital improvement, and most of them were operated as rental spaces. Where events were also organized by such facilities, they were mostly oriented toward audience entertainment, with events by performers invited from Tokyo.

In the 1990s, the deterioration of fiscal conditions led to calls for administrative reform in the local governments. This resulted in severe public criticism of the low utilization rates of such facilities, the low attendance at events intended for audience entertainment, and the government attitudes that gave priority to tangibles (architectural structures) without considering intangibles (operation, projects, etc.).

In response to these circumstances, the Japan Foundation for Regional Art- Activities was established in order to vitalize public cultural facilities in regional communities. This entity provides fiscal support for cultural events and also conducts practical training to develop managers of cultural facilities. The Agency for Cultural Affairs also supports regional arts and cultural activities through the Culture-Oriented Town Planning Program (FY 1996 and on) and the Program to Develop Infrastructure for Artistic Activity (FY 2002 and on).

Meanwhile, some instances of cultural policy by local governments conducted with a focus on creative activity also occurred. These included Art Tower Mito (opened in 1990), which attracted notice as the first such facility in Japan to appoint an artistic director and have 1% of the city budget designated for culture, and the Itami Ai Hall (opened in 1988), which appointed a producer from the private sector and has worked to foster young artists. These and other such organizations specializing in creative activities started operation through a process of trial and error.

In terms of facilities, the opening in 1992 of the Aichi Arts Center, which has a large concert hall equipped with multi-use stage mechanisms and even allows staging of full-scale operas, was the first in a series of large-scale facilities suited to full-fledged productions in the performing arts. These include the Saitama Arts Theatre, the Biwako Hall, and the New National Theatre, Tokyo. The late 1990s brought facilities for the support of creative activities in formats that had never existed before, such as the Kanazawa Citizens Art Center and other dedicated rehearsal facilities that could be used 24 hours a day, and residential facilities like the Akiyoshidai International Art Village.

The cultural facilities, improved almost to the point of excess, also served as focal points for lectures on arts management and symposiums with invited experts that were held in all regions of the country, and active debates took place with participation by artists, public officials, and the general public concerning the role of arts and cultural activities in society. Within this context, attention was suddenly focused on the newly assigned mission of cultural facilities as bases for unique regional development that would serve the needs of local communities.

At present, city and town community centers throughout Japan such as the Koidego Cultural Hall in Niigata Pref. and Nanjo City Culture Center Sugar Hall in Okinawa are actively pursuing programs in cooperation with local civic under the slogan of community development through the arts and culture. The major trend among such public theaters and halls today is their focus on new non-spectator activities such as volunteer activities, performances with public participation, workshops, and outreach programs. In particular, there is a focus on children-oriented programs and youth orchestras are being formed one after another.

Current Status and Trends in Operation

According to a survey by the Japan Foundation for Regional Art-Activities, there were 2,465 public theaters and concert halls in Japan as of 1999. Of that number, 80% or more were relatively small municipal halls. Approximately 60% of the total carried out their own events, but the budgets for such projects varied widely according to the size of the local government, amounting to an average of approximately ¥66 million for prefectural facilities, approximately ¥40 million for government-designated cities, and approximately ¥17 million for municipalities.

In the case of large, prefectural facilities, specialized foundations are established and contracted to operate the facilities. In the case of municipalities, however, approximately 70% operate the facilities directly. Although we say specialized foundations, however, the fact is that few of them have hired any specialists in performing arts,apart from technical staff. Facilities that have appointed artistic directors include the New National Theatre, Tokyo (Theater: KURIYAMA amiya/from 2007 UYAMA Hitoshi; Dance: MAKI Asami; Opera: Thomas Novohradsky), the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SUZUKI Tadashi), the Saitama Arts Theatre (NINAGAWA Yukio), the Biwako Hall (WAKASUGI Hiroshi/ from Apr. 2007 NUMAJIRI Ryusuke), the Setagaya Public Theatre (NOMURA Mansai), the Matsumoto Performing Arts Center KUSHIDA Kazuyoshi) and the Hyogo Arts & Culture Center (SADO Yutaka). However, it cannot be said that the artistic director system has become standard in Japan, and the roles and decision-making rights of these directors differ by institution.

Apart from these, facilities have also appeared that have appointed producers from private-sector and utilized connections with artists to conduct active creative programs, such as the Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center and the Niigata City Performing Arts Center - Ryutopia. (The Niigata City Performing Arts Center has invited in the choreographer KANAMORI Jo as artistic director of its dance department and established a resident contemporary dance company that began full-fledged activities from June 2004.)

Some, such as the Sumida Triphony Hall (New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra), the Musa Kawasaki Symphony Hall (Tokyo Symphony Orchestra) and the Ishikawa Prefectural Music Hall (Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa) have formed franchise agreements with existing orchestras. There are also others, such as the Mito Chamber Orchestra at Art Tower Mito and the Piccolo Theater Company, Hyogo at the Piccolo Theater, that enter into annual contracts with artists to conduct resident artist programs. Of particular note is the resident orchestra formed by the Hyogo Arts & Culture Center with musicians all under the age of 35 (SADO Yutaka) that is active in community development as a public orchestra, which is a good example of a trend that is now spreading nationwide. In general, however, these public sector activities are still being conducted mostly by trial and error and the search still goes on for how to best operate public cultural facilities in Japan.

One of the notable recent trends is the introduction of the designated management system. An April 2003 amendment to the article concerning Public Facilities in the Regional Government Law relaxed regulations concerning the types of organizations that can manage of public facilities. This made it possible for bodies other than public interest organizations, such as NPOs and private-sector companies to manage public facilities as long as they are approved by the legislature. This resulted in solicitation of such outside operators for public culture facilities around the country and a steadily increasing number of private companies have been named as designated managers for these facilities. (The deadline for the adoption of this system is Sept. 2006.)

However, many of the private-sector companies that have answered these solicitations to manage the public facilities are companies like building management companies, advertising agencies, personnel placement agencies and other companies from unrelated industries. While such private-sector companies do offer the potential for new non-bureaucratic ideas, many experts involved question what will become of the inherent mission of these facilities as arts facilities and centers for the arts in the local communities. While in most cases management of public facilities has been entrusted to arts development organizations created by the local governments, it is said that for most of these public arts facilities will be soliciting new management operators when the current contracts expire and there is a possibility that Japans arts environment will change completely when the next contracts are signed three and five years hence. This is a situation that will require constant attention.

Since the establishment of the Non-Profit Organization Act of 1998, however, arts NPOs have been newly established around the country and there are cases of public facilities like the Furano Theater Factory in Hokkaido that have signed such NPOs as their designated management bodies. The trend toward such arts NPOs becoming active under the designated management system may lead to the creation of a completely new arts and culture environment in Japan. In any event, the coming years are sure to bring a new era in the Japanese arts environment.

Source: http://www.performingarts.jp

An article by the Performing Arts Network Japan