「アニメの殿堂」 文化政策のあり方を問え

The Yomiuri Shimbun(Aug. 10, 2009)
Parties' cultural policies a focus in election
「アニメの殿堂」　文化政策のあり方を問え（8月10日付・読売社説）

The Democratic Party of Japan is fiercely opposed to a government plan to build a national popular culture center, dubbed the "anime hall of fame," arguing that it would be a wasteful use of the state budget.
　「アニメの殿堂」とも呼ばれる国立メディア芸術総合センターの建設計画について、民主党が予算の無駄遣いだと強く反発している。

The Diet passed in an ordinary Diet session a supplementary budget that included 11.7 billion yen for the construction of the comprehensive media arts center. But the DPJ intends to cancel the plan if it takes power after the upcoming House of Representatives election.
　１１７億円のセンター建設費を盛り込んだ補正予算が先の通常国会で成立したが、民主党は政権に就いた場合、センター建設を凍結する方針だ。

The issue is more than a disagreement over whether such a center per se should be built--it also highlights each party's policy stance on cultural affairs.
　一文化施設の建設の是非をめぐる対立ではあるが、文化政策のあり方が問われているということでもあろう。

We hope, taking this opportunity, that political parties will have active discussions on the issue of cultural affairs.
　この機会に、各党で大いに論じ合ってほしい。

The envisaged center is expected to serve as a base for disseminating information on manga, anime and game software to people at home and abroad. Planned projects at the center include the exhibition, collection and preservation of such works, research into pop culture and the nurturing of pop culture creators.
　メディア芸術総合センターは、マンガやアニメ、ゲームなどを内外に発信していく拠点として計画されている。作品の展示、収集保存、調査研究、クリエイターの育成などの事業に取り組む予定だ。

Tokyo's Daiba area was at one point considered for the site for the planned facility, but the government now reportedly will have to work from scratch to decide on the location.
　東京・お台場に新施設を建設することも一時検討されたが、現在立地については白紙の状態だ。

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'Manga kissa' jibe misplaced

The DPJ has condemned the planned center, saying it would be a "state-run manga kissa [cafe]." This kind of stance will only foster misunderstanding about the project.
　民主党は「国営マンガ喫茶」と揶揄(やゆ)しているが、これでは誤解が広がるばかりだろう。

It is an important task for the government to actively support the production and publicizing of works in this area, which has gained international recognition. A particularly big challenge will be collecting pop culture works, which are said to be widely dispersed.
　国際的評価も高いこの分野の作品の製作や発信を、国が積極的に支援することは大切なことだ。とりわけ、散逸する作品の収集は大きな課題となっている。

The point is to create a facility that matches the purposes for which it is built without wasting taxpayers money.
　要は、税金の無駄遣いにならないよう、目的にきちんと見合った施設を造ることだ。

It also is important to have cooperation with other facilities across the nation, such as the Kyoto International Manga Museum, set up by a group of entities including Kyoto Seika University.
　京都精華大学などが設立した京都国際マンガミュージアムなど、各地の施設との連携も必要だ。

Consideration should also be given to the idea of using existing buildings that could be renovated without necessarily sticking to the idea of constructing a new facility.
　新しい施設の建設にはこだわらず、既存の建造物を改修して利用する方向も探るべきだろう。

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Arts a broad field

The Association for Corporate Support of the Arts, comprising companies engaged in cultural support activities, polled political parties about their policies on cultural affairs ahead of the general election.
　文化活動に取り組む企業で組織する企業メセナ協議会は、総選挙を前に各党の文化政策についてアンケート調査を実施している。

In its reply to the questionnaire, the Liberal Democratic Party said promotion of culture and arts is a basic plank of its national strategy, and that culture-related budgets need to be drastically increased.
　自民党は、文化芸術の振興を国家戦略の基本と位置づけ、文化関係予算の大幅な拡充が必要との考えを示した。

The DPJ, for its part, said it wants to transform the conventional cultural policy centered on construction of facilities into one that makes use of human resources. The party also said it would carefully study culture-related spending in the past and compare it with the situation in the other countries before deciding the scale of its budget for the arts.
　民主党は、従来のハコモノ中心の行政を改め人材を生かす文化政策に転換したいとした。予算規模については、過去の予算を精査して、諸外国の状況とも照らし検討すると慎重な姿勢を見せた。

These differences in opinion seem to be reflected in the two parties' positions toward the media arts center project.
　こうした発想の違いが、メディア芸術総合センターへの姿勢にも反映されているのだろう。

Cultural administration covers a broad range of issues, including the transmission of traditional culture and the development of cities' cultural assets by taking advantage of their historic landscapes and buildings. We hope political parties will deepen their discussions on cultural policy and come up with concrete policy proposals on the arts.
　文化行政の課題は、伝統文化の継承や、地域の景観や歴史的建造物を生かした文化の街づくりなど多岐にわたっている。政党レベルでも議論を深め、具体的政策を提示していってほしい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 10, 2009)
（2009年8月10日01時11分 読売新聞）