Budget for Fiscal Year 2009 (Heisei 21) for Agency for Cultural Affairs Determined

On March 28, the government budged for fiscal year 2009 (Heisei 21) was passed. The budget for the Agency for Cultural Affairs was ¥102.012 billion, 0.3 % or ¥257 million more than the previous year. Aiming to ‘realize a “nation building based on culture and the arts” and promote Japanese culture’, the budget is divided into three principal projects as follows: I. Promotion of the plan for the creation of culture and the arts; II. Passing on cultural properties to the next generation; and III. Strategic promotion of Japanese culture. In particular, for Project 1, ¥108 million yen was newly allocated to the ‘History Museum Activity Infrastructure Development Support Project’; for Project 2, emphasis was placed on the restoration and preservation of cultural properties, including initiatives such as ‘Promotion of Conservation, Restoration, and Disaster Prevention Facilities’; and for Project 3, the budget for strategic promotion overseas has been increased in particular. (Japanese)