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Controversial statement

Let me say something controversial...(yes, sorry friends but this is me. I fight with PC not with sword).

Why for cultural affair, we only have "agency" of cultural affairs? Why do we have (or just started having) "ministry" of defense but not "ministry" of cultural affairs? Why are we so happy sticking to stone-age idea of "hard power" but reluctant to go to the fresh idea of "soft power" in such a modern time?

Why? Is that because we have weak cultural powers? Well no! Look at people coming to Japan. Listen to the voice of people interested in Japan. Are they interested in how "powerful" Japanese are in internaional world? Less likely. They come to Japan being touched by beauty of Japanese arts, souls, and culture from traditional cultures like tea ceremony to modern cultures like Manga and Animes. They come to Japan astonished with great technlogies Japanese enginners and creaters come up with.

Why? Is it because culture isn't critical element for a country? It's not much of if it is or not. It is the matter of who decides what. Proven in the fact that Japan doesn't have "ministry" of cultural affairs, the government doesnt' seem to believe in much importance.

Some of the facts:
U.K. has twice as much as and France as three times as cultural budget compared to Japan. Of course, some countries like U.S have smaller government budget than Japan because their strategy is not to rely fully in government budget but the support from individuals and cooperations.

Even the cultural giant like France wasn't how it is now since the origin of the state. Just after world war II, André Malraux, a writer and an adventurer became the first minister of culture under Charles de Gaulle. He dedicated France to develop its cultural side.

So? What's our future? It's never too late to develop culture. In fact culture can be a dangerous weapon more than anything. It can come to people's mentality and eventually control it. Japanese has a history to change the "culture" of people when we colonized Asian regions like Korean Peninsula starting from changing "language", an element deeply links with culture. Talking about culture is thus very sentimental. In positive way, if we use it in "humanitarian" and "wise" way, it's powerful more than anything.

So are there any politicians who are aware of this?
by Haruka_Miki | 2007-01-19 00:00 | 芸術
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