February 5, 2024

Although it is seen as a key to economic growth, the way it stands now is like catching fish and putting them in a bucket with the bottom falling out. We're talking about the theater industry.

This fiscal year, the government of Japan allocated a new budget of about 10 billion yen to comprehensive support for performing arts. The aim is to "promote prosperity in the country through the economic stimulus generated by investment in culture and the arts." The 2025 deadline to achieve the target of 18 trillion yen for cultural GDP (economic value of the culture and arts industry) is fast approaching. The theaters also have a positive effect on the after-hours economy.

However, there is an increasing shortage of theaters in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The National Theatre of Japan and the National Engei Hall closed last year, and no date has been set for their reopening. According to the Japan Council of Performers Rights & Performing Arts Organizations, about 20 theaters, both large and small, will be closed by 2026. Theaters with a capacity of 2,000 seats will be in significantly short supply from 2024. A large number of Japan's cultural facilities in Japan are aging at the same time and need to be renovated as they mushroomed in the 1970s and 1980s riding the wave of the 100th anniversaries of the prefectural governments and the bubble economy. The economic damage will not be small. In 2016, the nationwide renovation and closure of multiple halls caused the market to shrink by about 6.2 billion yen compared to the previous year.

The loss of performance venues adversely affects the transfer of skills and the chance for personal development and deprives the public of the chance to appreciate them. In the sixty years since the war, Tokyo has become,on a par with New York City, an international performing arts city that invites the world's highest-quality performers. As a result, the public has cultivated a discerning taste for the performing arts. However, many theaters that have been used for the world's best invitational programs and large-scale performances by domestic groups will soon be renovated or closed in succession. Currently, there is an increasingly serious shortage of manpower in the construction industry throughout Japan. In these conditions, theaters tend to be considered unnecessary. But have we properly grasped the value of what we have gained during this time?

Seen globally, cultural policy now focuses on “ecosystems”. The ecosystem concept is an attempt to comprehend the overall picture of the industry, going beyond individual and group performances and including the effects on related industries and nearby cities. For example, take the Japanese ballet world. Fascinated by live performances, children put on ballet shoes and began to dance. Japan has become a country known for its large number of ballet studios. As the base comprising ballet studios widened, the level of performance reached higher peaks. One industry that currently has an extremely large number of people from Japan in the highest positions in the industry is undoubtedly ballet. Just as the Germans love judo and the French love Japanese lifestyle and anime, the Japanese, as world citizens, also love what they consider to be excellent. As spectators and performers, they have contributed to the advancement of art and culture shared by humankind. There are theaters, classrooms, performers and spectators, and professionals involved in the production areas such as music, video, art, lighting, costumes, publishing, and advertising. The trust thus garnered in the performing arts ecosystem is the foundation of mutual invitations and exchanges in a tough global market. These are the assets of a mature nation that have been weaved together over time. Theaters are just one part of this ecosystem. However, without theater, the next 100 years will be bleak.

Dots are connected to form lines, which then form a surface. Everyone involved exerts his best daily and his action affects the economy. The cumulation of these individual contributions becomes the culture of cities and countries. It would be pointless if only the glamorous surface of all the arduous work were skimmed to parade a city as an international culture center.

If we look at other countries, Germany has a comprehensive picture of the allocation of public facilities in its infrastructure atlas. Public-private collaboration is essential for theater construction and operation today, but coordination across siloed interests to avoid industry stagnation is a fundamental function of public policy. We don't need any extraordinary plans for the next century. Stopping the leakage from under our feet should be the first order of business.

Yuki Akino is a professor at Waseda University and specializes in cultural policy. She serves as a committee member for research projects commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Cabinet Secretariat, etc. This is a reposting of the article that appeared in the morning edition of Mainichi Shimbun on January 4. 2024.

2024年 2月 5日

経済成長の鍵と目されながら、釣った魚を入れるバケツの底が抜けている……。舞台業界の話だ。

国は今年度、新規で約100億円の予算を舞台芸術等総合支援事業につけた。「文化芸術投資が生み出す経済効果により国を豊かに」する狙いだ。文化GDP（文化芸術産業の経済規模）目標値18兆円達成の期日は2025年に迫る。舞台には、夜間経済効果もある。

ところが首都圏では、劇場不足が加速する。国立劇場と国立演芸場は昨年閉館し、再開時期は未定。日本芸能実演家団体協議会によれば、26年にかけて大小20館あまりが使えなくなる。2000席規模の劇場は、24年から著しく不足していくことになる。日本の文化施設は、県政100周年やバブル景気のために同時期に乱立し、老朽化も一斉だ。経済的打撃も小さくない。ホールの改修・閉館が全国で重なった16年には、ステージ市場が前年比約62億円縮小した。

公演機会の喪失は、技の伝承と人材育成を断ち、市民から鑑賞機会を奪う。戦後60年、東京はニューヨーク市と並んで世界でも最高水準の舞台が招へいされる国際公演都市となり、目の肥えた市民を育ててきた。しかし今後、世界最高峰の招へい事業と国内団体の大規模公演に使われてきた劇場の改修・閉館が相次ぐ。目下、建設業界の人手不足も日本中で深刻化している。そのような中、劇場は不要と思われがちだ。だがこの間に蓄積された財産を我々は正しく把握してきただろうか。

世界の文化政策は今、「生態系」に注目する。個々の公演や団体を超えて周辺産業・都市への副次効果も含めた産業全体像把握の試みだ。例えば、日本のバレエ界。生の舞台に魅せられ、バレエシューズに足を通した子どもたち。バレエ教室大国となった日本では、裾野の広がりとともに頂点も伸長した。現在、業界の最高位に日本の出身者が極めて多い産業の一つは、間違いなくバレエだ。ドイツの人々が柔道を、フランスの人々が日本の生活文化やアニメを愛するように、日本の人々も、優れていると思ったものは世界市民として等しく愛し、人類が共有する芸術文化の成熟に、鑑賞者、実践者として、寄与してきた。劇場があり、教室があり、実演家や鑑賞者がいて、舞台に携わる音楽・映像・美術・照明・衣装・出版・広告等の専門職がある。この舞台芸術の生態系への信頼が、厳しい世界市場での招へい交渉や相互交流の礎となる。時とともにつむぎあげた成熟国家の財産。劇場はこの生態系の一端にすぎない。しかし劇場なしに次の100年はない。

点がつながって線となり、面になる。それぞれに日々の鍛錬と経済的営みがある。その集積を人は文化都市や文化立国と呼ぶ。華やかな上澄みだけすくって国際文化都市を掲げても、むなしい。

他国を見ると、ドイツはインフラアトラスで公共施設分布を包括的に把握している。劇場建設や運営には官民協働が不可欠だが、業界の停滞を回避するための縦割りを超えた調整機能は、国際的にも現代の公共政策の主流にある。次の世紀に向け、奇策は不要。足元の水漏れを塞ぐのが、先決だ。

筆者は早稲田大学教授（文化政策学）、文化庁、内閣官房などの委託研究事業で委員を務める。本稿は2024年1月4日付毎日新聞朝刊に掲載された寄稿の再掲である。