The government plans to make a bona fide effort to distribute videos of Japanese traditional art performances, theatrical plays and concerts via the internet, targeting overseas viewership in an attempt to make theses types of live acts available online as infections of the new coronavirus increase.
The government aims to assist art and entertainment organizations whose live performances have been canceled or postponed as it works toward rebuilding overseas distribution lines of Japanese cultural arts.
The large number of stage performances canceled or postponed include kabuki, music concerts and other events, and individual and corporate organizers are in the midst of a crisis.
Since late May, the government has offered assistance under a program dubbed the Subsidy Project of the Japan Content Localization and Distribution Live Entertainment.
For organizers who lost opportunities to hold live events, the government subsidizes half of their expenses, or up to 50 million yen, when organizers resume live events, produce video footage of their performances and distribute the material abroad.
The government aims to use the program to facilitate the promotion of Japanese performance arts through online distribution, and boost name recognition of its culture at home and abroad, with an eye on the time when infections will be under control.
The number of applications for the subsidy has already surpassed 5,000. Of the 87.8 billion yen earmarked for the program in the second extra financial boost budgeted for this fiscal year, provisions of nearly 20 billion yen have been approved.
According to a private-sector estimate, the total annual loss of the entertainment-related businesses because of the new coronavirus could amount to about 690 billion yen.
Depending on applications and the circumstances regarding the coronavirus infections going forward, the government will consider additional assistance.
The government's Cool Japan Strategy, which aims to popularize the country's attractiveness, now faces a turning point because of drastic decline in inbound foreign tourists amid the pandemic.
While technological renovations, including the 5G next-generation telecommunications format, are expected to proliferate, the government aims to place more importance on online and digital formats that are now expected to grow worldwide.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
