Seminar on Promoting the Status of the Artists and Culture Professionals in Japan

The cultural and creative industries are major drivers of social and economic development. The creative sector contributes significantly to the global economy, representing 3,1% of global GDP and 6,2% of all employment. In Japan, according to Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, cultural GDP accounts for about 10 trillion yen, and the “Basic Plan for the Promotion of Culture and the Arts (Phase I)” is defined as an indicator to monitor progress. The 2018 Strategy for Investment in the Future also states that “by 2025, cultural GDP will reach 18 trillion yen, equivalent to 3% of GDP. Developing and retaining creative talent is at the core of this process and requires integrated policies and regulatory frameworks that ensure decent working conditions, fair remuneration, and training opportunities for artists and cultural professionals.

As guided by the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression and the 1980 Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist, UNESCO calls upon all UNESCO Member States to improve the professional, social, and economic status of artists. This is to be done through the implementation of policies and measures related to training, social security, employment, income and tax conditions, mobility, and freedom of expression. It also recognizes the right of artists to be organized in trade unions or professional organisations that can represent and defend the interests of their members.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the structural fragility of the culture sector world-wide at every level and exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in terms of remuneration, access to social and economic benefits (e.g. pensions, childcare, unemployment benefits and access to healthcare). Individuals on short-term contracts and project-based work, micro-organizations and enterprises – the majority of employment and operation modality of the cultural sector – are the hardest hit. This precarity calls for urgent dialogues among the concerned stakeholders to explore these issues in depth, and development of actions that can be jointly implemented to ensure the better status of artists across the countries.  

In Japan, improving social security for "people with diverse work styles" is an important policy issued in recent years. In the cultural and creative sector, the overwhelming majority of freelancers are placed on an unstable basis of activity without compensation even during normal times. With the pandemic, there is a growing awareness that it is more urgent than ever to foster discussion on how social security for freelancers as a whole should be provided, along with increasing awareness of the need to improve cultural statistics and data collection.

The seminar “Promoting the Status of the Artists and Cultural Professionals in Japan” is organized to create a platform for concerned stakeholders – government, civil society, academia, and private sector as well as individual artists and cultural professionals – to connect, debate, and jointly form actions to maximize the potentials of workers in the culture sector in the country. It is held as a part of the Toyooka Theater Festival 2023 post-event, and in partnership with Toyooka Theater Festival Executive Committee, Japanese Film Project (JFP), Arts and Culture Forum, Japan Council of Performers Rights and Performing Arts Organizations (GEIDANKYO), art for all, Open Network for Performing Arts Management (ON-PAM) and Waseda University.

Specifically, the seminar will:

1. Generate a shared understanding of the “status of the artists and cultural professionals”, how it is protected under the international agreements, and what is the current situation at the international level;
2. Provide an overview of the national legal framework and measures that support artists and cultural professionals;
3. Discuss the current situation of the status of artists and cultural professionals in various cultural sectors;
4. Facilitate dialogues and exchanges of information among stakeholders in the public and private sectors, civil society and academia; 
5. Explore potential actions to further promote and strengthen the status of artists and cultural professionals in Japan.

For more information, see the program in English and in Japanese.