Editorial: Need to support art and performance community during pandemic

July 24 , 2020

The second supplemental budget for fiscal 2020 includes a special emergency package to support the artists and performers whose livelihoods have been hit hard by the pandemic, support that Komeito was instrumental in securing.

Creatives can file for funding by accessing a website set up by the Japan Arts Council. Those eligible include theater and film actors and animators, regardless of whether they are affiliated with any particular troupe or organization or are working on a freelance basis, as long as they can show a decline in income due to the voluntary lockdown. Eligibility is also being extended to YouTubers and the like.

While the aid will not eliminate the financial concerns of the community—freelancers can receive up to 200,000 yen, while small theater troupes can secure 1.5 million—the hope is that the money will be enough to meet at least some of the essential needs.

Still, given that people will be avoiding movie theaters, plays and concerts for some time, the situation will surely remain dire for months to come. That places the onus on the government and legislators to do what they can to ensure that the light of culture will never be extinguished by the darkness brought on by this disease.