Art Festival

This is an arts festival held every autumn from October to November, sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. In 1946 (Showa 21), the Ministry of Education established an arts division, and the writer Kon Hidemi became its first director. The festival was launched with the idea and proposal of promoting culture through the promotion of the arts. The first festival was held in September and October of the same year, when various performing arts such as kabuki, modern drama, opera, and ballet were open to the public at the former Imperial Theater and Tokyo Theater. It was initially small-scale with a small budget, but in 1949, a system of judging competitions for participating performances in addition to performances sponsored by the Ministry of Education was established, and the number of categories such as film, broadcasting, and records increased year by year, becoming more active. In 1968, it came under the supervision of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and the festival is planned and managed by the Arts Festival Executive Committee, which is organized every year. The committee plans the sponsored performances, designates and commissions sponsored performances, and selects participating performances. The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology presents the Arts Festival Award to the participating performances that have achieved particularly outstanding results.

In 1985, the 40th anniversary Art Festival was held, and radical improvements were made, emphasizing that the Art Festival is an arts festival centered on four categories: theater, music, dance, and performing arts performances, and the existing categories of film, broadcasting (radio, television), and records were made eligible for a newly established annual award (Art Work Award, Agency for Cultural Affairs), and local Art Festivals began to be held in collaboration with prefectures and cities.In 1971, the Mobile Art Festival was launched based on the Art Festival, and local performances of performing arts were greatly expanded through collaboration with public cultural facilities around the country.

Several improvements were made from 1995 onwards, and from that year the prizes were as follows: In the four categories of theatre, music, dance and performing arts, an Arts Festival Grand Prize, an Excellence Prize and a Newcomer Prize are awarded respectively (annual prizes for film etc. were abolished). The following year, 1996, broadcasting (television and radio) was added, with the Grand Prize and Excellence Prize awarded as work awards and the Broadcasting Individual Prize awarded as an individual award. In 1999, records were added, with the Grand Prize and Excellence Prize awarded.

[Hideki Tanaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

毎年秋、10月から11月にかけて、文化庁主催で行われる芸術の祭典。1946年（昭和21）、当時の文部省に芸術課が新設され、作家今日出海(こんひでみ)が初代課長に就任、その発案・提唱により、芸術振興による文化向上を目ざして発足。同年9月、10月、旧帝国劇場と東京劇場で歌舞伎、新劇、オペラ、バレエなどの各種舞台芸術が一般に公開されたのが第1回であった。当初は予算も少なく小規模であったが、49年からは文部省主催公演のほか参加公演の審査コンクール制度を設け、映画、放送、レコードなど部門も年々増加して活発化した。68年からは文化庁の主管となり、年度ごとに組織される芸術祭執行委員会がその企画・運営にあたっている。委員会は、主催公演の企画、協賛公演の指定委嘱、参加公演の審査選考などを行い、参加公演のうちとくに優れた成果をあげた者に、文部科学大臣から芸術祭賞が贈られる。

　1985年、昭和60年度（第40回記念）芸術祭を機会に抜本的な改善が行われ、芸術祭は演劇、音楽、舞踊、演芸の実演4部門を中心とした芸術の祭典であることが強調され、従来の映画、放送（ラジオ、テレビ）、レコード各部門は、新設の年間賞（文化庁芸術作品賞）の対象とすることになり、また県や市との共催による芸術祭地方開催が始まった。なお、1971年（昭和46）には芸術祭を母体に移動芸術祭が発足、全国各地の公立文化施設との連携で、舞台芸術の地方公演が大幅に拡充された。

　1995年度（平成7）以降にもいくつかの改善が行われ、この年から賞の内容が次のようになった。演劇、音楽、舞踊、演芸の4部門は、芸術祭大賞、優秀賞、新人賞がそれぞれ授与される（映画等の年間賞は廃止）。翌96年度からは放送（テレビ、ラジオ）が加わり、作品賞として大賞と優秀賞が、個人賞として放送個人賞が授与されることになった。99年度にはレコードも加わり、大賞と優秀賞が授与されている。

［田中英機］

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