Gov't to open center for promoting Japan's pop arts

The Cultural Affairs Agency has decided to build a national popular art center in Tokyo aimed at promoting Japanese animated films, ‘manga comics and game software, agency officials said recently. The officials said they hope the planned facility, expected to open in two to three years, will give a boost to the art and related industries, and become a new tourist spot attracting foreign visitors.

The agency hopes the project will spawn a new area on a par with Tokyo’s Akihabara district, known as a center of Japanese animation culture. The expenses for the project are to be covered by the government’s supplementary budget for the year that began in April. The government has allocated 11.7 billion yen for the project in the extra budget proposal for fiscal 2009.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/govt-to-open-center-for-promoting-japans-pop-arts