Osaka City Home (English)
ƒwƒbƒ_ƒCƒ[ƒW Recreation and Tourism Bureau ƒwƒbƒ_ƒCƒ[ƒW

General Affairs Division
Promotion of Culture
The City of Osaka realizes the administration's increasing responsibility for promoting culture in the city as people's demand and interest in culture continue to diversify. Aiming to advance the comprehensive development of culture from a long-term point of view, the city established Cultural Promotion Project Center in July, 1991 and has conducted various cultural projects in cooperation with citizens and local businesses.

1. Promotion of Culture for Citizens

1 Financial support for groups and projects of cultural interest
The city provides financial aid to Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra and support their activities to contribute to the improvement of musical culture in the city. Such aid is also given to groups and projects of cultural interest whose activities are beneficial to the cultural improvement in the city.

2 Local cultural projects
The city aims to provide the Osaka City citizens with an occasion to enjoy an artistic performance in a more relaxed, familiar way and also to improve the communication among performers and between performers and the citizens. For this purpose, the city has conducted the following projects and has encouraged artistic and cultural activities in the city with a future expansion of Osaka culture in sight:
  • Circuit events
  • Establishment of local culture center
  • Establishment of information networks
  • Performing arts promotion projects

3 City Hall Festival
The city holds City Hall Festival several times a year at the entrance of the city hall building. The program of the festival varies from classical music, Japanese traditional music to performing arts and more. Citizens chosen by drawing are invited to the festival for free to enjoy the performance and also to become more familiar with the city hall.

4 Establishment of great writers' monuments and memorial event
The city has built fifteen monuments of Japanese great writers in related locations, such as their birthplace and the scenes in the novels, and has organized an annual memorial event "Bungakuhi-no tsudoi (gathering for commemoration of the monuments)."

5 Orchestra Experience Day for Youth
The city regularly organizes an Orchestra Experience Day for Youth to give young people an opportunity to enjoy classical music in a friendly atmosphere by practicing and playing with professional orchestra musicians. This project aims to encourage the interest in music among young people, to expand the population of classical music fans, and to raise an audience who will support the musical culture in the future.

6 Bunraku appreciation events
The city organizes a variety of bunraku appreciation events for students and citizens to become more familiar with bunraku. Such events include Citizen Bunraku Appreciation Day, Student Bunraku Appreciation Day, and summer special family discount.

7 Studio rental at Osaka Philharmonic Hall
Osaka Philharmonic Hall is a concert hall built exclusively for classical music. Its facilities include a main hall with a seating capacity of 310, one large studio (90 square meters) and two medium studios (40 square meters each). While the hall is mainly used by the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra for their practice, its studios are available to rent to the citizens for their music practice and presentation.

2. Promotion of Art and Artistic Performance

1 Promotion of performing arts
Aiming to promote the performing arts, the city has started the "performing arts support project" and has provided financial aid to groups and individuals of performers who are highly motivated for their creative activities. The aid is intended to support the expense of their public performance. The city also has conducted the "performing arts appreciation project" to provide the opportunity to the citizens to enjoy fine performing arts for a discounted rate.

2 Osaka European Movie Festival
Aiming to contribute to the international cultural exchange and the development of image culture in Osaka, the city annually organizes Osaka European Movie Festival that features various European films and symposiums with celebrity guests.

3 Osaka Culture Festival
The city designates two months of October and November every year as a period of Osaka Culture Festival, jointly with Osaka Prefecture. Superior performances and performers among the entries will be honored with the following prizes:
1) Osaka bunka (culture) prize / Osaka geijutsu (art) prize -- given to performers who showed notable cultural and/or artistic performance
2) Osaka bunkasai (culture festival) prize -- given to performances which were able to produce significant results

4 Sakuya-konohana prize
Sakuya-konohana prize is given to newly-discovered talented personalities in five categories (art, music, theater/dance, popular entertainment, literature), who promise to support the culture in Osaka in the future.

5 Preservation and promotion of traditional art and culture

  • Support for Bunraku Kyokai