Post-War Support for Artists in Japan

I heard about a town/village in Japan on PBS that warmed my heart.

I believe it was the town of Ono in Hyogo Prefecture. In the post-war years, many communities tried to return to a semblance of normalcy, and those attempts took on many forms.

In Ono, the people believed that art was imperative to the new world they needed to be a part of, and that meant that art was necessary. Instead of demand artists become anointed and declared important, which rarely does any good for a people or their beliefs, the people of Ono did something else.

They paid for it themselves.

The people felt that art was a worthy expenditure, and decided to devote nearly 35% of their salaries to supporting young "starving" artist types. They bought art, lots of it. The felt that if artists could live without fear of destitution or literal starvation, they could maintain a high level of output and growth.

None of these artists were living the high life, none were made wealthy in these first decades after WWII, but they were able to learn about and improve on their craft, whatever the medium.

That a town got together and said, "This is worthy," and everyone bought it, gives me hope in humanity.