The International House of Japan, located in Tokyo, was the venue of the Chinese-Japanese Culture Forum 2006 on Tuesday, held on November 21. The Japanese Vice Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ms. Yasuko Ikenobo, who headed the planning committee for the Japanese side, greeted Mr. Deyou Liu, Vice president of China International Cultural Association and his nine-member delegation for the conference, whose theme was "The Future of the Culture Industry."
 The forum was organized by China's Cultural Ministry and the Chinese embassy in Japan, with cosponsorship by China International Cultural Association and Japan's Pia Corporation and the support of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun Company.
 In her opening greeting, Ms. Ikenobo expressed pride that the forum was the product of efforts by the private sector and remarked on her expectations for deepened exchanges. In the following address, China's ambassador to Japan, Mr. Yi Wang, spoke of the cultural ties that bind the two countries and said that he looked forward to the possibilities for greater cultural exchanges offered by the opening of the window to Chinese culture represented by the gathering of elite representatives of the culture industries of the two countries. He also said that he wanted to see Asia's cultural industry spread worldwide through cooperation by Japan, Korea and China.

 The keynote address, on "Social Systems That Support Culture Industry," was delivered by the forum's secretary general, Mr. Hiroshi Yanai, the president of Pia Corporation, which was one of the forum's sponsors. As a means of explaining the background to the development of Japan's culture industry, he cited productions like "Cats" by the Shiki Theatre and the establishment of the J League in soccer as examples of what can result when the four elements that the culture industry requires, namely, content, venues, information and ticketing, are organized and well equipped. He said that presently 230,000 cultural performances or events of all kinds were being held in Japan annually that involve 340 million people, or 2.8 times the total population, and represent a market of 1.115 trillion yen. The annual number of operating venues for cultural events has increased, he said, to 8,100, including 4,396 music or theater venues, 653 sports venues, 2,926 movie screens and 171 theme parks, out of total of 21,000 available facilities.
 The infrastructure for dissemination and use of information features 76 million Internet users and 93 million users of cell phones (of which 87% are connected to the Internet). Presently, advertising on the Internet is a larger industry than that of radio advertising, and it is set to surpass advertising in magazines within the next several years.
 In ticketing, it is now possible to purchase tickets in more than 30,000 convenience stores across the country, with systems for ticket sales over the Internet and by other electronic means making advances.
 At present, the ratio of Japan's and China's GDPs stands at 2.02 to 1, but it is expected that China will surpass Japan in less than ten years. Events being organized that will have an explosive impact on China's culture industry include this year's International Horticultural Exposition, the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Shanghai World's Exposition in 2010.
 The China National Grand Theatre in Beijing and Olympic Stadium exemplify the ongoing progress in providing China's venues. The 400 million cell phone users constitute 30% of the population. It was noted that in China there are now 111 million Internet users. Mr. Yanai characterized the 21st century as the age of the mind and heart, in which networks for information, communication and ticketing together constitute an entertainment lifeline whose development will be in demand in China just as it is in Japan.

 The keynote presentation from the vice president of China International Cultural Association, Mr. Deyou Liu, was delivered in fluent Japanese, thanks to Mr. Liu's 15 years experience of being stationed in Japan.
 He said that globalization and diversification of life styles has increased the need for cultural exchange, causing every country to view culture as an industry. China has adopted a policy that seeks a balance of the spiritual aspects of culture with its economic and political aspects, according to which it is giving large-scale support to cultural projects.
 In 2004, 9.96 million people were part of a culture industry consisting of 346,000 sectors and 362,000 individually operated enterprises.

1.

The government is providing the culture industry with large scale support.

2.

As cultural projects having high public interest value are developing, at the same time, cultural projects managed as businesses that follow market principles are being established.

3.

Pluralistic cultural investment, though still at the elementary level, is making its appearance.

4.

Science and technology is accelerating the pace of development of the culture industry and this is resulting in the development of new routes for cultural services to reach the masses.

5.

The government of China is continually seeking to transfer functions, remaking itself from a direct player form of government to one that manages services.

 The present situation in which Japanese culture feeds a major market for animation and manga comic books and animation production work is being carried out in China was discussed. It was noted that despite progress in animation technology, there will be a continuing need to train creative people to work in the industry.
 Mr. Liu concluded by recognizing that human exchanges on the heart-to-heart level will gain in importance in the 21st century and endorsing the desirability of deepening efforts to unleash the potential of the culture industry by developing human resources and promoting joint Chinese-Japanese projects.

 Finally, the writer Yoshimi Ishikawa emceed a panel consisting of three members each from the Chinese and Japanese side in a discussion that increased the listeners' consciousness of the issues involved in the need to develop culture based industries that move the hearts of people and the importance of the many kinds of added social values resulting from international exchanges.