Kyoto is home to prominent national cultural institutions, historical monuments and sites, religious locations such as numerous temples, shrines and gardens, and workshops of traditional arts and crafts. It has a large base of craftsmen and artists whose skills are designated as intangible heritage by the Japanese government. There are as many as seventeen monuments designated UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites in Kyoto. There will be so many artistic and cultural events and historical sites to explore. Finally, Kyoto, as it has nurtured court and aristocratic culture as well as arts disciplines deriving from the art of the tea ceremony, is internationally renowned for its cuisine of highest sophistication and delicacy. Visitors will have a chance to try more affordable, yet equally discerning, versions of Japanese food.
Kyoto is also the base for thriving commercial entities in the cultural industries. Major Japanese film studios were based in Kyoto, and are still heavily used for shooting period dramas. In recent years, the animation business has also emerged in Kyoto, including Kyoto Animation Inc., the production company for a major hit series of adult 'anime' (i.e. Japanese animation), including Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), a cult television series with a large and dedicated fan base. More globally notable is the game maker giant Nintendo headquartered in Kyoto. We propose to have a session dedicated to the economic analysis of the video game industry.
Kyoto, thus, uniquely combines both traditional and contemporary culture and the arts and the commercial, including the global business of the cultural industries, a fact which requires the municipal and prefectural authorities to have a strategy for a 'creative city'. As a city unparalleled by any other place in Japan in its richness of culture, it has been prudent and relatively lagged behind in devising explicit policies and strategies for developing a creative economy. A strategy for the cultural economy, however, is emerging, presenting an interesting opportunity for case studies into the local economic development with the use of its cultural resources.
