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Paper short abstract

This paper examines Japan’s indemnification scheme for art works on exhibition in light of the cultural policy and industry in Japan and considers the role of the public sector vis-à-vis the private and commercial sector in the Japanese society.

Paper long abstract

Japan introduced the scheme of government indemnification for damages that art works incur during an exhibition in 2011. Apparently designed after the equivalent schemes in the US and European states, it holds a unique position within the Japanese legal system in that the government indemnifies the loss that the private sector suffers. Other schemes providing for the indemnification by the government cover damages caused by the failed launch of rockets and damages due to nuclear incidents. Similar schemes where the government serves as the insurer include the reinsurance for earthquake insurance and liability insurance for oil pollution from tankers boycotted by the commercial insurers. As compared with these, indemnification for damages to art works on exhibition seems to be smaller in scale and lesser in seriousness. Furthermore, commercial insurance for arts has developed recently, which might have made the need for government indemnification smaller. In fact, the application for the government indemnification scheme has reportedly been rather low. Against these backgrounds, this paper looks into the cultural policy of Japan behind the introduction of the scheme, considers the difference in status of museum and other art collection between Japan and Western countries and examines the role of the public sector vis-à-vis the private sector, in this case the relevance of the commercial insurance in the market, among others.