The Japanese population began to decrease rapidly from 2008. The rate of aging has been even faster. In 2015, disposable household in- come dropped to the level of thirty years ago. An increasing number of Japanese do not feel their lives to be affluent. Under such condi- tions, various disparities have emerged in soci- ety: between the well-off and the poor, between Tokyo and other parts of the country, between the four main islands and Okinawa, between “Japanese” and others, between the elderly and young people, between the able-bodied and the disabled, between sexual majorities and minorities, between the “global elite” and local people, and so on.
 In such times, what will become of culture? Is there emerging in Japan today something that connects to new ideas and values? Are there things that have not been produced due to institutional or social pressures? Social wel- fare, promotion of local regions, and cultural creativity proceed while sometimes mutually exclusive, but how do they relate to individu- als’ “life”?
 This project aims to visualize perceptions of the status of cultural creativity in a shrinking society by examining the expression of indi- vidual “life” and relevant institutions, policies, regulations, and capitalism, as well as scru- tinizing foreign cultural spheres as points of reference and the development of theory and criticism.

Research Representative	山田　奨治	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
Team Researcher	佐野　真由子	京都大学大学院教育学研究科・教授
〃	谷川　建司	早稲田大学政治経済学術院・客員教授
〃	大石　真澄	愛知淑徳大学創造表現学部・助教
〃	小川　さやか	立命館大学大学院先端総合学術研究科・教授
〃	荻野　幸太郎	NPO法人うぐいすリボン・理事
〃	太下　義之	独立行政法人国立美術館・理事
〃	沢田　眉香子	フリーランス・編集者、ライター
〃	服部　圭郎	龍谷大学政策学部・教授
〃	服部　正	甲南大学文学部人間科学科・教授
〃	松村　圭一郎	岡山大学大学院社会文化科学研究科・准教授
〃	三脇　康生	仁愛大学人間学部心理学科・教授
〃	山本　泰三	大阪産業大学経済学部・教授
〃	吉澤　弥生	共立女子大学文芸学部・教授
〃	吉村　和真	京都精華大学マンガ学部・教授
〃	山下　典子	京都大学大学院農学研究科・科目等履修生
〃	木村　智哉	玉川大学芸術学部・非常勤講師
〃	松田　利彦	国際日本文化研究センター・教授
〃	田村　美由紀	総合研究大学院大学・大学院生
Team Researcher Overseas	玉野井　麻利子	University of California, Los Angeles・Professor