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The Birth of the International Artists Center



Showing the plan of new I.A.C. building at the 3rd conference of Honorary Counselors

Shortly after the inauguration of the International Dance Institute, foreign ambassadors in Tokyo appointed the cultural attaches of their respective embassies as Special Counselors to I.D.I. and gave active co-operation to the activities of the Institute. By thoroughly keeping in touch with the special counselors, the Institute arranged many opportunities of exchange between specialists, particularly in the dancing field. Gradually, however, proposals and requests came from the embassies to deal with other field of art, too, such as music, paintings, theater and so on. So, in November 1961, the First Conference of Honorary Counselors was held to discuss this matter.

As a result, in August 1962, when commemorating its second anniversary since establishment, the Institute was renamed International Artists Center and it started its activities as a center for artists of all fields from both Japan and from the world to meet. The building constructed in 1960 as a dance institute was not sufficient for such multi-purpose activities, but was used as a temporary measure with the intention of extending it by building necessary facilities in the neighboring government-owned land on lease from the Ministry of Finance specifically for this purpose.