芸術各分野の新進芸術家を海外に派遣し、その専門とする分野について研修する機会を設けることによって、わが国の芸術文化の振興に資するという趣旨に基づき、1967年、文部省芸術家在外研修制度（現・文化庁新進芸術家海外研修制度。以降、在研制度と略す）が発足しました。

これを最初より、お世話下さり、後に文化庁長官になられた安達健二氏の著書『文化庁事始』（東京書籍、1978年）の中に、「第一回文部省芸術家在外研修員に選ばれた美術・奥谷博。音楽・若杉弘。舞踊・横井茂。演劇・増見利清の四氏をささやかなパーティをして海外に送り出した時には、日本のあけぼのを見るおもいがした」と書かれています。しかし初代文化庁長官の今日出海氏、第2代長官の安達健二氏も現在の在研制度の発展を想像できたでしょうか。研修を終えた者の多くが、終了後も各自の研修を生かし積極的な活動を続け、日本の美術界を牽引するだけでなく、国際的にも活躍をしている研修員も少なくありません。

私の研修体験を振り返れば、渡仏してからの1年は、異文化にふれ、研鑽を重ね、考える日々でした。あっという間の日々でもあり、もっと現地を実見したいので、滞在費は自分で出しますので研修期間を延ばすことができないでしょうかと文化庁長官に手紙を書いたほどです。すぐにお返事が来て、最初の研修員がそのような前例を作るのは良くないだろうと帰国をうながされ、再渡仏を考えながら帰国しました。帰国後の文化庁提出レポートには、今後、一人でも多くの研修員を送り出してくださいと書きました。そして私は2年後、自ら再渡仏し3年近く滞在し、なお世界を身近に考えられるようになり、ものの見かた、感じかたを広げることができました。

在研制度発足より20年後には、これだけの優れた各部門の研修経験者たちがいるのに、縦のつながりはあっても横のつながりがないのはもったいないとの声が上り、文化庁芸術家在外研修員の会（略称＝在研会）を有志が発足させました。その発足と美術部門の研修経験者の発表機会（展覧会）について相談するために当時の文化庁芸術文化調査官、田中通孝氏を何回も訪問しました。若かったからこそできたことかと思います。

1998年1月、「DOMANI・明日展」という一度聞いたら忘れられないようなタイトルの展覧会が、文化庁および、会場となった安田火災東郷青児美術館、そして読売新聞社の主催で始まりました。最初の年は洋画部門、次の年は、日本画部門。次の年は、版画・写真部門。次は彫刻部門と、年ごとに展覧会が開催されてきました。その後は国立新美術館に会場を移して大々的に開催され、これまで20数年間「DOMANI・明日展」が続いています。私も第1回（特別出品）、第5回（在外研修制度35周年記念）、第14回（同45周年特別展示）に出展してきました。近年、時代の流れからか映像やインスタレーション作品が多くなっていますが、絵画作品の割合がもう少し増えると良いかと感じています。画家の在研応募者が減少しているとも聞きましたので、あらためて積極的に応募してほしいと思います。

今後も在研制度の発展と、研修経験者の活躍を大いに期待しています。

The Overseas Study Program for Artists (currently theProgram of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists, or OSP)was launched by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 1967with the aim of contributing to the advancement of artand culture in Japan by sending emerging artists in variousfields overseas and giving them opportunity to receivetraining in their specialist domain.

In his Bunka-cho kotohajime (The beginning of theAgency for Cultural Affairs) (Tokyo Shoseki, 1978), AdachiKenji, who supported the program from the outset and went on to become the Director General of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, wrote, “When the four individuals selected for the first Overseas Study Program for Artists– Okutani Hiroshi (fine art), Wakasugi Hiroshi (music),Yokoi Shigeru (dance) and Masumi Toshikiyo (theater) –were sent overseas after a small farewell party, I sensed the dawning of a new era in Japan.” Could the first Director General of the Agency for Cultural Affairs,Kon Hidemi, and his successor, Adachi Kenji, have imagined the program developing into what it is today?The majority of OSP artists have made the most of their opportunities in actively continuing their practices upon completion of their studies overseas, while more than a few have gone on not only to lead the Japanese art world, but also to be active on the world stage.

Looking back on my own experience, I spent the year following my arrival in France encountering different cultures, devoting myself to my studies and thinking.It was over all too soon, and my desire to see more of the country was so strong that I wrote a letter to the Director General asking if I could extend my stay, explaining that I would pay my own living expenses. I soon received a reply urging me to return, the reason being that it would not be good for one of the first OSP artists to set such a precedent. Thinking that I could travel again to France at a later date, I decided to follow this advice. In the report I submitted to the Agency for Cultural Affairs after I got back, I wrote that I thought as many artists as possible should be sent overseas.Two years later I went back to France on my own, living there for nearly three years. I reached the point where I felt at home in the world and was able to broaden my views and feelings about things.

Twenty years after the launch of the OSP, in response to comments that, given the existence of so many talented OSP artists in various fields, it was a waste that there were vertical relationships but no horizontal relationships, a group of volunteers established the Agency for Cultural Affairs Overseas Study Program for Artists Alumni Association. It was to discuss the establishment of the Association and the creation of opportunities (exhibitions) for OSP artists in the domain of fine art to showcase the outcomes of their studies abroad that I paid numerous visits to Tanaka Michitaka, then Senior Researcher/Curator at the Agency for Cultural Affairs. I doubt that I could have done this if I had not been so young. In January 1998, an exhibition with the unforgettable title “Domani: The Art of Tomorrow” was inaugurated under the auspices of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum of Art (which also served as the venue) and the Yomiuri Shimbun. The theme of the exhibition changed yearly, from Western-style painting the first year to nihonga the next, printmaking/photography the year after that, and then sculpture. “Domani: The Art of Tomorrow” has now continued for more than twenty years, its scale increasing following a move to the National Art Center, Tokyo. I presented works at the first show (one of several veteran OSP artists invited to take part), the fifth (a commemoration of the program’s 35th anniversary) and the fourteenth (a special show marking the program’s 45th anniversary). In recent years, perhaps reflecting the current of the times, video works and installations have become more numerous, and I feel it would be good to see the proportion of paintings increase slightly. I have also heard that the number of painters applying to the program is on the decline, making me wish again that more painters made efforts to apply.

I continue to look forward with great anticipationto the further development of the program and to the success of OSP artists.