Machizukuri and Citizen\u27s Careers: The Basic Concepts in Managing the Noda City Museum by the Non-Profit Organization, Noda Culture Square

People living in all cities of Japan should improve their way of life in the future. For instance, if retiring people who were committed to their company first should begin to stay in local are as more and more，they might be in trouble because of their new lifestyle. Many shopkeepers in downtown areas are in trouble since buying power has been declining due to the spread of shopping centers. People have no energy to live, and the streets are lonely and lifeless. The idea behind Citizens’ Careers is based on Life-long Learning； it is possible for people to take advantage of the opportunity to learn at any time and any place. It creates self-respect, as it is undertaken of their own accord. They could reflect on themselves，and about their role as workers, homemakers, volunteers, and students, in the local area. They should make an effort to accomplish their goals through their role. Until they become conscious of themselves as local citizens. Each person would join a group and work to improve their own local area. Such a process is readily available and would create self-reliance through Citizens’ Careers. To put such a system into practice, it is necessary to communicate across various communities, including family, school, business, industry, agriculture, welfare, citizens’ groups, etc. Museums have a new mission: to communicate that individuals belong to their communities using the key word “Culture”. The museum could work as a hub in the region to communicate with the inhabitants. Thus, it would become a center. Communities could communicate with each other, and the museum would no longer be only“a sanctuary of culture”. In the Noda City Museum, there are four approaches to realize this vision. The first is, to collect information about materials and people in the local area, then to keep and to study this information. The second is to learn the culture and the lifestyles of people in the local area. The third is to disperse information about Citizens’ Careers both inside and outside the local area. The last is to make a place where people can communicate with each other.The Noda City Museum will create several kinds of special exhibitions, for example, an academic exhibition, a collection exhibition by the inhabitants, or an exhibition of people’s research. Morover, will hold a “museum concert” in an exhibition room, give a party in the garden, or offer lectures called terakoya, where many kinds of experts who live in the local area give a speech about their own career and skills. These lectures will be held twenty-four times in a year.It is hoped that this vision becomes a reality, thanks to people communicating with each other among several communities