Landscape Act (Act No. 110 of 2004).

The purpose of this Act is to build a beautiful and dignified national land, to create an attractive and comfortable living environment, and to bring into being unique and vibrant communities, by formulating landscape plans and taking other comprehensive measures to facilitate the formation of good landscapes in Japan's urban and rural districts, thereby improving the lives of citizens and contributing to the growth of the national economy and to the sound development of the community. Article 4 establishes that local governments are responsible for the formulation and implementation of measures that are suitable for the various natural and social conditions of the area concerned, in order to promote the formation of good landscapes in accordance with the basic philosophy, taking into consideration the respective duties of the national and local governments. Article 5 specifies that local businesses shall endeavour to form good landscapes in accordance with the basic philosophy in their land use and other business activities, and to cooperate with the national and local governments in connection with the measures for developing good landscapes taken by the national and local governments. The text consists of 108 articles divided into 7 chapters as follows: General provisions (I); Landscape plans and measures based on them (II); Landscape districts (III); Landscape agreements (IV); Landscape development organizations (V); Miscellaneous provisions (VI); Penal provisions (VII).