Diverse institutions, such as the miscellaneous schools, provide social education services.
Large newspaper companies and local governments sponsor cultural centers that offer ongoing programs of informal education, and department stores organize curricula covering everything from cooking classes to music, English conversation (eikaiwa), and Japanese poetry.
Local governments also are largely responsible for such public facilities as libraries and museums--basic resources in social education.
The ministry of education is interested in increasing the use of public school facilities for lifelong learning activities, increasing the number of social education facilities, training staff, and disseminating information about lifelong learning opportunities.
Popular bookstores are full from the moment they open their doors each day with readers seeking books from a staggering range of foreign as well as Japanese titles.