Why do you think African societies placed such high importance on art?

African art has as its main influence religion, functionalism and utilitarianism. Depending on the region, one of these influences may be stronger than the other, sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the art that is most influenced by religion, probably because of the social and economic difficulties they face, which make artists connect more with religion as a way of supporting national problems. The areas where these problems are not so prominent, usually have greater influences on utilitarianism and functionalism, probably because artists have more access to concepts, techniques and information.

African societies place a lot of importance on art because it is a way of externalizing feelings and promoting criticism. This is very strong in this region that was so scrapped and exploited by other nations that it caused problems that can still be seen today in these societies.

i'd assume india mainly because of how isolated japan was.   plus it is a whole china away.