ABOUT

This is a comprehensive urban arts festival held every fall around Tokyo’s Ikebukuro area which aims to connect with the world through Tokyo’s rich and diverse arts and culture scene. While showcasing the appeal of Tokyo’s arts and culture in an easy-to-understand manner, at the same time the festival aims to enhance Tokyo’s own creative capabilities. In the mid-to-long term, we will continue to work on resolving social issues, developing human resources, developing urban areas, and tackling globalization.

It seems there are fewer people today expecting a better tomorrow.

It’s as if their image of Japan has become something like that of a worn-out outfit, one that cannot just be patched here and there to renew it. Trying to fix one hole will just thin out some other place, creating more holes. Perhaps that truly is the case. If so, I can’t think of a better plan than for everyone to just put up with the way things are, but I worry that doing so without hope for a better tomorrow will lead to no one accomplishing anything.

I have, therefore, a proposal: How about we go ahead and define Japan as a “failing country”? Some, I know, will claim that doing so would only further Japan’s loss of vitality, but many countries throughout history have experienced “failure.” I believe knowing that Japan has had many such precedents will give us a little breathing room.

Jumping straight to my conclusion, when we consider those countries that have bounced back from failure, we find them to be places where the idea that people should be allowed to live for pleasure is proudly acknowledged. That is where we can find such breathing room. A country that considers life as something enjoyable is one that will not fail, right? Because people in such a country want to pass that enjoyment on to the next generation. It’s the exact opposite of everyone just putting up with the state of things.

An example of “human wisdom” people have come up with for enjoying life is festivals. Festivals in which anyone can participate. I thus think governments should work toward the creation of festivals in places where none currently exist. If we’re to fundamentally change the situation in Japan today, we must boldly demand of the government, “Let us enjoy our lives!”

Speaking somewhat out of the blue, this fall Tokyo will once again put on the Tokyo Festival.

General Director, Tokyo Festival
Satoshi Miyagi

［Advisor］
Man Nomura: Chair, Japan Council of Performers Rights & Performing Arts Organizations; Noh actor
Shigeo Fukuchi: Advisor, New National Theatre Foundation; Advisor, Association for Corporate Support of the Arts, Senior Alumni, Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.

［Chair of Executive Committee］
Seiichi Kondo: Former Commissioner, Agency of Cultural Affairs, Japan

［Vice Chair of Executive Committee］
Hitoshi Ogita: Director, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre
Noriko Hachiya: Senior Director, Culture Promotion Division, Bureau of Citizens, Culture and Sports, Tokyo Metropolitan Government

［Committee Member］
Junya Sakita: Senior Manager, Corporate Communication Strategy Department, Asahi Group Japan, Ltd.
Masumi Natsusaka: President, Association for Corporate Support of the Arts
Joji Kudo: Chief Director Planning Department, Arts Council Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture
Sumiko Kumakura: Professor, Graduate School of Global Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
Taeko Nagai: Chair, Japanese Centre of International Theatre Institute
Tomonobu Nanaumi: Princpal Program Director, Program Production Center 3, General Media Administration, Japan Broadcasting Corporation
Hiroyuki Watanabe: Chair, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry Toshima

［Auditor］
Mari Yamauchi: Representative, Yamauchi Accounting Office

［General Director］
Satoshi Miyagi

［Program Director]
Chika Kawai, Junnosuke Tada, Minako Naito, Kaku Nagashima

［Chief Dramaturge & Programmer]
Yoshiji Yokoyama

［Secretary General］
Junko Suzuki

［Deputy Secretary General］
Koji Abe
Setsuko Yukawa

［Associate Director］
Harumi Nemoto

［Administrator］
Kouta Muraoka
Natsumi Hamada
Sachiyo Shimizu
Naoko Oshima

［Staff Accountant］
Yachiyo Tanida, Yukiko Ishinabe（Aster Vision Japan, Inc）

［Administrator（venue coordination）］
Hirohiko Hanzawa

［Public Relations］
Keijirou Okumura
Hiroyuki Funayose
Manaka Murakami
Yuko Uematsu, Yuko Yukawa, Momoko Nakamura, Mihoka Kawamura, Ayumi Mito (syuz'gen LLC)
Midori Miyamoto

［Social Media Management］
Tadashi Atsumi, Keisuke Sano, Yuichi Nakasaka, Riku Tamada（Tsunagaru Inc.）

［Ticket Administration］
Syoko Yamauchi

［Manager（Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre）］
Tomoko Konuma

［Art Direction］
Masashi Murakami（emuni）

［Main Visual Photo］
Mariko Kobayashi

［Tabloid and Sticker Design］
Atsuko Fujiki

［Web Design］
Takuya Irie, Ryo Inoue, Shinta Nagasawa (SETENV)

［Translation］
Office Miyazaki, Inc.

［Legal Advisors］
Kensaku Fukui, Hisato Kitazawa, Kentaro Okamoto (Kotto Dori Law Office)