Festival/Tokyo (F/T) is an international performing arts event where diverse values across nationalities, generations and genre interact with and inspire each other to forge new possibilities.

The F/T14 Main Program, in addition to work by virtuoso contemporary theatre artists, also features mid-career creative talents attracting attention now in the fields of theatre, dance, art and music, all helping to make a program of new work true to the collaborative spirit of a festival.

This year sees the inauguration of the Asia Series, a new program utilizing original research and a range of networks. For its debut season, the series will showcase Korean dawon, the crossover arts that have been developing in Korea since the 2000′s. Alongside F/T14′s new work by emerging artists from China and Myanmar, the series will consider the currents of Asian performing arts today.

As well as stage performances, the diverse programming includes an opening work in Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Park by PROJECT FUKUSHIMA!, a symposium, film screenings, talks, and more.

Convergent Diversity

On a daily basis we encounter the phenomenon where frequently disconnected ideas are pulled together by an invisible compulsion, converging into a fixed pattern.

Whether it be in the form of the information raining down on us non-stop 24/7 or the more overt form of public opinion, this invisible force, much as how light is distorted as soon as it passes through a strong magnetic field, cannot be avoided as long as we live in the here and now. We might even say that this is living itself.

Recently a well-known food-themed manga had a storyline about Fukushima but was forced to go on hiatus as people said it was fomenting so-called “harmful rumors”. As a result, this potent magnetic field of harmful rumors seemed to make us realize that we cannot see the real facts anywhere. What I want to say is that this phenomenon is being endlessly repeated, and it is precisely at the time when we give up and think that we cannot see the facts anywhere, then we are bound to hear cries from the abyss asking if art still exists.

And that is why we need the power of art now more than ever.

If we were to try to cordon off this diversity converged by the strong magnetic field that also distorts light, rather than assuming a black hole-like force that would destroy the field, I would like to conjure up a flexible structure, like a reed swaying in the breeze. And it is the power of art that can support this kind of flexible structure. It is art that possesses the greatest weapon that can resist invisible forces, and I’d like to think that Festival/Tokyo 2014 will come about only through trusting in the many artists working to uncover the true identity of these invisible forces of magnetic fields.

This year Al-Kasaba Theatre in Ramallah is creating a work with us. In a previous production it had newspapers from around the world piled on stage and then the tenacious survivors that are the Palestinians appeared out of this mountain: “We do not exist in the pages of newspapers.” The forte of a stage work lies surely in how actual people are there standing right there in front of you.

Diversity is guaranteed only by the “true” diversity ahead that has passed through the force of the magnetic field; it is not something that exists without effort.

Saying that, there are frequent troubles and dangers. The greatest crisis is the self-restraint that operates inside us. We are living under the influence of public opinion and the information raining down on us daily, and so the will to restrain the self is constantly functioning within us. And as long as we are unaware of the relation of tension with that self-restraint, we are unable to create a festival programme. Be it simply the instinct of self-preservation or a suicide bombing, we cannot create anything, and just the self-awareness of that relation of tension can be considered a ray of light illuminating where we are now.

Diversity and Minorities

Today art can be thought of as being established on the premise of diversity. I would like to place at the least the recognition of diversity as a common denominator for when we interact with contemporary art. For the present, if we are to consider the “firing range”, it is premised alongside the establishment of advanced nations, whose basic social structures have ceased to change now, and with the establishment of developed societies in which, to put it simply, social change in the forms of terrorism, coup d’etat or revolutions are not envisioned. Recognizing another person whose opinions differ to your own is virtually synonymous with the idea that terrorism, coups and revolutions will never take place once we have recognized others in this way.

In the truly diverse society there are no majorities, and so art taking a minority position is almost the same as contemporary art being established on the premise of diversity.

Until now, artists have been thought of as rebellious or anti-authoritarian, especially artists who handle language. If anything, artists have been considered as people who avoid brown-nosing the authority of the time and rather carry on down the path of their own choosing. For those in authority, they were types of people defective in sociality and difficult to deal with.

However, this image of artists is not a contemporary one. This is because today, since they accept as a given the existence of a strong authority forming an overwhelming majority, artists are similar to minorities, not forming a majority among any party.

It is no longer possible to live in a way that is different to the overwhelming majority of society, interpret society from a different perspective and then turn this into artistic expression; however different the way you lead your life, anything is permissible in the diverse society. Simultaneously, as the Internet has spread we can ascertain exactly that there are a fair number of people who could be said to be a minority.

In the diverse society, it is important for artists and art to be established on the inside of society. If you are even to recognize the existence of others with different ideas, then while it is certainly possible to a large extent to bring everything into society, there are also many difficulties.

Will we put our energies into painting a new image of the artist for the present? Or are the currents washing away even the framework of art too fast? For the moment, my mind is set on enjoying watching this.

Thanks

Festival/Tokyo 2014 is being held through the kind support of many people. I would like to express my thanks to all those who have given us their co-operation. In particular, from those people who have generously lent us their assistance in the form of working for a company or organization I have felt a courtesy that extends far beyond the framework of mere professionalism.

For this year’s festival our organizational structure has changed greatly. With the founding of Arts Council Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Government is now no longer one of the direct organizing bodies. This was due to Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s wish to respect the autonomy of the festival, for which I am very grateful. In the future the festival hopes to evolve hand-in-hand with Arts Council Tokyo. Toshima City and Toshima Future Culture Foundation remain as two of the organizing bodies and continue to support the festival directly. For us, such wards and cultural foundations are not so much government bodies as wise mentors.

This year we have once again also received substantial support from the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

It is important to spend time building relationships of trust between the new Chairman of the Executive Committee, the Committee members, and NPO Arts Network Japan, the organization that runs the festival office, and we hope to create a festival that is more open to the outside world.

Along with the great support we have received from the Japan Foundation for our new Asian projects, we have also received assistance from Asahi Breweries, Ltd.’s Social & Environmental Department (Corporate Planning Headquarters).

I feel that better relations are being constructed with the Owlspot Theater Toshima Performing Arts Center. Undoubtedly this is a somewhat reciprocal romance.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre continues to be our patron and lend us much support. Not so much a reciprocal romance, this is more like a one-sided declaration of love from our side.

There is no limit to the people to whom we are grateful and yet it is still my intention to take time to build relations of trust with them. For every five emails that I send their way, I’d like to meet up once face-to-face.

This year also sees the formation of a Directors Committee for a more collaborative, co-productive festival.

Name	Festival/Tokyo 2014 (F/T14)
Period	November 1 (Sat) to November 30 (Sun), 2014
Venues	Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Owlspot Theater, Nishi-Sugamo Arts Factory, Theater Green, Asahi Art Square, etc.
Programs	F/T Main Program (15 productions, 4 projects) F/T Affiliated Program (11 programs)
Organizers	Festival/Tokyo Executive Committee, Toshima City, Toshima Future Culture Foundation, NPO Arts Network Japan (NPO-ANJ)
Produced in association with	Japanese Centre of International Theatre Institute (ITI/UNESCO)
Asia Series co-produced by	The Japan Foundation (The Japan Foundation East Asian Collaboration Vol.2)
Sponsored by	Asahi Breweries, Ltd., Shiseido Co., Ltd.
Endorsed by	Ministry of Foreign Affairs, GEIDANKYO, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture), J-WAVE 81.3 FM
Special co-operation from	SEIBU IKEBUKUROHONTEN, TOBU DEPARTMENT STORE IKEBUKURO, TOBU RAILWAY CO., LTD., Sunshine City Corporation, Chacott Co., Ltd.
In co-operation with	The Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry Toshima, Toshima City Shopping Street Federation, Toshima City Federation, Toshima City Tourism Association, Toshima Industry Association, Toshima Corporation Association, Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Shopping Street Federation, NPO Zephyr, Hotel Metropolitan Tokyo, Hotel Grand City, Ikebukuro Hotel Association
PR Support	Poster Hari’s Company

The international performing arts event Festival/Tokyo (F/T) will once again be held this autumn in Ikebukuro. Through the previous six festivals F/T has established itself as a theatre festival representing not only Tokyo and Japan but also the whole of Asia, creating new artistic values that confront today’s society, and presenting them from Toshima City to global audiences. The many works created and staged until now, as well as greatly energizing the whole Ikebukuro area, have also spread into the rest of Japan, other parts of Asia, and to cities around the world.

For this seventh festival we have received the co-operation and support from local shopping districts, corporations and organizations, and will hold a diverse program, including a large-scale participatory project. We are engaged proactively in raising Toshima as a safe cultural city so that the appeal of the performing arts will reach large numbers of audiences. Please enjoy the festival.

Yukio Takano
Festival/Tokyo Honorary President of the Executive Committee
Mayor of Toshima City

Festival/Tokyo began in 2009 as an international performing arts event held mostly in the Ikebukuro area, and has now staged over 150 productions and reached audiences of more than 300,000.

F/T14 will be the seventh festival (F/T was held twice in 2009 in autumn and spring, and since then once every autumn) and will program a wide range of works, including long-time leaders of the theatre world Peter Brook and Yukio Ninagawa, as well as up-and-coming Japanese and Asian artists. Along with its diverse participants from the music and art scene, it will be a packed and exciting 30 days.

Following Tokyo’s successful bid for the 2020 Olympic Games, the spotlight continues to intensify over the city’s cultural and artists projects. F/T aspires to strengthen its networks with other festivals, theatres and cultural organizations around Japan, contributing to cultural interchange that traverses regional or national boundaries.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer my thanks to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Arts Council Tokyo, the Japan Foundation, our corporate sponsors, regional organizations, and the many others who have given us their generous support and co-operation.

Hitoshi Ogita
Chair of the Festival/Tokyo Executive Committee

Festival/Tokyo Executive Committee

Advisors	Man Nomura, Chairman, Japan Council of Performers Rights & Performing Arts Organizations, Noh Actor Yoshiharu Fukuhara, Honorary Chairman, Shiseido Co., Ltd
Honorary President of the Executive Committee	Yukio Takano, Mayor of Toshima City
Chair of the Executive Committee	Hitoshi Ogita, Adviser to Board, Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.
Vice Chair of the Executive Committee	Sachio Ichimura, Director, NPO Arts Network Japan (NPO-ANJ) Akira Kurihara, Director of Culture, Commerce and Industry Division of Toshima City Akira Touzawa, Director of Secretariat of Toshima Future Culture Foundation
Committee Members	Kyoko Okada, General Manager, Corporate Culture Department, Shiseido Co., Ltd. Motoki Ozaki, President, Association for Corporate Support of the Arts, Corporate Advisor, Kao Corporation Sumiko Kumakura, Professor, Department of Musical Creativity and the Environment, Tokyo University of the Arts Katsutoshi Konuma, General Manager, Social & Environmental Department, Asahi Breweries, Ltd. Masami Suzuki, Chairman, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry Toshima Akihiko Senda, Theatre Critic Taeko Nagai, Chairman, Japanese Centre of International Theatre Institute (ITI/UNESCO) Kouichi Ozawa, Culture, Commerce and Industry Division of Toshima City, Director of Cultural Design Section Masato Kishi, Executive Manager of Toshima Future Culture Foundation Naoko Hasuike, Representative, NPO Arts Network Japan (NPO-ANJ) Hirotomo Kojima, Board Member, NPO Arts Network Japan (NPO-ANJ)
Supervisor	Sayoko Suzuki, General Affairs Division, Director of General Affairs Section of Toshima City
Legal Advisors	Kensaku Fukui, Hisato Kitazawa (Kotto Dori Law Office)

Directors Committee

Representative	Sachio Ichimura
Deputy Representative	Hirotomo Kojima
Members	Yuko Uematsu, Chika Kawai, Orie Kiyuna, Rie Nagahara, Masahiko Yokobori

Festival/Tokyo Executive Committee Office

Administrative Manager	Madoka Ashihara
Production Co-ordinators	Hirotomo Kojima, Yuko Uematsu, Chika Kawai Orie Kiyuna, Mami Takahashi, Akiko Juman, Luna Matsushima, Mayuko Arakawa, Masahiko Yokobori Hitomi Oyama, Shiori Sunagawa, Toshifumi Matsumiya, Marie Moriyama, Takako Yokoi
Public Relations	Sae Horie, Yuko Yukawa
Sales & Planning	Rie Nagahara
Ticket Administration	Eri Watanabe, Tsubura Shishido
Ticket Center	Yumiko Sasaki, Kumiko Sato
Office Assistant	Saki Hirata
Accounting	Kumiko Tsutsumi
Administrators	Naoko Hasuike, Hisayoshi Isshiki, Kyoko Yokokawa
Technical Director	Eiji Torakawa
Assistant Technical Director	Yukiko Kato
Lighting Co-ordination	Makiko Sasaki (Factor Co., Ltd.)
Sound Co-ordination	Akira Aikawa (Sound Weeds Inc.)
Art Direction & Design	Kosuke Kawamura
Main Graphic Design	Nikaicho Satoshi (SHOHEI x Kosuke Kawamura)
Website	Shinichi Hamada, Yu Shigematsu, Naoya Sugawara (loftwork Inc.)
Overseas Public Relations, Translation	William Andrews
Merchandise	Jun Watanabe
Writing, Performance Leaflet Editing	Rieko Suzuki
Asia Series Programming	Seunghyo Lee
Schlingensief Film Series Programming	Ulrike Krautheim

Festival/Tokyo 2014 Activities and Results Report (PDF)

About, Overview (-p.11)

Festival Activities: Main Program (-p.21)

Festival Activities: Related Events, Affiliated Program (-p.33)

Publicity & Promotion (-p.37)

Advertising (-p.39)

F/T13

F/T12

F/T11

F/T10

F/T09 Autumn

F/T09 Spring