Festival/Tokyo, which launched last year with two sets of events in spring and autumn, is in a bid to join the ranks of the world's top-flight theater festivals — such as Edinburgh's annual spectacular in Scotland, Avignon's in the South of France and Adelaide's in South Australia. The question is, how does it aim to make its own distinctive mark on today's generation?

According to 35-year-old Chiaki Soma, program director of F/T 10, which is set to run from Oct. 30 to Nov. 28, the festival is about to "storm into a period of growth, opening up new possibilities in theater by 'disrobing' it."

Building on the success of last year's twin festivals, F/T 10 will present numerous programs, including five invited from overseas, three guest productions (two foreign and one Japanese); eight productions by young Japanese companies supported by F/T 10, several symposiums and seminars; and a "maid cafe" event, hosted by senior-citizen maids, named Cafe Rottenmeier that will be open in Ikebukuro's West Gate Park throughout the festival.