Japan may be floundering politically and economically, but amid all the uncertainties it is a joy to report the sparkling rebirth of a major international theater event in Tokyo.
Tokyo International Festival (TIF) may be dead — but watch out Avignon, Edinburgh and Adelaide as Festival/Tokyo rises triumphantly from the ashes with its sights set on earning a place in the big league of arts events the world over.
Since its launch in 1988, TIF — which was held in 14 of the years until 2008 — unfortunately combined unending financial difficulties and a nail-biting struggle for sponsorship with a growing artistic reputation (and respected audience following), especially for its signature introduction of many foreign, cutting-edge drama groups, notably from the Middle East.