Expectations

I have worked with artists from many different countries over the years and what I’ve ultimately come to understand is that divisions like nationality have almost no meaning. That said, there are still language barriers and dealing with that issue is perhaps the greatest challenge, particularly for people who live in places whose language is not spoken widely, such as Japanese. And at the same time, I experienced a sense of limitation that I can only call the rupture of multiculturalism or multiethnicity. When working with artists from Malaysia, the plight of the young Chinese there was compelling. They have never been to China and it’s not even clear exactly where their forefathers came from. How long can such young people continue to be “Chinese” in Malaysia? How long can third- or fourth-generation Japanese Americans continue to be “Japanese”? Such old divisions of culture and ethnicity are bound to rapidly disappear among young people who have new values.

I have high expectations for the next generation coming in, both in terms of the people running the festivals and the participating artists. Perhaps my sole hope is that the new generation quickly seizes the initiative in society. My impression is that a type of person has now emerged who is utterly unlike how things were at a certain time, who doesn’t experience society with such immense generational differences and gaps as today’s. How can we throw out the old generation that still clings to power and status? I want to live long enough to see this new society.

When I made the festival, I had high expectations for the government, but now the opposite is true: a festival shouldn’t expect something of the government; rather, the government should expect something of a festival. We should restore the relationship between the government and private sector back to its inherent form. This inherent form is the government having high expectations for the capabilities and skills of the private sector. Because be it disasters or welfare, science or art, the private sector forms the strongest foundation. I envision a situation in which it is the government that is expecting great things of a festival.