In his classic polemic against modern Japan, ¡°Dogs and Demons,¡± Alex Kerr described how a system of government loans and subsidies in the 1980s spurred a nationwide outbreak of grandiose construction projects. Today, the Japanese countryside is littered with oversized, underused cultural centers, many of which are managed by private firms because local authorities couldn¡¯t afford to pay for their upkeep.
One blessed exception is in Nanto, a thinly spread municipality of 60,000 people in Toyama Prefecture, about half an hour¡¯s drive from Kanazawa. When the city¡¯s Fukuno Creative Cultural Center Helios opened in 1991, it inaugurated a music festival that has endured to the present day. Sukiyaki Meets the World now ranks as Japan¡¯s premier world music event, drawing more than 15,000 people each year to watch musicians from nations as diverse as India, Argentina and Senegal.
¡°After 26 years, the local people really understand what we¡¯re doing,¡± says Nicolas Ribalet, the cultural center¡¯s artistic director, and producer of Sukiyaki Meets the World since 2006.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.