You'll have noticed that especially the "Diaries" and other columns on RT have rolled to a stop. That’s because we are planning another renewal of the site, following last year’s complete makeover. However, this time it’s a "strategic downscaling" plan, which includes the stop of all longer regular articles, and only irregularly appearing event "Picks". The English part of RT won't close down altogether, but there will be significantly fewer English language articles and translations. The plot is to revamp the whole site in a new format a few months later, and in the meantime the contents of RT will be much thinner than usual.

 

The direct reason and trigger behind this measure is a lack of funds. RT has been continually in the reds, and I used to balance out deficits via my own company. Apart from personal feelings and consequences, that’s simply not a healthy condition, and even though we did try out various things to improve it, nothing really worked out well. Keeping going like that surely is no good for anyone, so we decided to draw a line at the end of March. We will clear our desk at a shared office, and slim down the editorial team. It won't affect you, the reader, directly, but there will be no more compensation for contributors and editors. Well, there has never been much in the first place…

 

In a certain sense, I think this is a good opportunity for us. For nine years since the launch of RT - or ten years since the initial preparations - RT has been continuing while learning by mistake, and while there was absolutely no competition at the beginning, now there are several rivaling media in our lane. The role of the media for the vitalization of the culture scene is not unimportant. Even though it’s basically a commendable thing, it’s quite a waste when different media feature and store information for the same cultural events in individual databases, which is why I have been in talks with the likes of "Artscape" and "Tokyo Art Beat", discussing the possibilities of next-generation online media such as a "shared database" or the joint development of a "robot that collects information from the Internet" among others. This is what I'm going to focus on over the coming weeks and months.

 

Another thing I'd like to focus on is ways of operating in the real world. As some of you may remember, for about three years after the opening of RT we did a string of a total of nine irregular events called "REALTOKYO BAR", including talk shows, film screenings, dance performances, etc. However, since the launch of "ART iT" in the autumn of 2003, I've been too busy to do a single one of these events.

 

There was one experience that made me particularly happy. It was after the "Night Colours" performance with dancer/choreographer/director Kawaguchi Takao, and LED-based lighting by Fujimoto Takayuki (in February 2003 at Roppongi THINK ZONE). I was credited as "co-producer", but the actual producer who channeled all of his mental and physical power into the event was Ozawa Yasuo, who presently heads the Institute of Japan Performance/Art. As I had arranged the venue, the performance was eventually held as part of the "RT BAR" series, and was of course advertised on RT. After the show, two young women came up to me to express their gratitude. "We're usually seeing only art events, but we had a lot of fun at this first dance performance we've ever seen. We're definitely going to catch some other performances in the future!" And indeed, I met them again several times at contemporary dance events after that. These are the moments that make me realize how rewarding it is to be involved with a medium dedicated to cultural event information.

 

So I've been thinking how we could create more of these situations. It doesn't necessarily have to be about events, but it can be any other format. What’s important is, as the above episode shows, a mixture of genres and disciplines, along with giving people opportunities to get in direct touch with culture also in the real world, and not only online - or in a nutshell, opportunities to experience the "Real Tokyo". Now it will be a question of how to organize the experience and connections I have picked up during the past ten years, and utilize them constructively over the next. It appears to me that, with this idea in mind, the next thing I'll be working on will be the conception of a form of media that is appropriate for the next decade. I also want to be involved in the discovery and fostering of next-generation artists and audiences in particular. The planned "Audience-in-residence program" I introduced in "Out of Tokyo 190" is surely one powerful means, but there have to be other ways as well. I want to discuss in a large circle of like-minded individuals what can be done with media, and what can't be done with anything else but media, and put the results into action.

 

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Asada-san, Ikeda-san, Sugatsuke-san, Maeda-san, Mori-san and Yano-san for their contributions, as well as to all other writers who have ever been (and will continue to be) involved in RT. There will be no more long articles as we can't cover the costs involved in editing and translating them, but it is absolutely possible that this part will reincarnate in the form of a blog, which might include also the posting of "Picks" and other texts. What we are downscaling right now will no doubt expand again in the near future, and I sincerely hope you will stay with us through all the changes that lie ahead.

 

*To all hosts and organizers of events: The REALTOKYO office will close at the end of March. Please keep emailing press releases to