WMDF

From the Organisers: WMDF004 & Open Japan

Although this year has been hard for many people, we have assembled another fantastic lineup of artists. We are deeply grateful to them for their support of our event and of our goals. Plus, the growth of the "World Foods Court" we started last year has been so impressive that it has now become an event in its own right: we welcome the "Mogu Mogu Festival", with over 35 booths offering an abundance of goods and foods from around the world. With more acts and more attractions than ever, we are set to bring new worlds of experience to even more people.

We are celebrating the fourth edition of our event despite the problems still continuing in the Tohoku region.

It's clear just by looking at planes and airports that many people have been put off coming to Japan this year, but the fear of Fukushima does not match the reality of large areas of the country, where people are living life normally.

For much of Japan, a critical issue is going to be convincing the world that we are actually open for business.

WMDF's focus on bringing large numbers of artists from overseas puts us in a unique position to help those struggling to cope with statistics such as an 80% drop in visitors: by successfully gathering people here we can make a physical demonstration of the theme "Open Japan".

We encourage all WMDF-goers to participate by taking pictures and video and putting them online. Artists, stage, general atmosphere: anything is OK. Please help to show that people from around the world are meeting in Hakodate and enjoying what Japan has to offer. We especially recommend getting yourself a T-shirt from the WMDF shop and taking some pictures of yourself with the "Open Japan" slogan! Although the world has thrown hard challenges at Japan this year, we hope that, together, we can help the fightback.

On this site, you can remind yourself of existing traditions from WMDF Inaugural, and WMDF 002 and 003. We hope it encourages you to think of our event not just as happening every August, but as part of the "Long Now" of a rich past and an exciting and healing future.