MUSIC

A Blank Slate: Work is underway on a lavish $565-million performing arts center in Tokyo but critics have pointed out one glaring flaw: It has no performers. “They’re only talking about a building--it’s so typical,” says Boston Symphony Orchestra music director Seiji Ozawa. “They need to think about who’s going to be the orchestra and the chorus.” Adds opera singer Takao Okamura: “All the effort is being placed on the ‘hardware’ side, while the question of what will be performed has been relegated to the back burner.” Project leaders insist they’re doing things right. “There’s been a problem of having no opera house in Tokyo,” says Kazuyuki Toyama, who will become the theater’s deputy chief director come spring.