Venue: Latest Recipe, Level 5

After studying under the Japan’s leading Shakuhachi player Issei Tsukuda, also his father, Koushi joined Tsugaru Ensemble Group ‘KAZE’, a nationally renowned traditional music performance group in 1991. Since, he been has been performing as a leading Shakuhachi and Shinobue player both nationally and internationally. His repertoire includes a wide range of musical genres from classic and folks to modern. He is the champion of Shakuhachi Grand Prix, the 53rd National Traditional Folk Songs Competition.

Miyoko started her training at the age of 6, and won the first prize in Japan Traditional Folk Association Instrumental Ensemble Competition in 1998. Among female Tsugaru Shamien players, Miyoko possesses the strongest and magnificent techniques with excellent sensibility that are all backed by rich experiences.

Curator, International Artistic Director, Benesse Art Site Naoshima Miki has worked as the chief / senior curator of Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2000-14) and as the Artistic Director for Yokohama Triennale 2011 amongst other key positions.

She has curated/co-curated important exhibitions in both Asia and Europe, including the “TransCulture” at the 46thVenice Biennale(1995), Taipei Biennial “Site of Desire” (1998), “Chalo! India: A New Era of Indian Art” (2008), and “Takashi Murakami: The 500 Arhats”(2015). Editor of Insular Insight (Lars Müller, 2011 DAM Architectural Book Award) about Benesse Art Site Naoshima. She is also co-director for Yokohama Triennale 2017

Joined Shiseido Co., Ltd. in 1981, Yukihiro was appointed to General Manager of International Relations in 2008, General Manager of Public Relations in 2010, and General Manager of Corporate Culture Department in 2015.

He dedicates his time to oversee the accumulation, research and dissemination of a wide range of SHISEIDO’s corporate cultural assets from which includes the corporation’s products and publicity, to strengthen the SHISEIDO’s originality, and to continue with the development of new cultural values and support for arts and culture.

He champions planning of these initiatives that are aiming to capture the customers’ hearts around the globe, and to strengthen the corporation’s brand and loyalty.

After graduated from high school, Takeshi studied in New York. Since his return to Japan, he worked in a corporation while actively engaging in various activities in relation to community and environment.

In 2001, Takeshi founded ‘Niigata Soh-Odori Festival’, a regional Matsuri in Niigata Prefecture, which is currently developed into one of the biggest dance festivals in Japan, inviting all genres of dance styles. Since 2013, he has developed Art Mix Japan, a festival of Japanese traditional performing arts.

He was appointed to a president of Niigata ShokunoJin Committee Secretariat in 2015.

Art Mix Japan is a two-day festival, a collective of 25 best Japanese traditional performing arts across Japan. It is a unique and accessible festival which everyone can enjoy with performances of Japan’s finest artists from Kabuki, Noh, Kyogen, Kagura and Traditional Music.

Each performance is 45-minute long with commentary. This is the fourth festival (as of May 2016) since the start of the festival in Niigata Prefecture, and is a much growing festival that welcomes not only performing arts but also more diverse genres of Japanese culture such as Japanese food, Sake, Kimono and handcrafts.

Art Mix Japan is expected to be held in overseas at the end of 2016.