OKAZAKI KAGURA SHACHU

Hamada City, in the western part of Shimane Prefecture, is surrounded by rich nature and known as “the town that created Iwami Kagura.” Iwami Kagura is a local performing art characterised by sumptuous costumes and powerful dancing, continuing to evolve while preserving its traditions. Okazaki Kagura Shachu is said to have been founded in the Edo period, making it one of the longest-established troupes in Iwami Kagura. In 2016 it held a performance commemorating approximately 350 years since its founding. Valuing the traditions and courtesies handed down from its predecessors, the troupe passes on its distinctive Okazaki style of dance to the next generation.

DILAⅢ

DILAⅢ (pronounced “Dilam”) is an up-and-coming three-piece dance and vocal group of junior high school students, formed at Actors School Hiroshima (ASH) — the school that produced Perfume. The members are HINATSU, MEISA and MIYABI. The name comes from “Draw In Like A Magnet,” reflecting their aim to draw listeners in like magnets. On August 1 this year they released their 2nd single, the triple A-side “Watch me burnin’ / Make Way!! / STATIC.” Enjoy the stage of these three, who are “cool” yet utterly natural.

MIYUNA KADOWAKI

A multi-talented artist based in the Setouchi region, combining vocal ability with dance performance. A former member of the idol group STU48, she was selected for the senbatsu line-up seven times during her time with the group. She drew attention for her singing, reaching the finals of the AKB48 Group Vocal Championship two years running. At Yomiuri TV’s Best Hit Kayosai, she was chosen as one of the top three from around 350 members of the AKB48 Group in a snap dance audition for AKB48’s “NO WAY MAN,” demonstrating outstanding dance skills as well. After STU48 disbanded, she began working in earnest as a solo artist in 2022 with the support of the dance studio STUDIO FLEX. She has energetically released original songs and performed live, and in 2026 she held her own national tour, KADOWAKI MIYUNA TOUR 2026 “NO LIMIT!!”, visiting Nagoya, Tokyo and Hiroshima and closing the tour with the Hiroshima show on October 31.
Beyond music, she has appeared as a reporter on RCC TV’s Imanama! since April 2025. In 2026 she served as main narrator for the RCC special programme Zekkei Island featuring Un-Girls, focusing increasingly on voice work. She also provides the character voice for Rijo Maika, the virtual concierge of Hiroshima Castle; the character has been appointed an official ambassador of the Hiroshima International Festival for Peace and Culture 2026. Now based in Hiroshima, she works across many fields as a singer, dancer, reporter and voice actor. “Her voice becomes the story.” With song, dance and a richly expressive voice as her strengths, she is working towards becoming a voice-acting artist active both in Japan and abroad.

KIZUNA

A gathering of world-class musicians active in Japan and abroad, led by COLAPS — a three-time champion of the Grand Beatbox Battle (GBB), the world's premier beatboxing competition. A crossover unit that fuses traditional Japanese instruments such as the shakuhachi, shamisen, shinobue and taiko with violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano and synthesizer. Crossing genres and borders, they express through music the “kizuna” (bonds) that connect people to people and culture to culture, sharing the appeal of Japanese culture and a new form of entertainment that resonates worldwide.

KINSHO KAGURA TROUPE

A traditional Kagura troupe based in the Toyohira area of Kitahiroshima Town in northern Hiroshima Prefecture.
The troupe has long worshipped Kotani Ten'ichi Shrine and Shobara Hachiman Shrine as its guardian shrines. While preserving and passing down traditional Kagura, the troupe also actively explores Kagura as a form of contemporary stage performance.
In 2005, the troupe created and performed an original Kagura production inspired by Oshu Hiraizumi, which was later designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2010, they created and presented Itsukushima, an original production inspired by Miyajima, another UNESCO World Heritage Site in Hiroshima Prefecture.

HIRARI SATO

She discovered the joy of music at the age of five through Hibari Misora's iconic song “Kawa no Nagare no Yō ni” (“Like the Flow of a River”).
At the 7th Gold Concert, she delivered a powerful performance of “Amazing Grace” and became the youngest-ever recipient of an award at the competition. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake, she wrote her first original song, “Mirai” (“The Future”), and donated ¥1 million from CD sales to children who lost their parents in the disaster.
She performed at the Apollo Theater's Amateur Night in the United States, where she became a weekly champion. She has also performed internationally, including solo concerts in Italy and a charity concert supporting recovery efforts following the Nepal earthquake.
At the 34th National Cultural Festival and the 19th National Festival of Arts and Culture for People with Disabilities, she sang the Japanese national anthem in the presence of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan.
Her honors include the Cultural Contribution Award at the 6th Asia Golden Star Awards, the Niigata Women's Achievement Award 2021, and the Sanjo City Honorary Award. She has also been appointed a Niigata Tourism Ambassador.
In addition to her work as a singer-songwriter, she is active as a composer, lyricist, and music creator, providing original music for school anthems, image songs for YouTube channels with more than 300,000 subscribers, radio programs, and a wide range of other projects.
On March 11, 2026, she was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Declaration of Peace through Music for the United Nations Choir Peace Concert, and is scheduled to perform at a concert at United Nations University in October.
In May 2026, she performed the American and Japanese national anthems, as well as “Amazing Grace,” at a peace ceremony held at the Honolulu Visitor Center in Hawaii.
She also performed “You Raise Me Up” with an orchestra at “Requiem of Prayer from the Vatican to Japan,” held at Tokyo International Forum.
As a Youth TICAD Ambassador, she is scheduled to attend and perform at the “2026 International Youth Day & Youth TICAD Drive in Ghana,” to be held in Ghana in August.

FANTASTIC NEGRITO

FANTASTIC NEGRITO, whose real name is Xavier Dphrepaulezz, is a singer-songwriter from Oakland, California.
Despite living in an environment where he was constantly exposed to the risk of death, including being attacked with guns, he made his major-label debut. However, in 1999, he suffered life-threatening injuries in a traffic accident, forcing him to suspend his musical career.
In 2014, he made a comeback through street performances in Oakland, and in 2015, he won NPR's Tiny Desk Concert competition.
The following year, he released The Last Days of Oakland under the name FANTASTIC NEGRITO and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. He went on to win the same award for Please Don't Be Dead and Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?, making him a three-time consecutive Grammy Award winner.
Today, he is widely recognized as one of the leading artists of the contemporary blues scene.

YUKA TSUNAKI

Born in Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture.
After graduating from high school she moved to Tokyo to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter, steadily building a following through three to five live shows a month and street performances. She then gained experience as a stage actor and broadened her activities across both music and theatre, including writing insert songs for stage productions.
2022　She created the theme song for the nationwide restaurant chain Nikujiru Gyoza no Dandadan. Visiting the head office without an appointment, she pitched the song directly; her initiative and the song itself won over the president and vice-president, and its use as in-store music was decided on the spot.
2023　She began working in Hiroshima, appearing in a segment of HFM’s Kazuma Emoto no Goji and writing the lyrics and music for the theme song of the Yokohama-style ramen restaurant Imamuraya.
2024　She held a self-produced live show in Hiroshima.
2025　She performed as the opening act for “HIROSHIMA CONTI-NeW FeS 2025 TEE 15th Anniversary Live ‘Roots’.”
2026　She successfully held her first-ever solo show in Hiroshima. She now places even greater emphasis on working in Hiroshima, energetically pursuing music rooted in her hometown.

KOJI NAKASHIMA

After graduating from Sendai Ikuei High School, he played for Brummell Sendai (now Vegalta Sendai) and JEF United Ichihara (now JEF United Chiba) before joining Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 2009, retiring at the end of the 2013 season. During his time at JEF, under manager Ivica Osim, the club won back-to-back Nabisco Cups (now the Levain Cup) in 2005 and 2006. At Sanfrecce, under manager Hajime Moriyasu (now manager of the Japan national team), he contributed to consecutive J1 League titles in 2012 and 2013. After retiring he settled in Hiroshima and joined the event planning company Barefoot Inc.
He is currently active as a football pundit and commentator.

MASA KOHAMA

Born in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, he began playing guitar at the age of 11.
From the 1990s through the mid-2000s, he was based in Los Angeles, where he pursued his music career and performed with a wide range of legendary artists.
In the mid-2000s, he moved his base to Tokyo and became an active figure in Japan's music scene, recording, performing live, and touring with major artists including EXILE, EXILE ATSUSHI, AI, Eikichi Yazawa, J SOUL BROTHERS III, Tsuyoshi Domoto, BENI, Little Glee Monster, BAD HOP, and Miliyah Kato.
His extensive recording credits include Tee's “Baby I Love You,” Little Glee Monster feat. Earth, Wind & Fire's “I Feel The Light,” and BAD HOP's “Last Party Never Ends.”
His guitar work is prominently featured throughout FANTASTIC NEGRITO's three Grammy Award-winning albums in the Contemporary Blues category: The Last Days of Oakland, Please Don't Be Dead, and Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?
In January 2021, he released his first solo album under his own name, MASA'S FIRST TAKE, which received widespread critical acclaim.

SPL∞ASH

A cheering squad unit representing Actors School Hiroshima, formed around the theme “Energising Hiroshima and Japan through song and dance!” Their concept is to cheer on everyone working hard — at work, in love, in friendship, in study, in sport, in play — and to give them energy. As the school’s flagship unit they create original songs and are active through CD releases and appearances at events and on television and radio. Since 2014 they have also served as Sanfrecce Ladies, the official cheering unit of Sanfrecce Hiroshima. In February this year they released the mini-album “Sky’s the Limit.” Enjoy a stage that cheers you on and gives you energy!

KOJI MORISAKI

After graduating from Hiroshima Prefectural Yoshida High School, he joined the Sanfrecce Hiroshima youth team in 1997. He was promoted to the top team in 2000 and contributed to the club's J1 League titles in 2012, 2013 and 2015. He retired at the end of the 2016 season, having made 258 J1 appearances and scored 41 goals. He also represented Japan at U-20, U-22 and U-23 level, competing at the 2004 Athens Olympics. After retiring, he served as Sanfrecce Hiroshima's first-ever club ambassador from 2017 until June this year. He is now active in many fields, including as a football commentator and in media and events.

TAISHI YAMABE

Born in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, in 1988.
In 2004, he competed in the Otaiko Division of the Tokyo International Taiko Contest and, at the age of 16, became the youngest-ever recipient of the competition's Grand Prize.
He has performed with a wide range of artists, including MIYAVI, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, and SPYAIR. He also appeared in the Japanese production of WA! by Fuerzabruta, a performance company whose shows have attracted audiences of more than five million people across 30 countries.
In 2025, he presented his solo stage production Panta Rhei at Tokyo International Forum.
As a director, he has created performances and productions including the opening ceremony of RIZIN, as well as Mebae Izuru and Kanata yori for the Iyasaka Project.
Since 2021, he has served as the planning and artistic supervisor of the annual Jinkon Kansha Japan Taiko Festival in Ise City. Through his work in Japan, he aims to promote and advance the art of taiko on a global scale.