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.

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.

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.