At YouTube Space Tokyo in Mori Tower, Roppongi, a live stream of a special performance from the party “SpookyHouse,” held on Friday, 10/31, featuring a collaboration between “Daito Manabe / Rhizomatiks” and the breakbeat unit “HIFANA.” With the concept of a real-time music video, this new type of live visual work fused motion capture, AR, and other technologies with musical performance and visual expression at a high level, and drew a major response from YouTube’s global network.

A large-scale projection mapping event, the first of its kind in the Tohoku region, jointly organized by NHK Enterprise, Aizuwakamatsu City, and Fukushima Prefecture for the purpose of post-disaster reconstruction. JKD created a 5-and-a-half-minute film themed around the cycle of the seasons, hope, and renewal. The music was by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Using 16 projectors, a powerful visual work was projected onto the keep of Tsuruga Castle, which boasts a history of 700 years. Led by JKD artists such as Gengi Ito and Woog, a production team of more than ten people worked together on a project intended to resonate with local residents, and the result was a great success. On the first day, Friday, March 8, a preview screening for the media was held, and that same night it was featured as the top story on NHK News’s national broadcast at 9:00 p.m. From the following day onward, the main event drew far more visitors than expected, generating an enormous response. During the screenings, cheers erupted repeatedly, and after the show, local residents told us directly, “It was moving. It was truly wonderful.” We are grateful to have been able to take part in such a meaningful project.