This year we are getting tons of awesome Japanese pop culture event in Singapore, and the latest addition is MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON FESTIVAL world tour 2015, which is making a pitstop in Singapore between 5th and 6th September.
The two-day showcase will feature Jpop artistes such as Yasutaka Nakata, yanaginagi, Hachioji P, Anna Yano, and Harajuku-based performance group TEMPURA KIDZ. The event will be held at *SCAPE The Ground Theatre / *SCAPE Playspace, and some of the areas will be free entry, so everyone can come down to experience the richness of Japanese culture including karaoke, fashion and cuisine. Ticketing information and additional artists will be announced in the weeks leading up to the festival.
Meanwhile, lets take a more in-depth look at each of the artistes that will be performing on the two days:
Day 1 Performance
CAPSULE
CAPSULE is a Jpop electronic duo formed by sound producer Yasutaka Nakata and vocalist Toshiko Koshijima in 1997. They made their major-label debut in 2001. Yasutaka Nakata writes lyrics and melodies, as well as record Koshijima’s vocals and even mixes their songs.
CAPSULE has performed at some of the world’s biggest music festivals. They are also well known for their live performances that incorporate high quality sound, visuals and lighting.
Their fifteenth original album WAVE RUNNER was released on 18 Feb 2015. To promote the album, CAPSULE had their first ever nationwide hall tour consisting of five dates, which concluded at Tokyo’s Akasaka BLITZ venue on 05 Jun 2015.
TEMPURA KIDZ
TEMPURA KIDZ is a five-piece dance performance group that is known for their dynamic and truly unique shows. After performing as backup dancers for J-pop singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, they made their major-label debut in Mar. 2013 with their first single “ONE STEP.”
The members of Tempura Kidz have danced in front of thousands of strangers at sold-out venues across Japan, including Tokyo’s famed Budokan and the Summer Sonic festival
Their first music video “CIDERCIDER,” which they released before their major-label debut, racked up over 1,000,000 views and received many comments from both Japan and abroad. By being appointed as the PR ambassadors of American pizza restaurant chain “Pizza Hut” and singing the theme song for the Japanese version of blockbuster movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2,” they expanded their career into TV and film.
DJ Yasutaka Nakata
Yasutaka Nakata has been running his own club events for the last five years. He performs at more than 60 shows each year, which is quite often for an in-demand producer like him. He has performed as Capsule at the world’s biggest dance and electronic music festival, ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL, and Japan’s largest music festival, ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL, five years in a row.
He might wear many hats (CAPSULE, a producer and a DJ) but he is recognised as one of the industry-top talents in all of those fields. It’s not an exaggeration to say the international success of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Perfume was due to Yasutaka Nakata’s songwriting skills. He has also contributed his songs to both Japanese and Western movies, including the LIAR GAME series and Star Trek Into Darkness.
Day 2 Performance
yanaginagi
Who can forget yanaginagi’s awesome performance back in last year’s I LOVE ANISONG stage. With a voice that you cannot forget once you have heard it, she returns to Singapore to perform again on Day 2 of this event.
In 2009, she accepted an offer from supercell, and was the guest vocalist under the name “nagi”. In February 2012, she achieved her major solo debut, and to date has released 8 singles and 1 album. She is also highly active in live performances through nationwide tours. She also recently released her highly anticipated second album Polyomino back in Dec 2014.
DJ Hachioji P
AFA fans would be very familiar with Hachioji P, who is dubbed the “Prince of Vocaloid music” on Nico Nico Douga.
DJ Hachioji P is a an internationally recognized music creator, remixer and DJ of Vocaloid music. He has collaborated with famous creators such as kz of livetune for the Playstation Vita software ‘Hatsune Miku – Project DIVA –f’ with the split release of ‘Weekender Gir’ and ‘Fake Doll’. More recently, he has been involved in producing work for real vocalists such as Shouko Nakagawa, Hikari Shiina.
He released the newest album “Twinkle World” from TOY’S FACTORY in August 27, 2014.
kz (livetune)
Another DJ whom has previously performance at AFA, Japanese producer kz (livetune) is regarded as one of the most influential Vocaloid producers in the world.
As a producer and remixer, he has worked with some of the most popular anime song artists, including ClariS and May’n, and has released official remixes for world-famous EDM artists ZEDD and Afrojack.
His biggest hits to date is “Tell Your World,” which was written especially for Google Chrome in December 2012. The ad was uploaded online and caught the attention of music fans worldwide, becoming one of the most popular Hatsune Miku songs ever, with more than 11 million views.
