J-Pop Summit

J-POP SUMMIT 2015 (Aug 7-9)
Music live by Eir Aoi at J-POP SUMMIT 2015
Travel Pavilion at J-POP SUMMIT 2015

J-POP SUMMIT, hosted by SUPERFROG Project, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is a Japanese cultural festival held every summer since 2009 in San Francisco, California, United States.[1] By introducing the latest in Japanese music, fashion, film, art, games, tech-innovations, anime, food, as well as niche subcultures, the festival has become a landing platform for new trends from Japan.[2] The festival is also getting attention as an effective opportunity for promotion and entry point into US markets. In 2014, the festival was held in Japantown and enjoyed 120,000 in attendance in two days. In 2015, the festival expanded its area to four different locations in the city; Fort Mason Center, Union Square, NEW PEOPLE Cinema and Castro Theatre and successfully relaunched as an indoor event.[3]

History

J-POP SUMMIT first took place as an opening ceremony of NEW PEOPLE building at Japan Town in San Francisco in 2009. Since then it became an annual festival to introduce the latest Japanese pop including such contents as Anime, Manga, Game, Fashion, Films, and Music. In recent years, Interactive and Travel have been added to its content diversity to make stronger bonds between IT companies in the two countries and also to revitalize Japanese inbound tourism from the US. The event has provided good opportunities for Japanese companies to expand their business to the U.S. market.[4][5]

"POP IS OUR TRADITION" is the theme of J-POP SUMMIT.[6]

Guest Artists

Takako Tokiwa, a Japanese actress and Yoshitaka Amano, and a well-known character designer joined the first J-POP SUMMIT in 2009, and since then, prominent guests from varieties of field including artists, actors, movie directors, designers, voice actors, programmers, were invited from Japan every year. One of the popular program is J-POP LIVE and many of Japan’s top sales singers such as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Tomomi Itano, May'n, and JAM Project have performed on stage.

Date Location Guests
2009 Japantown, SF Girls Rock Explosion, TsuShiMaMiRe, noodles, RED BACTERIA VACUUM, OMODAKA, 6% DokiDoki, Takako Tokiwa, Yoshitaka Amano, Yuichi Yokoyama
2010 Japantown, SF Jinny Oops!, Soulit, Excuses For Skipping, Hopie Spitshard, DJ Amaya, Patrick Macias, Hidekazu Kohara, Mori Chack, Ken Hamazaki, Estria
2011 Japantown, SF Danceroid, ZANEEDS, DJ Amaya, Emi Meyeer, Layla Lane, Parsychords, Bay Area Girls, The Bayonettes, K-ON! voice actors, SpeacE KRafT, DJ Vex Mode, Aoi Yamaguchi, Ken Hamazaki[7]
2012 Japantown, SF KYLEE, All Ages, The Akabane Vulgars on Strong Bypass, Bay Area Girls, Capital, Random Encounters, The Glowing Stars, SpeacEKrafT, Steve Chun, DJ REViSE, DJ Ayama, Vex Mode, Ken Hamazaki, Mike "Bam" Tyau, Rome Kanda[8]
2013 Japantown, SF Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, LoVendoЯ, DJ COCO, SWEETY, The Akabane Vulgars on Strong Bypass, KYLEE, DAICHI, Slime Girls, Cal Raijin Taiko, Miwa Nishikawa, Shinsuke Sato, Sebastian Masuda, Kyohei Sakaguchi, Katsuya Terada[9]
2014, Jul 19, 20 Japantown, SF May'n, Tomomi Itano, Tokyo Girls' Style, DAICHI, AKIRA, UNA, Pinky Doodle Poodle, KYLEE, Black Diamond, Cal Raijin Taiko, SF Awakko-Ren, YANAKIKU, The Akabane Vulgars on Strong Bypass, DJ COCO, DJ Amaya, Yuki Furukawa, Mitsutoshi Tanaka, Lisa Takakura, KEI(Illustrator of Hatsune Miku)[10]
2015, Aug 7-9 Fort Mason Center, SF JAM project, Ken Ishii, Eir Aoi, YANAKIKU, Musubizm, AMIAYA, Gacharic Spin, FEMM, ANAMANAGUCHI, Jinny Oops!, Little Glee Monster, FES☆TIVE, Faint★Star, Jaru Jaru, Chicchai Ossan, Koakkuma& Akkuma, Sanasenabona, Dear Marriette, Yusuke Nakamura, Tadanobu Asano, Koji Morimoto, Kelvin Kazumi Hiraishi, Kaoru Sugano, Timothy Archuleta, Jake Myrick, Eric Gower, Allen Miner, Jim Newton, Redg Snodgrass, Tak Miyata[11]

Location

J-POP SUMMIT used to be held in Japantown as a free outdoor event until 2014, and it was moved to Fort Mason Center in 2015. When it was in Japantown, the streets were turned into a pedestrian precinct. The number of attendees kept increasing year by year and finally in 2014, it went over the capacity permissible number of people. This is why it went to another level by moving the venue inside and became a ticketed event.[12]

Related Events

Japan Film Festival of San Francisco

This is the first Japanese Film Festival in Northern California held along with J-POP SUMMIT for about 2 weeks.[13] At this festival, selected Japanese films are screened, moreover, prominent guests are typically invited from Japan to make appearance on stage for US premiers. Originally, “film” was just one of the contents at J-POP SUMMIT, but for the popularity it gained, it became an independent festival in 2013. Tadanobu Asada, a Japanese actor, received the first Japan Film Festival of San Francisco Honorary Award at the opening night event took that was held at Castro Theatre in 2015.[14]

Sake Summit

Sake Summit is a sake tasting event held under J-POP SUMMIT. Major sake manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are gathered at one place to promote Japanese Sake culture.[15][16] The number of labels available at this event is increasing every year and it reached 52 different sake in 2015.

References

  1. ↑ "HOME". NEW PEOPLE. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  2. ↑ "J-Pop Summit streaks across San Francisco". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  3. ↑ "J-POP SUMMIT 2016". www.j-pop.com. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  4. ↑ "J-Pop Summit - San Francisco, CA at Festival Pavilion | SF Station". www.sfstation.com. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  5. ↑ "Virtual Reality Manga Invades J-Pop Summit". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  6. ↑ "San Francisco's 2014 J-POP Summit Festival Theme is POP Is Our Tradition!". EclipseMagazine. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  7. ↑ "J-POP SUMMIT Festival 2011 ‹ J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL 2014". www.j-pop.com. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  8. ↑ "J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL". www.j-pop.com. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  9. ↑ "J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL 2013". www.j-pop.com. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  10. ↑ "J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVAL 2014". www.j-pop.com. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  11. ↑ "J-POP SUMMIT 2015". www.j-pop.com. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  12. ↑ "The J-POP SUMMIT Moved to Fort Mason Because It's Huge and Awesome This Year". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  13. ↑ "J-films to Make A Showing at San Francisco's First Ever J-film Fest | News | MTV 81". MTV 81. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  14. ↑ "2015 J-Pop Summit and JFFSF Announce Guests of Honor". WatchPlayRead. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  15. ↑ "Japan Love at J-Pop Summit & Sake Summit | Ever In Transit". Ever In Transit. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  16. ↑ "Sake Summit is da Bomb in San Francisco". AsAm News. Retrieved 2016-03-01.

External links

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