For Immediate Release – Toronto, Canada, October 2, 2024 – The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) has partnered with Next Music From Tokyo, to deliver the largest showcase of live performances by independent Japanese musical artists in the world outside of Japan.
Toronto-based anesthesiologist Dr. Steven Tanaka founded the Next Music From Tokyo festival in 2009, which he has continued to produce and fund, as part of a personal mission to deliver the vibrance, creativity and passion of Japanese independent musical artists, to Canadian audiences.
“Next Music From Tokyo blows up the stereotype that Japanese music has to be weird or a novelty to have any artistic value,” explains Tanaka. “Canadian audiences are a little shocked at first at the passion and creativity of the Japanese artists. They’re often blown away, and I love that many become serious fans and follow the careers of the artists. At this point I can’t count the number of people that have come up to me and said ‘that was the best show I’ve ever seen’ and ‘I need to know more about this music’. That’s what really keeps me going.”
“Steve Tanaka is a visionary producer with excellent curatorial instincts,” says lawyer and volunteer JCCC President, Chris Hope. “Next Music From Tokyo is an institution that is totally unique outside of Japan. Partnering with Steve to bring the Next Music From Tokyo experience to wider audiences in the coming years is an exciting step forward for the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre. The JCCC was founded with the motto friendship through culture, to welcome diverse audiences to come together to experience and celebrate Japanese culture, and that is precisely what Next Music From Tokyo does; it builds of bonds of friendship around a shared passion for some really fantastic musical experiences. The JCCC looks forward to working with Steve and the Next Music From Tokyo team.”
All profits from the festival will be directed to the JCCC to support the construction of a music pavilion that will serve as a centre for music instruction, small group recitals, and as a permanent home for Kyowa Taiko, the JCCC’s taiko group.
Next Music From Tokyo joins the expanding roster of JCCC live music programming that in the past year has included sold out solo piano concerts by two of the most sought- after Japanese pianists of their generation, Kyohei Sorita and Hayato Sumino (co- presented with Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts), and a fully staged four-night residency by Tokyo-based Led Zeppelin revival band Mr. Jimmy that replicated allaspects of Led Zeppelin’s legendary 1973 shows at Madison Square Garden with exacting precision. All held at the JCCC’s world class performance auditorium, the Kobayashi Hall.
Although the JCCC has a long history of supporting performances by touring artists at major venues in Toronto, Next Music From Tokyo is the first JCCC-supported musical festival that will be primarily staged outside of the JCCC facility to, as Hope notes, “consistently deliver an amazing cultural experience audiences where they are”, by maintaining its multi-city touring format.
The line-up this year includes Hammer Head Shark, Sabanoomisony, Nikon, Fallsheeps, and Koutei Camera Girl Vier, with shows scheduled from October 4th through 10th:
Toronto
October 4 – Horseshoe Tavern
October 5 – Hard Luck Bar
Montreal
October 7 – Petit Campus
Vancouver
October 9, 10 – Red Gate Arts Society
“Next Music is a perfect fit as the JCCC continues to respond to a strong public interest in Japanese culture through a continued investment in delivering a wide range of cultural experiences to help us to celebrate the very best that Japan has to offer.” Adds Hope, “The JCCC is now consistently presenting Japan without the jetlag, with complete authenticity, from performances at the Kobayashi Hall to large festivals and events at the centre facility and beyond, to celebrating the fact that the JCCC is also home to Kaiseki Yu-zen Hashimoto, one of the first and finest, Michelin Star restaurants in Canada.”
The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre was opened in 1963 by 75 Japanese Canadian families that mortgaged their own homes to build it, 14 years after the end of the WW2 internment, displacement and dispossession of Japanese Canadians. Instead of becoming bitter following their dispossession by their own government, the founders of the JCCC chose to risk all that they had to open the Japanese Canadian Cultural as a friendship centre to welcome all Canadians, with the motto friendship through culture. It is a registered charity and a not-for-profit organization.
For more information on Next Music From Tokyo please visit: www.nextmusicfromtokyo.com
For more information on the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, please visit: www.jccc.on.ca
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