Â鶹´«Ã½

Tag - summer-sonic

 
Â鶹´«Ã½
Search
 
August 14, 2026
 

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

SUMMER SONIC

Naoki Shimizu, president of Creativeman Productions, has learned many lessons while overseeing the growth of Summer Sonic over the past 25 years.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 13, 2026
The man behind 25 years of Summer Sonic
Naoki Shimizu reflects on 25 years of Summer Sonic, from Green Day and broken AC to 300,000 fans.
Summer Sonic stalwarts Babymetal curated an eclectic lineup to celebrate the summer music festival's 25th anniversary.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 10, 2026
Too much music, not enough weekend: A guide to Summer Sonic 2026
From metal to 1990s dance nostalgia, this year¡¯s event packs an absurd amount of music into one long weekend.
The Sphere in Las Vegas lights up after an earnings report in 2024. SBI Holdings is exploring a similar idea for a venue in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Apr 9, 2026
Tokyo¡¯s concert scene searches for its next act
Tokyo¡¯s live music future is coming into focus ¡ª and it looks more domestic, and possibly more immersive.
Kaze Fujii, seen here performing in Kuala Lumpur in 2024 during his Asia Tour, is one of the domestic acts set to perform at this year's Fuji Rock Festival.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 20, 2026
Kaze Fujii, Massive Attack among Fuji Rock Festival 2026 performers announced
Among the 66 acts unveiled, are also Khruangbin, The xx, Asian Kung-Fu Generation and more.
American rockers The Strokes will perform at the 25th edition of Summer Sonic, one of Â鶹´«Ã½ biggest summer music festivals.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 2, 2026
Summer Sonic marks 25 years with expanded 2026 festival
To mark its quarter-century milestone, the music festival is stretching to three days and featuring major acts such as The Strokes, Jennie, Jamiroquai and L¡¯Arc-en-Ciel.
Summer Sonic¡¯s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including ¡°new kawaii¡± act Fruits Zipper.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2025
Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it
Summer Sonic 2025 showcased Â鶹´«Ã½ pop power: Mrs. Green Apple, Hikaru Utada and rising stars outshone the festival¡¯s headliners.
Metal-meets-idol trio Babymetal is sure to bring spectacle to this weekend's Summer Sonic.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 13, 2025
The early bird gets the bangers at this year¡¯s Summer Sonic
This year¡¯s festival makes its biggest moves before noon, with Â鶹´«Ã½ top acts and K-pop stars commanding early slots.
Okinawan rapper Awich ruled the summer music festival circuit last year. Which act will prove to be the most memorable in 2025?
CULTURE / Music
Jun 23, 2025
Stage dive into summer: Â鶹´«Ã½ best music festivals, month by month
The weather will be hot, but the concert calendar is looking even hotter.
Oasis band members Liam and Noel Gallagher are the subjects of a mural by artist Pic.One.Art in the Burnage area of Manchester, England.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Sep 14, 2024
A potential reunited Oasis gig in Japan should have promoters salivating
The British rock act has a huge Japanese following, one that could provide a much-needed shot in the arm for the country¡¯s summer festivals.
British hard rock outfit Bring Me the Horizon delivered a dramatic set that featured a surprise appearance from local metal-meets-idol group Babymetal.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 23, 2024
Summer Sonic: The heat doesn¡¯t matter when the lineup works
Where would you see a bill with Maneskin, Gen Hoshino, Christina Aguilera and Bring Me the Horizon in the prime slots? At a sold-out music festival, that¡¯s where.
J-pop act Atarashii Gakko! is set to deliver a jubilant performance at Summer Sonic this weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2024
Summer Sonic bets on a more local lineup
The international music festival seeks to boost attendance figures with more domestic and Asian acts such as Atarashii Gakko!, Number_i and Creepy Nuts.
Fuji Rock Festival's smaller stages such as the Field of Heaven offer a number of younger acts that demonstrate the thrilling new directions Japanese music is taking in the 2020s.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2024
Domestic acts at Fuji Rock¡¯s smaller stages are not to be missed
From Summer Eye to Nene, this year¡¯s gathering offers one of the strongest collections of Japanese music present at a large-scale festival in recent times.
You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 4, 2024
Â鶹´«Ã½ summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one
Summer music festivals are back, but for how long? Climate change is putting the heat on our favorite outdoor entertainment.
Festivalgoers sit at dining tables next to food stalls at the Tomorrowland electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium, last year. The event is set to take place in Thailand in 2026.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 26, 2024
Thailand to host two major music events after Taylor Swift miss
The Southeast Asian country plans to welcome two foreign music festivals, one of them Japanese, to help boost tourism.
Crowds packed the Mountain Stage at Summer Sonic for Yoasobi¡¯s set on Saturday and went wild when the J-pop duo played the opening notes of ¡°Idol.¡±
CULTURE / Music
Aug 25, 2023
Summer Sonic closes out the season with one hot party
Asian artists NewJeans, Gen Hoshino, Awich and Babymetal drew impressive crowds at the summer festival despite the overbearing heat.
Creativeman President Naoki Shimizu says Summer Sonic has been featuring an increasing number of Asian acts in recent years, a change that reflects the growing number of Asian visitors attending the music festival. This year¡¯s standouts include K-pop group NewJeans, whose Summer Sonic performance will be its first Japan show ever.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 18, 2023
NewJeans, Blur and Kendrick Lamar head to Summer Sonic
While Summer Sonic¡¯s reputation as an international showcase holds strong, the event has become an important launchpad for homegrown performers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 9, 2023
Summer music festivals aim to bring the good times back
The return of summer festivals means live music is back, with events featuring overseas acts alongside K-pop and pool parties.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Feb 25, 2023
Festival organizers hope to woo tourists with Lizzo, Blur and Kendrick
With Â鶹´«Ã½ borders back open, major concerts have once again become a staple of the live ecosystem, and Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic are courting tourists to boost the festival industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Aug 27, 2022
Online discourse sends netizens into a tizzy over Summer Sonic controversies
Two Japanese groups came under criticism online for seemingly mocking foreign acts during the music festival, even though many of the commentators were nowhere near the real-life scene.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 2022
Overseas acts make a joyous return to Summer Sonic
The future of live concerts seems much firmer after this year¡¯s edition of the two-day music festival, which featured acts such as The 1975, Post Malone, Megan Thee Stallion and Maneskin.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
New ¡®Katsu Curry Index¡¯ aims to show how weak the yen really is
A CoCo Ichibanya curry house in Tokyo.
Mexican man arrested over attempt to smuggle some 200 lizards into Japan
Mexican alligator lizards seized by Tokyo Customs from a Mexican man who attempted to smuggle them into Japan on Saturday through Haneda Airport
Gut bacteria may be behind many of Â鶹´«Ã½ colorectal cancer cases
A Japanese research team found that a toxin produced by certain E. coli strains, colibactin, caused genetic mutations in nearly half of colorectal cancer cases studied
She is Russia¡¯s richest woman. Her business empire is going up in flames.
Tatyana Kim, the head and co-founder of Wildberries, speaks about Ukrainian drone attacks on the company's warehouses in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, at an unidentified location, in this still image from a handout video released on July 31.
Forty-five meters down, a diver races to record a fleeting moment of WWII history
Kingo Wakasa photographs the kamikaze plane wing section he discovered at the USS Emmons wreck site.
Ikarigata closer to emulating older brother Fujinokawa than many think
The future Fujinokawa (third from left) and Ikarigata (right) compete against each other at ages 5 and 3, respectively.
Where do foreign residents in Japan want to die?
The Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery is one of the few cemeteries in Japan that allows burials, albeit with conditions for the deceased, including foreign nationality and permanent residency in Kanagawa Prefecture.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER