Mieko Kawakami is the acclaimed author of the international bestseller Breasts and Eggs. Born in Osaka, Japan, Kawakami made her literary debut as a poet and published her first novella, My Ego, My Teeth, and the World, in 2007. Her books, translated into over 20 languages, are known for their poetic qualities, insights into the female body, and preoccupation with ethics and modern society. Kawakami’s literary awards include the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, and the Murasaki Shikibu Prize. Heaven, translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd, is on the shortlist for the 2022 International Booker Prize. Her most recent novel that has been translated into English is All the Lovers in the Night and it has been shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Awards in 2023. She lives in Tokyo.
 
photographer: Reiko Toyama

As a director, choreographer and conceiver of new works, Jancuska brings Broadway tenure to an experimental approach of driving the creative process of theatrical narrative with pedestrian and surreal physicality. She collaborates across artistic genres, languages, and geographical locations, creating unexpected collaborations with artists who are typically siloed from creative dance making.
 
Jancuska is the recipient of the Japan-US Creative Fellowship (2024/25), Jerome Robbins “Stories That Move” Residency (2024), CUNY Dance Initiative Fellowship (2024/25), and has been named to the “Women to Watch on Broadway” (2024) by The Broadway Women’s Fund. Her work has been commissioned and presented by The Old Globe Theater, Berkeley Rep, The Public Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Goodspeed, Ars Nova, Little Island, Madison Square Garden, New York Musical Festival, The Drama League, The Skirball Center, Trinity Rep, and Universal Theatrical Group, among others.
 
As Artistic Director of BringAbout for ten consecutive years, Jancuska has collaborated with more than 100 award-winning writers, composers, musicians, creatives and performing artists including Benjamin Velez, Joel Perez, Adam Gwon, Zoe Sarnak, Pig Pen Theatre Company, Taylor Iman Jones, Hannah Cruz, and Scott Wasserman. In this role, she continues to pioneer new methods of integrating dance as a fundamental narrative tool in the development of new musicals and plays. During this time, she also created BC Beat, an acclaimed semi-annual event recognized by The New York Times as “the place to reimagine the possibilities for dance in musical theater.”
 
Alongside a career of creating new work, Jancuska has held full-time positions with Broadway shows, including seven years as Resident Choreographer and Dance Supervisor of HAMILTON on Broadway.
 
Jancuska is a graduate of Cornell University. She has spent time studying, teaching and creating in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, London, Rio, Paris, and Shanghai. She loves live music, languages, jungles, rock climbing, collaboration, and living in Brooklyn as a family of four.
 
jenniferjancuska.com
@jencuska

Ging Gang Gong is a Kobe-based performance group formed by Keifu Hashimoto, Alain Sinandja, and Kita Takayuki. The group blends African and Japanese traditions to create vibrant cultural experiences. Known for their performances at events like the African Festival and Takatsuki Jazz Festival, they also founded the popular ‘g.g.g.fest.’ series, which brings diverse performances to local communities. In 2024, highlights included headlining the Happy African Festival and presenting the solo show Next New… Ging Gang Gong’s work fosters cultural connection, joy, and unity, bridging traditions through dance, music, and celebration, and inspiring audiences along the way.

J’Sun Howard is a Chicago-based dancemaker whose work centers intimate, generous, and compassionate play between Black and Brown men. His interdisciplinary performances draw from improvisation, visual art, ritual, and poetics to explore care, queer lineage, memory, and transformation through the body. His choreography has been commissioned or presented by institutions such as Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Arts Club of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, Danspace Project (NYC), Center for Performance Research (NYC), Art Theatre Dance Box Kobe (Japan), and M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. His work has also appeared at the New Dance Festival (South Korea), where he received the Best Dance Choreographer Award in 2019, as well as international festivals in Taiwan and Vietnam.
 
Howard is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the inaugural 2020 Esteemed Artist Award from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and support from the Asian Cultural Council, the National Performance Network, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the US-Japan Friendship Commission. He has been a Links Hall Co-MISSION Fellow, Ragdale Foundation Sybil Shearer Fellow, 3Arts Make A Wave Awardee, and a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist. His choreography has also been commissioned by Common Conservatory, Northwestern University, Columbia College Chicago, and World Dance Alliance. He holds an MFA and a Graduate Certificate in World Performance Studies from the University of Michigan.

Kira Matsubara-Dane is a Japanese American filmmaker and illustrator, currently based in rural Japan. She is best known for her short animated documentary “Mizuko.” The film received a nomination for the IDA Awards, Special Jury Awards at SXSW and IDFA, and Best Documentary Short at the Atlanta Film Festival. Kira was chosen as a fellow of the Sundance Ignite Program in 2019 and Berlinale Talents in 2023. She is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and A-Doc. Outside of and informing her path as an artist, Kira is practicing and studying Tibetan Buddhism, while taking lessons in the Tibetan language.

Katelyn Rebelo is a documentary and experimental filmmaker whose work uses intentionally slow processes such as handcrafted animation, analog manipulation, and rhythms found in nature to explore personal stories that question systems of power. Her film “Mizuko” was supported by Tribeca Film Institute, and is now streaming on The Criterion Channel. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the IDA Documentary Awards, won Best Documentary Short at the Atlanta Film Festival, and received special jury awards at SXSW and IDFA. From 2021 – 2022, she was a Jacob Burns Creative Culture Filmmaking Fellow. Most recently, her film “Through Sunless Ways” premiered at DOC NYC 2023, and “I Don’t Know If You Remember This” screened at Film Diary NYC 2024.

Mariko Kobayashi (b. 1987, Osaka, Japan) graduated MA Fine Art Textile at Tama Art University in 2012. The artist depicts different connections that exist in the world by utilizing textile techniques such as weaving, dyeing, knitting, and stitching. Recent works were shown in FUJI TEXTILE WEEK 2022 (Yamanashi, 2022), Azamino Contemporary vol.13 (Kanagawa, 2022), Powerlong Museum (Shanghai, 2022), Reborn Art Festival (Miyagi, 2021), Solo exhibition at KOTARO NUKAGA (Tokyo, 2021), CADAN Yurakucho (Tokyo, 2020).

mariko-kobayashi.com

Andrea Myers is a multidisciplinary artist focusing on textiles, paper, installation and the space between two and three-dimensionality through abstraction, patterning and saturated color. She received her BFA in Printmedia in 2002 and her MFA in Fiber and Material Studies in 2006 both from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited widely including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Toledo Museum of Art, Fiber Arts International, the Columbus Museum of Art, Akron Art Museum, and the Springfield Art Museum.

Andrea Myers has participated in artist residencies at Ox-Bow in Saugatuck, MI, A Studio in the Woods, a program of Tulane University (New Orleans), Fortress Man Textile Symposium (Daugavpils, Latvia), the Textile Art Center (New York City), and in 2018 traveled to Dresden, Germany for two months as part of the Greater Columbus Arts Council artist exchange program. Myers was one of five 2011 Efroymson Fellowship recipients and has also been awarded artist’s grants from the City of Chicago, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Greater Columbus Arts Council.
 
andreamyersartist.com

Tamotsu Teshima is an acclaimed architect and educator based in Tokyo, Japan, where his office Tamotsu Teshima Architect & Associates produces rational, beautiful architecture that is sensitive to the landscape and responsive to historical context. He is a lecturer in architecture at the Tokyo University of Science.

Spiegel Aihara Workshop is a transdisciplinary design firm, operating at the nexus of architecture, landscape, and urban design. Megumi and Dan believe in the transformative power of good design, in the inextricable relationship between building and context, and in the vital role the built environment plays in the development of community. They view design as a collaborative, research-based process, and work closely with clients to better understand their needs and advance their goals. Current recipients of the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome.

Megumi Aihara, SAW founder, and Landscape Architect, has played a significant role in the design and construction of landscapes of all scales across the United States and beyond. Her work at SAW and her teaching focuses on blurring distinctions between landscape and architecture. She holds an MLA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and is a licensed Landscape Architect in California and Hawaii.

SAW founder Dan Spiegel is an architect and educator, leading the SAW’s architectural practice while leading advanced graduate architecture studios at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design. Dan’s work spans scales and timelines, intertwining the conceptual with practical, using a background in Public Policy to engage design as tool for community engagement and development. Dan was the recipient of the League Prize from the Architectural League of New York in 2018. He holds an MArch from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and is a licensed Architect in California and Hawaii.

A photographer based in Tokyo. While Seo specializes in portrait and commercial photography, he also works for the Pacific Kids Mural Foundation as a director. He has been documenting various arts made by kids at the Chara-Rimpa Project.

seohiroaki.com

An artist and president of Team Sakura Art Project Inc. Sakura received a PhD in fine arts from Tokyo University of the Arts. A 2003 ISCP fellow. His project Kodomo Energy Summit, which incorporated arts with green energy education, received a Good Design Award and Kids Design Award in 2015. He also dedicates himself to cultural exchange for kids through the Chara-Rimpa Project.

tsap.biz

The director of Lumbini Kindergarten in Saiki City, Japan. After studying social anthropology in the United States and England, Kuwakado established the Pacific Kids Mural Foundation together with Yasuyuki Sakura and Hiroaki Seo. He works on the Chara-Rimpa Project to promote mural art and cultural exchange projects for kids and communities around the world.

lumbini-kind.net

packmf.org

Ben Volta creates intricate public murals and sculptures, working within the fields of education, restorative justice, and urban planning. His practice stands on the belief that art can be a catalyst for change. As a young artist, Volta was a member of the groundbreaking art collective Tim Rollins and K.O.S. and was awarded a Pew Fellowship in 2015. For almost two decades, Volta has been developing a collaborative process with Philadelphia public schools to create participatory art rooted in an exploratory and educational process.

benvolta.com

While studying sculpture at Pratt Institute, Funakoshi was instead inspired by cooking and transferred to a culinary school in New York City. Funakoshi continued to learn cooking at one of New York City’s most esteemed kitchens, Blue Hill, and traveled to Europe and regions of Asia to further explore food culture. Her travels have taken her across the Pacific Ocean as chef for an Australian cruise ship, as well as chef for a long-established hotel in Bali. In May 2018, Masayo opened her own studio, tea salon, and private restaurant, Farmoon, in Kyoto.

A multidisciplinary visual artist working in sculpture, site-specific installation, drawing, and photography. Schlesinger’s work is fundamentally concerned with place: how the natural environment, architectural context and engagement, and historical precedent contribute to experience and understanding. His upbringing as a second-generation carpenter (with a focus on traditional craftsmanship) and involvement with a small farm have jointly influenced the philosophy of his work. He has exhibited in galleries and museums in the U.S. and Japan.

jesseschlesinger.com

Based in Tokyo, Natsuka Endo and Hiroyuki Abe work together as an artist duo, as well as making artworks individually. Their works are based on artistic research about local history or the people who lived there, making installations with drawings and videos to visualize their memories and personal experiences.

Hiroyukiabe.com

natsukaendo.com

For more than 20 years, the Oakland-based creative team marksearch has been designing interactive opportunities for communities to publicly share personal histories for empowerment. From neighbor-led walking discussions to sidewalk performances, commemorative plaques recognizing generations’ old collective knowledge, and collaborative murals, their global projects preserve neighborhood narratives.

marksearch.org

Shimazaki first began choreographing while he was the director of the ballet department of the Sitter School of Dance in Canada, 1990. He has since choreographed in Europe, America, and in his native Japan for many renowned dance companies, including Japan’s National New Tokyo Theatre, Grand Theatre de Geneve, the Royal Ballet of Flanders, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Introdans, Singapore Dance Theater, and Colorado Ballet. He is presently the directing professor of the dance program in the Music Department of Kobe Jogakuin College, Japan.

toru-shimazaki.com

A New York City-based choreographer, dancer, educator, and author. McKinney founded Kizuna Dance in 2014 with the mission of creating works that celebrate the Japanese language and culture. He recently received a three-month individual fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council to travel to Japan and continue his studies on the intersections of street dance and butoh. He has presented choreographic work nationally and internationally, as well as leading workshops, master classes, and residencies. He is currently on the faculty at the Gibney Dance Center.

cameronmckinneydance.com

A performer of Gidayu-style shamisen based in Tokyo. Tsuruzawa completed a master’s degree in musicology at Tokyo University of the Arts and now teaches at Tokyo College of Music. In 2018 she was designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Property for her artistry by the government of Japan. She has performed with various contemporary music projects in Tokyo and other places, including New York, Boston, and Toronto in 2019 through the support of the Japan Foundation.

Studied under Katsuya Yokoyama and several masters of the komuso shakuhachi tradition. A graduate of the NHK School of Traditional Music, Nakamura went on to study composition and jazz theory at Berklee College of Music. He was awarded a master’s degree in composition and third-stream music at the New England Conservatory. While still grounding his roots in the classical tradition handed down by komuso monks, Nakamura has delved into different musical genres, including rock, jazz, and contemporary music.

akikazu.jp

A composer, conductor, percussionist, and technologist based in Philadelphia, where he is an assistant professor of music technology and composition at Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance. Vidiksis holds degrees from New York University and a PhD in music composition from Temple University. His music often explores sound, science, and the intersection of humankind with the machines we build. Vidiksis’s research in music technology focuses on techniques for realtime audio processing, designing gestural controllers for live digital performance, and machine improvisation.

vidiksis.com

Gene Coleman is a composer, musician, and director. A 2014 Guggenheim Fellow and the winner of the 2013 Berlin Prize for Music, he has created more than 70 works for various instrumentation and media. Innovative use of sound, image, space, and time allows Coleman to create work that expands our understanding of the world. Since 2001 his work has focused on the global transformation of culture and music’s relationship with science, architecture, video, and dance. He studied painting, music, and new media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

genecolemancomposer.com