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1-13-2 Kabukicho, Shinjuku Ward
Art-yoko
[Food & Drink][Merchandise][Pop-up Exhibition][Performance][Talk]
Image by 〇九一四(サ世木+徐美玉)
Location: Ojo Building 1F
Date and time: All day
(11/1 (Sat) 15:00-5:00 / 11/2 (Sun) 15:00-5:00 /
11/3 (Monday/Holiday) 15:00-1:00)
*For performance times and other details, please refer to the timetable.
Price: BENTEN2 ticket
Detailed schedule for each program will be announced later.
As an alternative experiment in response to the countless “yokocho” (back-alley districts) that continue to proliferate amid Tokyo’s redevelopment boom, artists, art communities, and diverse cultural practitioners from across Japan will gather on the first floor of the Ojo Building.
From 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., the venue will host the most chaotic yokocho event yet—featuring food and drinks, pop-up shops, exhibitions, performances, live music, workshops, and talk sessions in a vibrant,
ever-shifting mix.
Throughout the day and late into the night, the lineup of events and participants will change dramatically, offering an experience that mirrors the ever-evolving ecosystem of the city itself.
It aims to be a place that feels chaotic yet somehow comfortable—a space people will want to return to again and again.
Additional participating artists and vendors will be announced in the coming updates.
Exhibitors: (in no particular order)
KANE-ZANMAI / Existence Restaurant / Takasegawa Monitoring Department / 0914 / Koushinkyoku / Satokai Publishing :‐) / Kaze no Hito, / Yamanaka Suplex / Genjin no Ran / Pylon Shop / Modern Angels / Tomo City Museum of Art / Asama Onsen Darazou / andmore...
Live Music Performances: (in no particular order)
Nutomic / Go Murakami (Punk Rocker Labor Union, Red Riot Band) / Takuma Imao (Ft. Wataru Kikuchi, Aoi Tagami) / Blue Wind (Aokid + Kaze Sakai + Marie Yoda) / Motegimiyu / Transparent Radiation / Nanaka Haga /
and more...
talk show:
Amateur Remnants Radio/and more...
Pop-up exhibits: (in no particular order)
Takumi Hirayama/THE COPY TRAVELERS/0914
Workshop “BOKUNOU BENTEN Fake Logo: Silk Screen Printing Service”
KANE-ZANMAI
DOMMUNE KABUKICHO
[Exhibition] [Performance] [Talk]
Venue: Ōjō Building
Dates: November 1 (Sat) / November 2 (Sun) / November 3 (Mon)
Time: 15:00–24:00
Participants: Noritaka Ameya, Naohiro Ukawa, Shunya Yoshimi, Ryuta Ushiro,
JAZZDOMMUNE = Naruyoshi Kikuchi × Yosuke Otani, COSMICLAB, Satoru Kimura
LIVE:
VMO × Noritaka Ameya
VMO × MERZBOW
LIVE Performance:
New Species of ImmigrationsB × Maki Nomiya
Tickets:
-
BENTEN 2 Ticket (Exhibition Only)
-
Add-on: DOMMUNE KABUKICHO Ticket (Event)
DOMMUNE KABUKICHO: A Site-Specific Core Satellite Studio in the Heart of Kabukicho, Organized by Naohiro Ukawa’s DOMMUNE!
Naohiro Ukawa—one of the most extreme and influential figures in Japan’s contemporary art scene—launched DOMMUNE in 2010 as Japan’s first live-streaming studio, envisioning it as a new cultural transmission hub for the age of social streaming. Ukawa positions the acts of filming, broadcasting, and archiving the studio’s daily programs as his own contemporary art practice, embodying what he calls “lifelog art.”
Since its inception, DOMMUNE has remained a one-of-a-kind cultural platform, welcoming guests from around the world whenever they visit Japan. This time, DOMMUNE breaks out of its home base—SUPERDOMMUNE on the 9th floor of Shibuya PARCO—to open its 17th satellite studio, DOMMUNE KABUKICHO, once again in the basement of the Ōjō Building!
During the event period, Ukawa and his crew will take up residence in the Ōjō Building—the headquarters of BENTEN 2, directed by Chim↑Pom from Smappa!Group, who have long been active in Kabukicho—and deliver a barrage of site-specific, hardcore programs night after night!!!
● A single same-day ticket allows entry to all events on that day.
● DOMMUNE KABUKICHO
https://www.dommune.com/streamings/2025/110101/
November 1 (Sat)
19:00–21:00 Talk: Satoru Kimura
21:00–22:30 Talk: Norisome Ameya × Naohiro Ukawa
23:00–24:00 Live Performance: VMO × Norimizu Ameya
November 2 (Sun)
19:00–20:30 Talk: Shunya Yoshimi × Ryuta Ushiro
20:30–22:30 Talk: COSMICLAB × Naohiro Ukawa
23:00–24:00 Live Performance: VMO × Merzbow
November 3 (Mon / Holiday)
20:00–22:00 Talk & Live: JAZZDOMMUNE = Naruyoshi Kikuchi × Yoshio Ootani
22:15–23:00 Live Performance: New Species of ImmigrationsB × Maki Nomiya
UKAWA NAOHIRO
“Current” Artist / Founder of DOMMUNE
Born in 1968. A “current” artist (gen-zai bijutsuka), filmmaker, graphic designer, VJ, writer, and university professor—Naohiro Ukawa is an all-encompassing creator whose activities have spanned multiple fields since the late 1980s.
Since participating in Buzz Club: News from Japan (MoMA PS1, New York, 2001) and JAM: Tokyo–London (Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2001), he has presented works in numerous exhibitions in Japan and abroad. In 2010, Ukawa launched DOMMUNE, Japan’s first live-streaming studio and channel, entirely on his own initiative. He positions the acts of filming, broadcasting, and archiving DOMMUNE’s daily programs as his own “current art” practice.
In 2016, he opened the satellite studio DOMMUNE LINZ! in the 500-meter-long train hall at Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria), followed by DOMMUNE SETOUCHI at the Setouchi Triennale in 2019—both of which garnered significant attention.
Over the years, DOMMUNE has participated in numerous international contemporary art exhibitions, establishing satellite studios across the globe—in London, Dortmund, Stockholm, Paris, Mumbai, Linz, Fukushima, Yamaguchi, Osaka, Kagawa, Kanazawa, Akita, Sapporo, Sado Island, and Kabukicho—continually exploring the meanings of presence (here and now) and omnipresence (anytime, anywhere).
Over the past 14 years, DOMMUNE has produced approximately 7,000 programs, totaling 15,000 hours (over 200 terabytes of content) and reaching a cumulative audience of more than 200 million viewers worldwide.
In 2021, Ukawa received the 71st Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize.
https://www.dommune.com/
DOMMUNE KABUKICHO
｢Arv100」Multiple Installations
Arv100 Concept & Conduct by ∈Y∋
Presented by
TOPPING EAST & DOMMUNE & COSMIC LAB & KABUKICHO EXPANDED
【Exhibition】Can be viewed with a BENTEN2 ticket only
Arv100 – 100th Anniversary of the Arakawa Floodway | SUMIDAGAWA DOTOU 2024
Arv100 is a monumental wave of sound conducted by ∈Y∋ of BOREDOMS, created together with 200 cymbal players. This unprecedented surge and vortex of sound rose up at the Arakawa Lock Gate on November 3, 2024!
Since 2007, BOREDOMS have presented their massive multi-drum performances, BOADRUM, in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, London, Byron Bay, and at FREEDOMMUNE in Japan. In 2018, at the Sado Island Galaxy Art Festival, ∈Y∋ led 88 cymbal players in a breathtaking performance. The latest and largest evolution of these projects, Arv100, was conceptually designed and conducted by ∈Y∋, bringing together a publicly recruited cymbal ensemble—known as the “Cymbalers”—along with musicians, to create the most expansive performance in the series’ history.
NORIMIZU AMEYA
Born in 1961. At age 17, Ameya joined Jōkyō Gekijō (Situation Theatre), led by Jūrō Kara, working as a sound staff member. In 1984, he became independent and founded Tokyo Grand Guignol. After working with the performance unit MMM and in collaboration with artist Haruko Mikami, Ameya shifted his focus to contemporary art in the 1990s, based at Röntgen Kunst Institute.
In 1995, he participated in the Venice Biennale with Public Semen / Kōshū Seishi, but shortly thereafter opened Dōbutsudō, a pet shop dealing with diverse species, marking a temporary shift toward animal care and sales.
He resumed artistic activity in 2005 with the exhibition Ba ng nt, during which he confined himself in a box for 24 days, consuming only the minimum necessary amount of food.
Since 2007, while centering his work on theatre, Ameya has moved fluidly across genres—collaborating with musicians such as Yoshihide Ōtomo, Fuyuki Yamakawa, Tavito Nanao, Tenniscoats, MARK, and Ichiko Aoba; co-creating with novelists Sumito Yamashita and Mariko Asabuki; and forming the unit Grand Guignol Mirai with art critic Noi Sawaragi. His practice continues to expand across disciplines and generations.
https://ameyainfo.tumblr.com/
SATORU KIMURA
Aesthetician and dance critic. Professor at the Faculty of International Studies, Japan Women’s University. Her main areas of expertise include modern aesthetics, dance studies, and the philosophy of laughter. Her major publications include Developing the Dance of the Future: An Introduction to Physical Art Theory (Media Sōgō Kenkyūjo) and The Philosophy of Laughter (Kodansha). Since 2014, she has directed BONUS, a “platform for making dance,” through which she has collaborated with numerous artists on creative projects centered around dance.
VMO a.k.a Violent Magic Orchestra
A group of humans who brazenly take their names from legendary black metal bands such as Darkthrone, Mayhem, and Emperor—the last one being led by Shuichi Manabe, the former core member of Soutaiseiriron and composer of “Chu, Tayōsei.”
Their visuals are handled by KEZZARDRIX, who has previously created live visuals for millennium parade and BABYMETAL. The project was originally formed around three strobe lights (now five) and a smoke machine, before vocalist Zastar joined the lineup.
VMO claims to have arrived from the planet HELVETECH in the year 2099. Their sound is a blinding fusion of techno, black metal, industrial, noise, and GABBER—an incandescent, smoke-filled art music project often described as “Black Metal meets Kraftwerk” or “Aphex Twin in corpse paint.”
Currently, they are said to be the most power-hungry unit in Japan’s live and club scene, consuming a total of 5,000 watts—the equivalent of 56 amplifiers—in their performances.
Their first album, Catastrophic Anonymous, featuring Chip King (The Body), Attila (MAYHEM), and SUNN O))), was released in Japan via Virgin Babylon Records (run by world’s end girlfriend) and internationally through Throatruiner Records, under Converge’s DEATHWISH Inc.
VMO has performed at major festivals around the world, including Roadburn Festival, BANGFACE, Brutal Assault, and Le Guess Who?
https://linktr.ee/ViolentMagicOrchestra
SHUNYA YOSHIMI
Born in 1957. Sociologist. Professor at the Faculty of Tourism and Community Development, Kokugakuin University, and Professor Emeritus at The University of Tokyo.
Yoshimi has played a central role in the development of cultural studies in Japan, advancing urban theory and media theory through a performance-oriented approach. Over his long career at the University of Tokyo, he served in numerous key positions, including Dean of the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, Director of the Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, Director of the Office for Strategic Planning, Vice President, Chair of the University of Tokyo Press, President of The University of Tokyo Newspaper, President of the Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication, President of the Japan Digital Archive Society, and Chairperson of the Tokyo Cultural Resources Conference.
His major publications include The Dramaturgy of the City (Kawade Bunko), The Politics of Expositions (Kodansha Gakujutsu Bunko), Tokyo Inside Out (Shueisha Shinsho), and Tokyo as the Defeated City (Chikuma Shobo), among many others.
https://www.kokugakuin.ac.jp/account/349143
RYUTA USHIRO
Member of Chim↑Pom from Smappa!Group, an artist collective founded in Tokyo in 2005. Chim↑Pom is known for its sharp social commentary and fearless engagement with contemporary realities, producing powerful works that intervene directly in society. In addition to participating in exhibitions worldwide, the collective has initiated numerous independent projects.
Major solo exhibitions include Chim↑Pom: Happy Spring (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2022) and Threat of Peace (Art in General, New York, 2019), among many others in Japan and abroad.
Beyond his work with the collective, Ushiro is also active as an organizer and writer. His key publications include Theory of Activism as Art (East Press, 2020) and The Age of the Public (co-authored with Osamu Matsuda, Asahi Shuppan, 2019).
http://chimpom.jp/
COSMICLAB
A live visual laboratory founded by visual artist C.O.L.O, COSMICLAB explores the expansion of human perception through experiences where the visible and invisible intersect.
Its major works include audio-visual performances with ∈Y∋ (BOREDOMS), the stage production THE TRIP co-created with Jeff Mills, and The Light of Koyasan: 1200 Years, a large-scale collaboration integrating the chants of 100 Buddhist monks with visual art.
Focusing on the era of post-XR (Expanded Reality), COSMICLAB develops immersive visual systems that dissolve the boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds. The collective also created installations for ZEROTOKYO / Zepp Shinjuku (TOKYO).
https://cosmiclab.jp/
MERZBOW
A vegan straight-edge noise project by Masami Akita. Active since the early 1980s, Akita emerged from Japan’s pioneering noise and industrial scene, releasing works mainly through overseas labels.
In the 1990s, influenced by grindcore, he released albums on the death metal label Relapse Records. In the 2000s, resonating with Mego’s “punk computer music” movement, he adopted a laptop-based live performance style.
Since around 2003, Akita has practiced veganism from an animal rights perspective, producing works themed around anti-whaling, anti-dolphin hunting, and anti-fur. In recent years, he has returned to analog equipment, focusing on richly textured, hand-crafted noise production.
https://merzbow.net/
NARUYOSHI KIKUCHI,YOSHIO OHTANI
Formed in 2010, JAZZ DOMMUNISTERS is a HIP HOP duo consisting of Naruyoshi Kikuchi and Yoshio Ootani. The two are widely recognized as a jazz musician and jazz critic duo — known for their co-authored books such as The School That Taught Melancholy and Sensuality, The Albert Ayler of the University of Tokyo, M/D, and Afro-Disney, as well as for their legendary radio show Wednesday WANTED and the music education TV program The School That Taught Melancholy and Sensuality TV.
While they share a deep background in jazz, both are devoted HIP HOP enthusiasts — Kikuchi from the genre’s early days and Ootani from Japan’s “middle school” HIP HOP generation represented by Thumpin’ Camp. Following their belief that “HIP HOP is the grandchild of JAZZ, viewing FUNK as its father through an anti-Oedipal lens,” they have long pursued the genetic and conceptual parallels between the two forms.
Their debut album BIRTH OF DOMMUNIST (2013, Bureau Kikuchi) was followed by Cupid & Bataille, Dirty Microphone (2017), which garnered significant attention. The name “JAZZ DOMMUNISTERS” derives from their ongoing DOMMUNE program JAZZ DOMMUNE (since 2010, later published as a book in 2012), created by artist Naohiro Ukawa. The duo channels the ultra-modern art performances from that program into the expressive mode of HIP HOP.
https://www.kikuchinaruyoshi.net/
https://www.ootany.com
New ImmigrationsB
This is a new type of band that combines Toyama Masamichi's poetry with guitar, drums, and theremin in an improvisational style. They have released 17 singles and one album, including a collaboration with Nomiya Maki. They are expanding their venues for expression one after another, collaborating with Ochiai Yoichi at the Osaka Kansai Expo null², Roppongi Art Night, Lucky Fest, and more.
*Photo: Mamiko Nonaka
Instagram
MAKI NOMIYA
Musician/Essayist Born in 1960. Made her solo debut in 1981 with "Pink Heart." After Portable Rock, which was formed in 1982, she joined Pizzicato Five in 1990. As the original "Queen of Shibuya-kei," she sparked the Shibuya-kei movement around the world, and has since become a worldwide music and fashion icon. Currently active as a solo artist, she is active in many fields, including music, fashion, health and beauty production, and as an essayist. Her 40th anniversary album, "New Beautiful," is now on sale.
Official Site
Instagram
Lived Shinjuku
［"Situation" Theatre］ [Exhibition] [Performance]
Venue: Ojo Building 2F
Date and time: All day
11/1 (Sat) 15:00-5:00
11/2 (Sun) 15:00-5:00
11/3 (Monday/Holiday) 15:00-23:00
*For performance times and other details, please refer to the timetable.
Price: BENTEN2 ticket
Starting with the "Shinjuku" exhibition held at MoMA in 1975, this exhibition, part of the "Lived Shinjuku" series, will be held at three venues. It will be a theatrical exhibition that intertwines the thoughts of critic Koji Taki with an archive of actions that occurred in Shinjuku. It reinterprets the title of Kara Juro's "Situation Theater," and is centered around the set used in Karagumi's "Kamishibai no E no Machi de." While creating a performative space, it will visualize the theatricality of Shinjuku, treating the city as a stage for situations.
Participants: Karagumi, Yamamoto Juzo, and others. Performance appearances: Inari Takuo, Fukumoto Yuki, Harada Tsumugi, Sato Maiko, Mino Arata, Yoon Won, and others. *This exhibition is being held as part of "Alive Shinjuku," which consists of three venues in Shinjuku.
Karagumi Theatre Company
This theater company, also known as the "Red Tent," is run by Juro Kara. Since the early 1960s, Juro Kara has run the Situation Theatre, a theater company based in a temporary tent that has performed in major cities across Japan.
Their work has had a profound impact and inspiration on society by suddenly creating extraordinary spaces within modern urban spaces and by bringing into being a unique theatrical world. In 1988, the company changed its name to "Karagumi," added new members, and further developed the techniques it had cultivated since its days as Situation Theatre. Twice a year, in the spring and fall, the members themselves are responsible for and create everything from tent construction to stage design, sound, lighting, costumes, and every other detail.
©︎KARAGUMI
『息をし続けている』 BENTEN 2025 Version／ One Breath Followed by Another
Maiko Sato
After graduating from the Cello Department of Tokyo College of Music, he has worked on producing music for TV dramas, stage plays, and films, as well as arranging bands as a cellist, performing in a Japanese-Western fusion unit with koto and shamisen, performing solo live shows, and nurturing the next generation of musicians. He continues to develop his creative style in a wide range of genres, focusing on originality.
Juzo Yamamoto
Born August 3, 1988, in Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, he began working as an actor in 2013. He first joined the Karagumi Theater Company in 2019, where he remains to this day. His appearances with the Karagumi Theater Company include the 63rd performance "The Eyes of the Jaguar" (2019), the 66th performance "Call from the Girl City" (2021), and the 70th performance "Red Shoes" (Young Performers' Performance) (2023).
Takuo Inari
He joined the Kara-gumi theater company in 1991 and has starred in many productions. He is currently active both with Kara-gumi and in film productions. His recent major appearances include the film "Muromachi Burai" (2025, directed by Irie Yu), the stage "Flower and Dragon" (2025, directed by Nagatsuka Keishi), and the stage play "Macbeth" (2025, directed by Yoshida Kotaro).
Yuki Fukumoto
Born July 26, 1993, in Hyogo Prefecture. Recent appearances include "SIZUKO! QUEEN OF BOOGIE - High Heels and False Eyelashes" (2025), directed by Akira Shirai, Office 300 production "Shojo Kamen" (2025), directed by Eri Watanabe, Flying Theatre Jiyugekijo's "Gentle Breeze, Witches, and Macbeth" (2025), directed by Kazumi Kushida, and Karagumi's "The Day the Zoo Disappears" (2024), along Sarugaku Street, Zoshigaya, and Onigami.
Tsumugi Harada
Actor. Born in 1993, originally from and currently living in Fukushima Prefecture. Graduated from Nihon University College of Art, Department of Theater, Acting Course. While still a student, he joined Tokyo Deathlock, led by Junnosuke Tada, in 2015, and has been a member of Nutomic, led by Taishi Nukata, since 2019. In 2023, he was appointed as a local revitalization volunteer for Kunimi Town, Fukushima Prefecture, where he also works to develop towns and places through theater. He is the head of the Kunimi Town Futsufutsu Theater Club. Recent appearances include Nutomic's "An Endless Adventure," Shigeru Kikaku's "The Glass Menagerie," and "Dancing All Movements of 'The Four Seasons' with Hamanaka Aizu," directed by Junnosuke Tada and choreographed by Maki Morishita.
*Credit: © Komuramai
Mino Arata
Photographer and stage director. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture. His research and practice focuses on connecting memories and landscapes remaining in marginalized places and things, and finding and foregrounding the intermediate terms between "here" and "there." He works across disciplines, creating fiction based primarily on his own photographs and videos, and presenting them through a variety of media and the bodies of himself and others.
*Photo by Mayumi Hosokura
YIN Yuan
Born in Shanghai, China in 1993. After graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) with a major in Visual Communication, she moved to Japan and completed her graduate studies in Sculpture at the Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School. She is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the same university. Through mixed media expression centered on performative installations, she embodies the invisible constraints that others and the environment (external) place on individual consciousness (internal), as well as the conditioned reflexes and internalization processes that flow from the internal to the external. Her practice is based on motifs of unconsciously overlapping habits and routinized everyday actions. https://lookslikeyinyuan.com/ https://www.instagram.com/lookslikeyinyuan/
*Photo by Chimasa Xu
BENTEN 2025 Art Night Kabukicho
[DJ]
In conjunction with “Lived Shinjuku,” a project developed from the 1975 MoMA exhibition “Shinjuku,” this theatrical installation reinterprets Jūrō Kara’s Situation Theatre and intertwines it with Shinjuku’s archival history. Leaving the stage set intact, a special late-night DJ event will take place—creating a one-night-only experience where art and dance music converge.
DATE: 2025.11.01 (SAT)
DJ EVENT START: 23:30–
VENUE: Ōjō Building 2F
DOOR:
Entry before 24:00
→ With BENTEN 2 ticket (Advance ¥3,000 / Door ¥3,500)
Entry after 24:00
→ ¥2,000 (includes 1 drink)
LINE UP:
RISA TANIGUCHI
SEKITOVA
URUHARA
KOSEI
Performing are some of Japan’s leading techno artists: RISA TANIGUCHI, known for releases on world-renowned techno labels and appearances at international festivals; SEKITOVA, a next-generation producer praised both domestically and abroad for his boundary-crossing grooves; KOSEI, who brings diverse sensibilities to the scene; and URUHARA, whose edgy style leaves a strong impression.
The crimson castle-like Ōjō Building, with its powerful and imposing atmosphere, will transform for one night only into a special theatre charged with the energy of art, performance, and music.
"Mneme" [Exhibition]
Venue: Ojo Building 3F
Date and time: All day
(11/1 (Sat) 15:00-5:00 / 11/2 (Sun) 15:00-5:00 /
11/3 (Monday/Holiday) 15:00-23:00)
Price: BENTEN2 ticket
The wooden "throwing machine" that continuously throws skulls is a tool used in Hamlet's gravedigging scene, and was actually used in the performance of Yanagi's solo exhibition "Myth Machine" in 2019. Mneme is one of the three sisters in Greek mythology, and is the goddess of "memory." The other two sisters are Aoide, the goddess of song, and Melete, the goddess of direction.
Yanagi Miwa
The main artist of "BENTEN 2" will be Miwa Yanagi, an internationally active artist whose work explores themes such as gender, aging, and life and death. She will exhibit on one floor of the Ojo Building and on the Noh Stage in Shinjuku Kabukicho. In addition, on the final day, Monday, November 3rd (national holiday), a special performance created specifically for "BENTEN 2" will be held.
Polyparallax [Exhibition] [ Performance]
Venue: Ojo Building 4F
Date and time: All days
(11/1 (Sat) 15:00-5:00 / 11/2 (Sun) 15:00-5:00 /
11/3 (Monday/Holiday) 15:00-23:00)
Price: BENTEN2 Ticket Artists: Saito Hona, Miyoshi Karyu, MES
The exhibition "Polyparallax (subtitle: Parallactic Visions of the City)"
will be held on the 4th floor of Ojo Building.
This exhibition showcases the work of three artists—Saito Hona, Miyoshi Karyu, and MES—whose practice is underpinned by an inhuman scale and emerges precisely in spaces of human gathering and interaction. Cities, which have developed in pursuit of efficiency, continue to expand like a network, their structure likened to neurons in the brain or clusters of galaxies. Perhaps cities are both manmade and natural products. However, compared to the constant change and plasticity of neurons, the reinforced concrete network seems far too sturdy for our scale. If humans are not livestock, then perhaps we need to rediscover and share the spaces and networks that allow wild creatures and natural phenomena to slip through, in ways other than this rigid network.
I hypothesize that Kabukicho in particular is a place where such spaces can be enjoyed. This exhibition is based on this concept, where inhuman scales and multiple perspectives intertwine to emerge as the pinnacle of a "parallax urban landscape."
"Great Soccer" Miyoshi Karyu (2025) Photo: Unno Rintaro
▼Title: Stellar’s End / The End of a Star
Artist: MES
Year: 2022
Photographer: Keizo Kioku
▲Title: Co-Consuming
Artist: Hona Saito
Year: 2025
Photographer: Dan Isomura
Hana Saito
Contemporary artist. After graduating from the Glass Course of the Department of Crafts at Tama Art University, he joined metaPhorest (biological biomedia art platform) and began working in the field of bioart. From 2025 he became an assistant professor at Toyo University's School of Informatics. He is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies (affiliated with the Kakei Yasuaki Laboratory). He creates and researches glass sculptures using physicochemical glass production techniques, as well as works using living organisms, organic matter, and image analysis. In recent years, he has been collecting and cultivating several species of wild slime molds, which he uses in his creations and experiments. His main themes are a reconsideration of the boundaries between nature/society, human/non-human, and the inseparability of the artist and the subject of his work. *Photography: Irina Petrova Adamatzky.
Miyoshi Karyu
Artist. Born in 2001. Based in Tokyo, he creates works using performance, painting, video, installation, and more. Interested in the effect that clothing has on the body, he performs using clothing with parts enlarged and incorporating other people's bodies into them. His major exhibitions include "Big Soccer" (2025/Green Hills Midoriyama Futsal Park, Tokyo), "Fat of the Place" (2024/Token Art Center, Tokyo), and "It's Connected to the Underground" (2024/same galery, Tokyo). His major stage appearances include "Stillive 2024: Kinetic Net" (2024/ CCO, Osaka Prefecture), Yamauchi Shota's "Sweat and Oil Cheese-like Sour Juice" (2023/ KYOTO EXPERIMENT, Kyoto Prefecture), Kawaguchi Takao's "Rose-Colored Dance: Criticism of Pure Sexuality" (2023/ Ryogoku Theater X, Tokyo / ROHM Theater Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture / Naha Cultural Arts Theater Naha-to, Okinawa Prefecture), and "Big Dance" (2022/ RforD,MATTER, Tokyo).
*Photo: Roun Kim
MES
Arai Ken and Tanigawa Kanae are an artist duo based in Tokyo, collaborating since 2015. Drifting between club culture and contemporary art, they create installations and performances that quietly or violently illuminate the darkness of the world through light and heat. Recent solo exhibitions include "Prayer/Play/Masochistic Action PL/RA/EY" (2024) and "DISTANCE OF RESISTANCE" (2021). Group shows include "MEET YOUR ART FES: Super Spectrum Specification" (2024), "Land (Spillover #1)" (2024), and "Reborn Art Festival 2021 Summer." As a laser VJ, they have directed parties for events such as "CLUB SKIN," "WAIFU," "rural," and "TECHNOINVADERS," as well as stage direction for Dos Monos' solo live shows. He is also constantly exploring collaborative and intersectional endeavors, including organizing the exhibition "Behind the Bars" (2025) about Russian political prisoners and the party "REVOLIC -Revolution Holic" (2022-).
*Photography: Ayaka Endo
Katsubenten Film Festival [ Performance ]
Venue: Ojo Building 5F
Date and Time:
⚫︎11/1(Sat)
15:30-16:10
18:30-19:10
⚫︎11/2(Sun)
15:30-16:10
18:30-18:10
Price: BENTEN2 Ticket reservation: Not required Performer: Asoko Yata
Katsuben films are a unique culture found only in Japan, and are said to have developed from the solo narrative style of Rakugo, the tradition of storytelling arts with a separate audience such as Bunraku, and the demand for commentary on Western films. Thought to be a form from the silent film era, it has been updated as a new form of expression by modern-day Katsubenshi. Its distinctive feature is that it is not bound by a script and transforms a single image into a variety of works.
At this year's BENTEN Film Festival, Aso Koyata will be performing Katsuben. Together with his father, Aso Yata, he runs the Katsuben Classroom and is an artist who is active in a wide range of fields, including English narration overseas, scriptwriting, and directing. He is also a valuable Katsuben researcher who studied cultural studies at the University of Tokyo Graduate School.
Aso Ko Yata
Katsubenshi. He grew up watching his father, Aso Yata, perform Katsuben, and made his debut at the age of 10 at Asakusa Kimatei. In 2003, he won the 48th Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Cup at the National Youth Oratorical Competition. In 2008, he was featured as "A Young Katsubenshi" in the high school English textbook "All Aboard II" (Tokyo Shoseki). In 2016, a commemorative stamp for Aso Yata was released. In March 2020, he completed his doctoral studies at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, completing his credits. He is involved in a variety of stage activities, including hosting, English Katsubenshi, lectures, scriptwriting, directing, and various performing arts. Since 2005, he has been running the Aso Yatagarasu and Ko Yatagarasu "Ben Class" and is also working to train the next generation. He is a director of the Japan Debate Association. He is the deputy editor-in-chief of "Monthly Asakusa." He is the "Konosu Tourism Ambassador" for Konosu City, Saitama Prefecture. He is the "Hometown Ambassador" for Bungo-Ono City, Oita Prefecture. He is a writer for the Taito Ward information website "TAITO Odekake Navi." He is also the "Tokyo Running Festa Matchmaking Ambassador."
https://katsuben.com/whats-katsuben/koyata_profile/
*Photography: Yasutomo Ebisu
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