The Yoichi Ochiai × Japan Philharmonic Project aims to update the orchestra appreciation experience through technology, contributing to the creation of a highly diverse society through arts and culture while disseminating Japanese culture. With the concept of music being felt with the senses in a physical experience, the project has pursued the sheer joy of live music and has worked on the fusion of digital and real since 2018. This year, inheriting the theme of the signature pavilion null² currently being held at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, performances will be held at Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Shining Hat Expo hall in Osaka. WOW, which has been participating as a creative team in null² and taking part in this project from Vol.2, joins this orchestra as a “Video Performer.” The signature pavilion null² centers on the keyword mirror. Mirrors reverse boundaries between self and others, reality and fiction, and past and future, revealing new perspectives. This performance inherits this concept, utilizing video as a medium that serves as a reflective mirror. As an example of the video performance, by adding AI interpretation to orchestra footage captured by cameras and projecting it onto screens, we manifest the worldview of null². We aim to create “a place as a mirror” through media such as AI technology, video expression, traditional performing arts, and Japanese views of nature. Additionally, this project began collaborating with Dai Fujikura, a renowned Japanese composer based in the UK, in 2023, launching the orchestral Japanese cultural exploration Open Leaves. Since then, we have introduced traditional sounds and auditory experiences from various regions of Japan, presenting them in a new light through productions combining orchestral music and technology. This time, we welcome Noh’s shite-kata and kyogen-kata, hayashi-kata, and jiutai, reinterpreting two classical works. We will premiere new pieces where orchestral sound and video accompany excerpts from Taue (Kyogen) themed on water and Nomori (Noh) themed on mirrors.

Performers Director and Producer: Yoichi Ochiai Conductor: Junichi Hirokami [Friend of JPO (Artistic Advisor)] Video Performer: WOW Noh Shite-kata: Masaki Umano, Kyogen-kata: Manzo Nomura, Mannojo Nomura, Kennosuke Nomura, Shinnosuke Nomura Hayashi-kata: (Tokyo Performance) Flute / Shintaro Sugi, Small Hand Drum / Kazune Shimizu, Large Drum / Keinosuke Okura, Taiko Drum / Akira Sawada | (EXPO Performance) Flute / Yōsuke Akai, Small Hand Drum / Atsushi Ueda, Large Drum / Toshinari Yamamoto, Taiko Drum / Shinya Ueda Jiutai: (Tokyo Performance) Jiichi Asami, Takahiro Kitanami, Keizo Nagayama, Yasumitsu Kobayakawa | (EXPO Performance) Masashi Yamanaka, Tomohiko Ueno, Yūki Kasada, Takeo Fujii Navigator: Yoko Ebara Orchestral music: Japan Philharmonic Orchestra Performance details Date: (Thu) August 21, 2025 Time: Performance starts 19:00 / Doors open 18:20 Venue: Suntory Hall ▶Japan Philharmonic Orchestra Official Website (Tokyo Performance) Date: (Sat) August 30, 2025 Time: Performance starts 15:00 / Doors open 14:20 Venue: the Shining Hat Expo hall ▶Japan Philharmonic Orchestra Official Website (Expo Performance) Performance program *With video performance Ikuma Dan: Grand March, "Celebration" Toru Takemitsu: Music of Training and Rest - from Jose Torres Hikaru Hayashi: Kuni-tori Monogatari Yugo Kanno: Gunshi Kanbei Joe Hisaishi: Castle in the Sky Ryuichi Sakamoto: The Last Emperor Dai Fujikura: "Water Mirror" [Open Leaves Series III, Commissioned World Premiere] Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome Venue tickets (Tokyo Performance) (All seats are reserved, consumption tax included.) S Adult ¥8,000, Child ¥2,500 A Adult ¥6,500, Child ¥1,000 Ys (under 25s) and diversity seats (for persons with disability certificate) ¥2,000 * Children: Elementary to high school students (preschool children will not be admitted); Ys seats: For people 25 years and younger / Discounted seats for A seats * Ys and diversity seats only available from JPO Service Center. Vibration device seats are available for patrons with hearing impairments. (Limited to approximately 8 seats; sales begin 7/8, available exclusively through JPO) More details *Crowdfunding-exclusive seats are also available with Support Tickets. Venue tickets (EXPO Performance) The Expo performance will not be available for general sale. Attendance requires an Expo admission ticket, date / time reservation, and event booking. For more details, please refer to the Official Expo Association website. Crowdfunding READYFOR (until 23:00 on August 31 (Sun)) We are also looking for supporters who are able to help in finding the "Joy of Music" that can be experienced through fieldwork and workshops. We are calling for your support for events and items that will extend the joy of the performance to before and after the concert. We are accepting donations through the crowdfunding site READYFOR. Together we can extend the unique joy of art that can be found in music. Click here to support the concert. Sponsorship / Planning / Production | "The Orchestra of null²" (Tokyo Performance) Japan Philharmonic Orchestra *A subsidized project of the 2025 Japan Expo Innovation Project (Independent Administrative Agency Japan Arts Council/Agency for Cultural Affairs) Organizer / Support | "The Orchestra of null² supported by Rohm Music Foundation" (Expo Performance) Organizer: Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition Supported by: ROHM Music Foundation (Public Interest Incorporated Foundation) Cooperation jiseCHI, inc., WOW inc., raw, TBWA\HAKUHODO, Suntory Hall, etc. Support Support Prism Co., Ltd. (Tokyo Performance)