Ken Ishii

Techno Artist, DJ, Producer, Remixer | JAPAN

Techno artist, DJ, producer and remixer. Known as the 'Techno Gods of the East'. He made his debut in 1993 on the Belgian label R&S. In 1996, his video clip for the single 'Extra' from JellyTones (directed by Koji Morimoto, who was animation director for the film 'Akira') won the UK's 'MTV Dance Video of the Year'. In 1998, he composed the international version of the Nagano Olympics theme, which aired worldwide. In 2000, he was featured on the cover of the American newsweekly Newsweek. In 2001, he composed the music for the film “WHITEOUT” starring Yuji Oda, for which he won the Japan Academy Music Award. In 2004, he won the BEST TECHNO DJ award at the 'DJ AWARDS' in Ibiza, Spain, making him the best in the world in both name and reality.
In addition to music production and DJing, he was in charge of music for the government-sponsored Seto Japan Pavilion at Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan. In 2010 he participated in a 3D installation work exhibited at Cyber Arts Japan at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and mixed the background music for two years in Tokyo Midtown. He has also been involved in various other activities. The international news agency Reuters took notice of these international activities and reported. The news coverages were seen by one billion people in newspapers and magazines around the world. In 2005, they performed at the world's biggest festival “Tomorrowland” in Belgium.
This year, 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of his international debut, and he has produced the full-length soundtrack for the Netflix military sci-fi blockbuster anime “Yakitori”, and the new performance “TECHNOH LAB” (designated as an Important Intangible Cultural Property, in collaboration with Manjiro Tatsumi, a Noh performer of the Shitekata Hosho style), which combines techno and traditional Japanese performing art 'Noh'. He is actively involved in various projects as well as releasing songs and performing at events.
http://kenishii.com

Betsy Bauer

Film Editor | New Zealand

Betsy Bauer is an award-winning editor who has worked professionally in the industry for more than ten years. Equal parts storyteller, creative problem-solver, and bona fide pop culture nerd, Betsy’s passion lies in long-form drama editing: telling powerful, immersive stories that impact audiences long after the lights come on.
For the past five years, Betsy has applied her expertise as the resident editor for creative powerhouse, Weta Workshop, where she gets to sink her teeth into a wide variety of creative projects: among them, behind-the-scenes content for films Thor: Ragnarok, Blade Runner 2049, and Mulan. She’s also edited content for mixed reality trailblazers, Magic Leap, and multimedia behemoth, Tencent.

Peter Barakan

Broadcaster | Japan

Born in London in 1951. Graduated Japanese department of School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in 1973, and has been living in Tokyo since 1974. Has worked in broadcasting since 1980, with particular emphasis on introducing a wide variety of music from different parts of the world. He currently hosts a Saturday morning free-form radio programme on nationwide station NHK-FM, and a Sunday evening programme for Tokyo area commercial station Inter FM.
On television he hosts “Japanology Plus” in English for public broadcaster NHK’s foreign service NHK World, introducing different aspects of Japanese culture to an international audience.
He has written several books including a beginner’s guide to soul music, a book explaining some of the subtleties of rock lyrics for Japanese readers, a guide to English pronunciation for Japanese readers, and a memoir of his forty-plus years working in radio.
He curates “Live Magic,” an annual 2-day roots-music-oriented festival, held in Tokyo since 2014, and Peter Barakan’s Music Film Festival, also held in Tokyo, since 2021.
https://peterbarakan.net