Field Report: matsuri’25 brought the biggest names in J-pop to LA

Full disclosure: it’s been a long time since I’ve been to a concert of this size.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m more likely to be hanging around smaller-medium size venues – catch me on any other given day and you’ll be sure to find me standing in the background of the Moroccan Lounge or kicking back in a corner booth at El Cid. At the massive 7,100 capacity venue Peacock Theater, where this year’s matsuri‘25 took place, I felt a bit out of my element. As the venue started to fill up and people started piling in for that night’s sold out show, I couldn’t help but gawk at the giant LED screens adorning the concert hall and the flashy advertisements they were promoting. “NARUTO SYMPHONIC EXPERIENCE… BINIverse… LEE MOON SAE… CiSad GAAT…” These were just a few of the performers that would soon occupy the same space in the upcoming months. That came as a surprise to me. It seems as if matsuri’25 wasn’t an anomaly – just one of many of the venue’s international showcases/acts coming through Los Angeles. International music, it seems, is here in Los Angeles… and it’s here to stay.

The lineup that night was a true triple threat representing some of the biggest acts in Japan at the moment: electro J-pop duo YOASOBI, the fast-rising charismatic four-piece ATARASHII GAKKO, and the mysterious one-time utaite turned mystery J-pop star Ado. If you’re into Japanese music even in the slightest, chances are you’ve heard of at least one of them. The fact that YOASOBI, whose song “IDOL” was Spotify’s “Most played song of 2023,” was the OPENER should give you an idea of just how wildly popular these artists are. All three perform in the realm of hyperactive electronic J-pop and they do NUMBERS on streaming services within Japan and abroad as well. I don’t think it would be a stretch to presume that individually, each artist would have been capable of selling out these venues on their own. Together, that amount of star talent may have been a bit of overkill, but it worked – matsuri’25 sold out a few days before the show was to go on. As the debut event of the Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association (CEIPA) and the Toyota Group’s dealings promoting Japanese music in the US, I’d say they’ve done their job. 

In a mini-press conference held before the event, CEIPA and various groups made it a point to highlight events like matsuri’25 as proof of the international appeal of J-pop. Maybe a decade ago, lineups like this one were still few and far between. But with the advent of streaming services and how easy it is for anyone to click on and stream a song from another country like Japan (just take a look at the city pop resurgence), it was only fitting to bring those artists to markets like the United States to broaden their appeal. One panelist during the conference mentioned that the last excuse of artists not being able to sing in English is gone now, and another added that there’s an audience for everything in the US, including pop from Japan sung only in Japanese.

There’s more than enough evidence to prove that point. Aside from that night’s matsuri’25 performance, in the Los Angeles area alone there’s been an outward appreciation towards Japanese music that spans multiple genres. A few months ago, Akiko Yano played the Aratani Theater. Masayoshi Takanaka played in the US for the first time in decades at the Wiltern. Lamp sold out the Hollywood Palladium a while back. Saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu just wrapped up his tour in North America, and the legendary punk rock band GING NANG BOYZ just completed their tour this week as well. Heck, I even went to an Anri show almost two years ago and I’m going to a Histujibungaku show this weekend. matsuri’25 served only as further proof that large-scale Japanese pop acts were ready to make a big splash as well… and make a splash they did.

The vibe at the venue pre-show was one filled with anticipation. It seemed like there were a lot of younger people in the audience and a crowd especially enthused with J-pop in general. As I was waiting for YOASOBI to come out, I heard my neighbors whispering excitedly about how they were planning to pick up Kenshi Yonezu tickets later on. More than a few people had light sticks – a staple at Japanese pop concerts but as far as I know not really a thing for American artists – and a handful of people were even cosplaying as anime characters (shoutout to the person in the front row who was dressed like Luffy). No surprise there, since YOASOBI’s “IDOL” soundtracked the very popular anime Oshio No Ko and Ado literally did the soundtrack for the One Piece Red movie. ATARASHII GAKKO! apparently did the opening to a Netflix anime called Baki Hanma VS Kengan Ashura, but I didn’t see anyone dressed up as an impossibly jacked, half-naked martial arts fighter (maybe that’s for the best). I’ll admit that it felt a little post-anime convention concert-ish, but that didn’t seem to bother anyone in the crowd. It reminded me a lot of how I used to discover Japanese music when I was younger… from the OPs from popular anime as well. I’m glad to see that that tradition still lives on.

YOASOBI

YOASOBI, the J-pop duo consisting of vocalist Ikura and producer Ayase, were first on the bill. As I’ve mentioned before, it was strange seeing a band that usually would’ve done arena tours back in Japan be the opener, so feeling the energy in the room instantly change from silence to eruptive cheers within a few seconds was pretty jarring. All killer, no filler, was it? Even as the sound system blasted – strangely enough – a rendition of Imagine Dragons’ “I Bet My Life” to hype up the crowd (not sure if this was a one-off thing or if YOASOBI usually walk on stage to that song), there was no opener warmup awkwardness in the room. Everyone who was here was here to see YOASOBI.

As Ikura and Ayase performed onstage (in gorgeous beige/cream colored outfits truly fit for the occasion, no less), the crowd cheered along to their hits like “Monster,” “Into The Night,” and “Blue”. The laser light show and the neon graphics that supported them really fit the vibe of the performance – bringing digital chaos to a tangible world. It even seemed like everyone in the crowd with a light stick knew what to do with them, following cue coordination with ease throughout the performance. When Ikura slowed down to play songs like “Tabun” and asked the crowd to sway along with her with their phone lights, the crowd gleefully complied. YOASOBI closed their nine-song set with, you guessed it, “Idol”, and the light theatrics on stage mirrored the gleaming personality of the anime’s OP itself. It’s no wonder that their song fittingly set the tone for that particular show: I felt that star power there that night.

ATARASHII GAKKO!

In a way, I knew what to expect seeing ATARASHII GAKKO since they were the only group that I’d seen before. A few years back, I caught them at 88Rising’s Head In The Clouds (we even interviewed them a bit!) performing on the big stage. They were still on the rise then, but I remember them already garnering a small but avid fanbase in that crowd, complete with people smuggling in pineapples at the venue to hold up during “Pineapple Kryptonite”… much to the delight of the band. They were given an early afternoon slot then, but they definitely left an impression on everyone who saw them with their goofy theatrics, in-step dance moves, and overflowing charm.

Fast forward a few years to matsuri’25, and ATARASHII GAKKO! is still showing off those same attributes that make it impossible not to fall in love with their act. Suzuka, Kanon, Mizyu, and Rin play off each other with ease as they bust out difficult choreography while singing without breaking a sweat; at one point there was even a cool freestyle dance break before they went back to singing as if it was nothing. In terms of performance and crowd interaction, ATARASHII GAKKO! were unmatched in their ability to charm the audience. Suzuka led the room with chants, call-and-responses, and choreographed movements, and the crowd enthusiastically followed along. The set itself was also fun to witness – after the breakdancing, rapping, J-pop-tight choreo, disco (“Arigato”) and costume changes, ATARASHII GAKKO played their new song, “One Heart”. A feel-good celebratory song with a jaunty beat, “One Heart” felt like the perfect way to wrap things up and show the world just how much ATARASHII GAKKO deserves their place on your must-see performance bucket list — no pineapples needed.

Ado

So, this one’s a peculiar case. Despite having sold out arenas, getting hundreds of millions streams on her songs, and going viral online multiple times over, nobody knows exactly what Ado looks like. The mysterious J-pop vocalist has long been known for shrouding their identity in secrecy, and I was curious to see how that anonymity would be maintained when they were the headliner for such a big concert. Would they be singing behind a hologram? Would there be an actor on stage? Perhaps today would be the day they reveal themselves?

As it turns out, Ado’s team came prepared, and the answer to that last question was a resounding no. Right before the set began, a giant warning sign flashed up on all of the screens in the venue and a giant box was rolled onstage. “No photos, no videos, no recordings, no binoculars during Ado’s performance!!” the sign read. “If anyone is uncooperative, the Ado Box will be deactivated. Consequently, you will not have visual access to Ado – only her voice.” So today wouldn’t be the day we find out who the mysterious singer is… but how was this going to play out? You could hear the collective audible groan from the audience as they read it and the minor shock that came with the message’s delivery. With this gentleman’s agreement with the audience underway, I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone would be willing to break that trust and ruin the concert for thousands of their fellow concert goers. It didn’t happen that night, but surely it has in the past? I’d love to have been in a show where the box was taken away.

Extremely quickly and with little warning, the Ado set started like their counterparts’ – going from zero to 100 in the span of a few notes. The box on stage lit up, revealing a cage that Ado was standing inside of. Due to the way the stage was lit, Ado was merely a silhouette on stage. It made sense how the fail-safe worked: it was easy to kill the lights and shroud the box if anyone tried to take a picture of the singer. It was a jarring experience watching Ado’s silhouette singing onstage instead of actually seeing her perform. Even so, some of the songs she has regularly employ shrieks and rough acrobatic vocals, and just seeing her shadow as she hit those high notes was entertaining in itself. But I wonder how much that shroud of mystery will remain as Ado continues to grow in popularity. The audience didn’t seem to mind that much since they went wild over her big hits, but as a casual listener it paled a bit in comparison to the humanity the two openers drilled into their performances. I can see anonymity like this staying around for the long run for Ado with such a genius failsafe in place, but I wonder if that gimmick might wear thin for audiences looking for a live connection. Still, Ado sounded great and capped the night off with some songs that will keep your ears ringing for days afterwards.

Overview

From the audience’s perspective, matsuri’25 was a wonderful showcase of some of the brightest rising stars in J-pop that Japan has to offer – although it felt relatively low risk in terms of talent overkill. There was no way this event wasn’t going to sell out and be anything but a success. Case in point: right when I was leaving the venue, I saw another advertisement for the upcoming Ado show at the very same venue in July.

Even so, I’m excited to see what other showcases CEIPA has to offer up in the future, and if they can continue their hot streak of bringing local talent out West. I’d love to see some smaller J-pop acts who haven’t yet gotten their chance to perform in the States grace the stage here in LA. Matsuri’26, anyone? Taking lineup bets now.

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Header photo is of ATARASHII GAKKO! during their set. Photo taken by Yuri Hasegawa.