Tokyo music production hub Cloud Nine is set to stage what it bills as a historic moment for Japanese music next spring with CLOUD NINE presents “Zipangu” JAPANESE MUSIC EVENT 2026, a one-day festival bringing some of Japan’s most celebrated artists to Brookside at The Rose Bowl in Los Angeles on May 16th 2026. With a capacity of roughly 35,000, organisers describe it as the largest overseas music event in history to feature only Japan-based artists, a scale they frame as a turning point in how Japanese music reaches the world.
Named after “Cipangu”, the term Marco Polo used for Japan — whose descriptions of golden palaces and vast riches later inspired the legend of “Zipangu, the land of gold” — the festival is positioned as a new showcase for the power and diversity of contemporary Japanese music, and, as Cloud Nine phrases it, a way of sharing “the allure of Japanese music, and Japan itself, with the world”. Its first lineup announcement gathers seven acts who have each, in different lanes, pushed J-pop, rock, rap, and idol music into new global territory: Ado, ATARASHII GAKKO!, CHANMINA, HANA, MAN WITH A MISSION, Yuki Chiba, and 10-FEET.
From arena-scale pop to veteran rock icons, here’s your guide to the Japanese artists taking the stage at Zipangu’s Los Angeles debut.
Ado live at her sold-out O2 Arena stop on the Hibana world tour | Photo by Viola Kam (V’z Twinkle)Ado
As the only Cloud Nine–managed artist on the bill, Ado enters Zipangu as one of the leaders of a new, globally recognised era of J-pop. Emerging from Japan’s Vocaloid and utaite communities, she broke through at 17 with ‘Usseewa’, a ferocious anti-conformity anthem that became a cultural flashpoint and one of the fastest tracks in Japanese history to pass 100 million streams. Maintaining strict anonymity, performing only as a silhouette inside her illuminated “Ado box”, she has since evolved from digital-era prodigy into a world-touring arena headliner.
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Her debut album ‘Kyougen’ and her role as the singing voice of Uta in One Piece Film: Red cemented her mainstream rise, while her 2024–25 activity has pushed her even further. A best-of collection (‘Ado’s Best Adobum’), history-making National Stadium shows documented in Ado SPECIAL LIVE ‘Shinzou’ in Cinema, collaborations with Imagine Dragons and Jax Jones, and the record-setting Hibana world tour, the largest ever undertaken by a Japanese artist, have all reinforced her status. With a catalogue that runs from barbed social commentary to anime themes and club-ready pop, she heads to Los Angeles as one of the most prominent Japanese artists on the international circuit.
ATARASHII GAKKO!
ATARASHII GAKKO! bring ten years of rule-bending idol pop to the Zipangu lineup. Formed in 2015, the four-piece built their identity around sailor uniforms, self-choreographed routines, and a mission to champion individuality and freedom within Japan’s strict school culture. They made their global debut with 88rising in 2021 through the single ‘NAINAINAI’, but it was 2020 track ‘Otonablue’ that sparked their wider breakthrough when its “neck-shaking” choreography went viral on TikTok in 2023, leading to major awards, an appearance on The First Take, and high-profile TV slots including Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NHK’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen.
Recent years have seen them step further onto the world stage with the Japanese-language theme for Ghostbusters: Frozen Summer, a Coachella 2024 set on the Gobi Stage, a 33-city world tour and a 10th anniversary show at Makuhari Messe, as well as a 2025 appearance at Los Angeles event matsuri ’25: Japanese Music Experience alongside Ado. At Zipangu, they take the stage as a seasoned live act, folding pop, jazz, rap, and punk into tightly drilled performances rooted in their self-styled role as “Youth Japan Representatives”.
CHANMINA
CHANMINA joins the Zipangu lineup after a decade-long rise that has taken her from high school rap competitions to a prominent position in Japanese pop and hip-hop. Born in South Korea and raised across South Korea, Japan, and the United States, she debuted independently in 2016 before releasing her major-label album ‘Miseinen’ the following year, building an early reputation for switching between sharp-edged rap and melodic hooks across projects including the ‘Chocolate’ EP and later work with Warner Music Japan. Her profile grew further with the 2019 album ‘Never Grow Up’, followed by a steady run of releases that led to albums ‘Harenchi’ and ‘Naked’, the latter launched alongside her imprint No Label Music. With music released in Japanese, Korean, and English, tracks such as ‘Tokyo 4AM’, ‘Don’t Go’ and ‘Mirror’ have widened her audience at home and overseas.
In 2025, CHANMINA entered a new chapter after signing with Sony Music Japan’s Mastersix Foundation. Alongside her solo work, she formed the rising seven-member girl group HANA — also part of the Zipangu lineup — through the No No Girls audition programme, while also contributing theme songs for film and animation, including ‘Work Hard’ for animated series Bullet/Bullet and ‘I Hate This Love Song’ for the live-action adaptation of I Have a Secret. Her guest spot on pH-1’s 2025 album ‘What Have We Done’ underlined her growing reach across the wider Asian hip-hop scene.
HANA
HANA join the Zipangu lineup as one of 2025’s most talked-about new groups. Formed through CHANMINA and SKY-HI’s survival-style audition show No No Girls and signed to No Label Music and Sony Music Japan’s Mastersix Foundation, the seven-member unit, made up of Chika, Naoko, Jisoo, Yuri, Momoka, Koharu, and Mahina, have quickly pierced Japan’s crowded idol landscape with a sharper image informed by K-pop and high-impact production.
Their debut single ‘ROSE’ entered at number one on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, followed by a run of releases including ‘Burning Flower’, ‘Blue Jeans’, ‘Bad Love’, and ‘My Body’. With roots in the intense competition of No No Girls and CHANMINA acting as creative lead, HANA have already built a reputation for precise choreography, strong vocals, and a clear group identity that pushes against more traditional idol tropes.
Yuki Chiba
Rapper Yuki Chiba steps up as one of the key figures pushing Japanese hip-hop into the international spotlight. Formerly known as KOHH, he returned under his real name in 2024 with the single ‘Team Tomodachi’, which grew from a scene favourite into a global viral hit and spawned a run of remixes, including a verse from Will Smith. That momentum carried into ‘Mamushi’, his collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion from her independent album ‘Megan’. The track’s success on TikTok and streaming platforms led to Chiba joining Megan on stage at London’s O2 Arena and at the 2024 MTV VMAs, where he became one of the first Japanese artists to perform on the main show.
Since then, Chiba has built on his comeback with five genre-shifting album releases in the span of a year, a headline show at Nippon Budokan, and a growing number of high-profile projects. Alongside providing the official anthem for the VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 and playing his first US headline date in Los Angeles, he has extended his list of international collaborators with ‘Ski Ga Ski (隙が好き)’, a 2025 single recorded between Tokyo and New York with Big Sean and premiered live in LA, as well as an appearance at Head In The Clouds at Under The K.
10-FEET
Kyoto trio 10-FEET bring more than 25 years of loud, melodic rock to the Zipangu lineup. Formed in 1997, the band built a loyal following through relentless touring, a genre-mixing sound that pulls from punk, hardcore, reggae, and hip-hop, and their own long-running summer festival Kyoto Daisakusen. While they had been a staple of Japan’s live circuit for years, their profile surged with ‘Dai Zero Kan’, the ending theme to hit basketball film The First Slam Dunk.
The song became a fixture on Billboard Japan’s charts, gained traction on TikTok and led to the band’s first major TV appearances on shows such as Music Station and NHK’s Kōhaku Uta Gassen, as well as a nomination for Best Anime Song at the inaugural Music Awards Japan. Alongside their work on The First Slam Dunk, 10-FEET have continued to connect with anime fans through music for series including Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray. At Zipangu, 10-FEET take their place as the lineup’s veteran guitar band, backed by decades of live experience across clubs, arenas, and festivals.
MAN WITH A MISSION
MAN WITH A MISSION head to Zipangu as one of Japan’s most recognisable rock exports. The Shibuya-formed wolf five-piece have spent the past 15 years pushing a hybrid of alternative rock, metal, rap, and pop across stages in Japan, Europe, and North America. Currently marking their anniversary with the ‘XV e.p.’ and a major arena tour at home, they have built a deep catalogue of tie-ins, from anime themes for Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, and Vinland Saga to soundtrack work for Godzilla vs. Kong and the multiplayer mecha game Mecha BREAK.
Recent releases include ‘Vertigo’, written for Mecha BREAK and paired with live recordings from their 2024 Mexico show, and ‘Against the Kings and Gods’, a darker, mythology-inspired single unveiled ahead of their HOWLING ACROSS THE WORLD UK and European tour. With a long-standing international fanbase and a live show built around big choruses and crowd participation, they land at Zipangu as the event’s resident wolf pack.
Tickets are scheduled to go on sale at 10:00 AM PST on Tuesday November 25th. Further details and updates are available via the official Zipangu website.
CLOUD NINE presents “Zipangu” JAPANESE MUSIC EVENT 2026
DateCountryCityVenue16th May (Sat)United StatesPasadena Brookside at The Rose Bowl
AloJapan.com