LAST DAY IN THE PARK 2021

Yoshihide Asaco

Architect, editor

Born in Kobe in 1972, Asaco founded Contectures (now Genron) with Hiroki Azuma in 2010 and left the company in 2012. He established Takaban Studio in 2007 and added publishing capabilities in 2021 by founding PRINT & BUILD Inc. His architectural works include gray (2015) and Hachinohe Art Museum (2021), and his principal article is "The Interior Design of Comme des Garçons" in shisouchizu beta vol. 1 (2010). He specializes in urban research and design through commercial spaces and is the supervising editor for projects such as Tokyo Interior Tour, which researches city shops; the exhibition Tokyo Design Ten, which researched the city; and "The Future of Public Toilets," a research project on public space (since 2017).

Hajime Ishikawa

Landscape architect

Ishikawa is a professor in the Keio University Faculty of Environment and Information Studies. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy. He was born in Uji, Kyoto, and graduated from Tokyo University of Agriculture, Department of Landscape Architecture. He came to his current job in 2015, after working at Kajima Corporation's Architectural Design Headquarters and in Landscape Design Inc.'s Design Department. He won an award from the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture for Landscape as Thinking: An Invitation to Ground Studies (LIXIL Publishing, 2018).

Shunsuke Kurakata

Architectural historian

Kurakata was born in Tokyo in 1971, graduated from Waseda University's Department of Architecture in the School of Creative Science and Engineering, and earned his doctorate in engineering after completing graduate school at the same university. He has been an associate professor at Osaka City University since 2011. In addition to researching and writing on modern architectural history, he develops activities to communicate the fascinating value of architecture to society, such as by serving as a member of the executive committee for Japan's largest public architectural event, Open House Osaka. His main publications include "The Story of Kyoto Modern Architecture", "Architecture Competition Theory for Everyone", and "Takamasa Yoshizaka and Le Corbusier". He has received awards such as the Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan (Specific Contributions) and the Prize of the Architectural Institute of Japan for Education (Outstanding Practice).

Hideshi Hamaguchi

Business designer

CEO, monogoto, Inc.

Kinya Tagawa

CEO of Takram, Design Engineer

Tagawa is a design engineer experienced in a wide variety of fields of technology and design. His chief projects include directing the Japanese government's system for analyzing regional economies V-RESAS and CXO advisory for Mercari. He was involved as a core member in the "Declaration of Design Management" from the Patent Office of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). He has earned many honors, such as the Good Design Gold Award and inclusion in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He graduated from the School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo and completed a master's course at the Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom. He is a member of the METI Industrial Structure Council Intellectual Property Committee, an honorary fellow at the Royal College of Art in the United Kingdom, and an advisor to the Office of the President at the University of Tokyo.

Shuta Hasunuma

Born in 1983 in Tokyo. In addition to organizing and performing with the Shuta Hasunuma Philharmonic Orchestra both in Japan and abroad, he has collaborated in genres across the performing arts, including film, theater, dance, composition for commercials, and musical production. He also applies musical composition techniques and uses material expression to present exhibitions and projects. He has expanded his activities abroad, such as by receiving support from the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) to participate in a residency program in the United States in 2013 and being designated a representative for a Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs cultural exchange in 2017. His main solo exhibitions include "Compositions" (New York, Pioneer Works, 2018) and "~ ing" (Tokyo, Shiseido Gallery, 2018). He was awarded the 69th Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

U-zhaan

U-zhaan studied the tabla, an Indian percussion instrument, under Anindo Chatterjee and Zakir Hussain. He joined Asa-Chang & Junray in 2000 and participated in making four albums, including Hana and Kage no Nai Hito. After leaving the group in 2010, he released Kawagoe Rendezvous as U-zhaan × rei harakami. He put out the album Tabla Rock Mountain under his solo name in 2014 and released the collaborative album 2 Tone with Shuta Hasunuma in 2017. In 2020, he performed at the Saptak Annual Music Festival, a festival of Indian music, held in in Ahmedabad, India. He released the album Tanoshimi as U-zhaan × Tamaki Roy × Chinza Dopeness in 2021.

U-zhaan

U-zhaan studied the tabla, an Indian percussion instrument, under Anindo Chatterjee and Zakir Hussain. He joined Asa-Chang & Junray in 2000 and participated in making four albums, including Hana and Kage no Nai Hito. After leaving the group in 2010, he released Kawagoe Rendezvous as U-zhaan × rei harakami. He put out the album Tabla Rock Mountain under his solo name in 2014 and released the collaborative album 2 Tone with Shuta Hasunuma in 2017. In 2020, he performed at the Saptak Annual Music Festival, a festival of Indian music, held in in Ahmedabad, India. He released the album Tanoshimi as U-zhaan × Tamaki Roy × Chinza Dopeness in 2021.

Yumiko Ohno

Musician/bass, Minimoog, and triple cello pan player

Ohno formed Buffalo Daughter with Sugar Yoshinaga and Moog Yamamoto in 1993. Signing with Beastie Boys-owned label Grand Royal in 1996, the band expanded their sphere of activity from Tokyo to the world. They played many concerts in Japan and abroad and earned acclamations as a live band. They released their eighth album in September 2021 on their own label, Buffalo Ranch. In addition, they have worked with various artists including Cornelius, Yann Tomita, UA, salyu x salyu, and Little Tempo by supporting them in live shows, recording, remixing, producing, and more.

Zo Zhit

Zo Zhit was born in 1993. He led the hip-hop crew Dos Monos, which debuted from Los Angeles, Unites States' Deathbomb Arc, on their first album Dos City in 2019, responsible for beat making and rapping on all the songs. His characteristic style uses uninhibited sampling techniques to channel music, philosophy, and subcultures from all times and places into modern hip-hop music.

Dos Monos was planning a tour of the United States including joint performances with Black Midi from March to April 2020, but the tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The group then released several singles, such as a collaborative song with Taiwan's Digital Minister Audrey Tang. They released their second album Dos Siki, joined by Arizona hip-hop crew Injury Reserve, on July 24, 2020 and the remake album Dos Siki 2nd Season the following year, in 2021. Their new album Larderello came out on September 14, 2021.

Zo Zhit

Zo Zhit was born in 1993. He led the hip-hop crew Dos Monos, which debuted from Los Angeles, Unites States' Deathbomb Arc, on their first album Dos City in 2019, responsible for beat making and rapping on all the songs. His characteristic style uses uninhibited sampling techniques to channel music, philosophy, and subcultures from all times and places into modern hip-hop music.

Dos Monos was planning a tour of the United States including joint performances with Black Midi from March to April 2020, but the tour was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The group then released several singles, such as a collaborative song with Taiwan's Digital Minister Audrey Tang. They released their second album Dos Siki, joined by Arizona hip-hop crew Injury Reserve, on July 24, 2020 and the remake album Dos Siki 2nd Season the following year, in 2021. Their new album Larderello came out on September 14, 2021.

SASUKE

SASUKE started dancing at two years old and composing on GarageBand at five; performed in New York at Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater at ten, becoming the youngest Japanese person to win; and was runner-up in the competition to decide the best finger drum performance in Japan at 12. His busking in Harajuku at around 14 years old made the rounds and gained attention on social media, giving him the opportunity for his major debut. His subsequent activities have included releasing his own work, providing compositions and remixes for numerous artists as well as songs for television programs and commercials, and producing. He is an 18-year-old high school student and musician. He performed in and headed the musical composition for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Closing Ceremony.

Seiko Ito

Ito, born in 1961, is from Tokyo. He debuted in 1988 with the novel No Life King.

In 1999, Ito won the 15th Kodansha Essay Award for "Botanical Life" and the 35th Noma Literary New Face Prize for Radio Imagination. His recent works include A Pinch on the Nose; Going to See Doctors Without Borders; Approving the Ban on Novels; Tonight, Count the Number of Smiles; Calligraphy That Slipped My Mind; Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Amman; and Fukushima Monologue.　Collaborating with Jun Miura, he shared a new appreciation of the Buddha in Visiting Images of Buddha and produced the event The Slideshow, which was so popular that the Budokan was thronged with people. The pair now broadcast Pleasant Chat Radio! on note.

As for Ito's musical activities, he made hip-culture widely known in Japan and is one of the pioneers of Japanese rap. He is now active in Kuchiroro and Seiko Ito Is the Poet. Seiko Ito Is the Poet's first album ITP 1 is currently on sale.

Ito's regular television appearances include Big World (E-Tele), Freestyle Teacher (TV Asahi), Tokyo More! 2: Lively Plan Laboratory (TOKYO MX), and Visiting Images of Buddha TV (Kansai Television). He appeared in Wonderful Paradise, the first new film from director Masashi Yamamoto in five years. At present, he can be seen in the restaurant Marugame Seimen's YouTube series The Parallel Worlds of Noodles and Chihiro.

Seiko Ito

Ito, born in 1961, is from Tokyo. He debuted in 1988 with the novel No Life King.

In 1999, Ito won the 15th Kodansha Essay Award for "Botanical Life" and the 35th Noma Literary New Face Prize for Radio Imagination. His recent works include A Pinch on the Nose; Going to See Doctors Without Borders; Approving the Ban on Novels; Tonight, Count the Number of Smiles; Calligraphy That Slipped My Mind; Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Amman; and Fukushima Monologue.　Collaborating with Jun Miura, he shared a new appreciation of the Buddha in Visiting Images of Buddha and produced the event The Slideshow, which was so popular that the Budokan was thronged with people. The pair now broadcast Pleasant Chat Radio! on note.

As for Ito's musical activities, he made hip-culture widely known in Japan and is one of the pioneers of Japanese rap. He is now active in Kuchiroro and Seiko Ito Is the Poet. Seiko Ito Is the Poet's first album ITP 1 is currently on sale.

Ito's regular television appearances include Big World (E-Tele), Freestyle Teacher (TV Asahi), Tokyo More! 2: Lively Plan Laboratory (TOKYO MX), and Visiting Images of Buddha TV (Kansai Television). He appeared in Wonderful Paradise, the first new film from director Masashi Yamamoto in five years. At present, he can be seen in the restaurant Marugame Seimen's YouTube series The Parallel Worlds of Noodles and Chihiro.

Lang Lee（이랑）

Lee, born in Seoul, South Korea, is an artist active in many fields. She released her first album Yon Yonson in 2012 and attracted significant attention when she released her second album Playing God and won "Best Folk Song" at the 14th Korean Music Awards in 2016. She also released the collaborative album Runaway with Satoko Shibata, the live album Kuromyon: Lang Lee Live in Tokyo 2018, the digital single album The Generation of Tribulation, and the seven-inch vinyl Aru Namae wo Motta Hito no Ichinichi wo Souzou Site Miru/Imjin River. Her most recent recording is her third album There Is a Wolf, which began digital streaming in August 2021. Furthermore, the essay collection A Sad and Cool Person (2018), comic I'm in My 30s (2019), and short story collection How to Name the Duck (2020) were published in both South Korea and Japan. Release of her second essay collection The Day Talking Wasn't Enough is planned for October 2021. She evokes empathy with her sincere, honest words as well as her friendly attitude and thinking.

Miho Hatori

Hatori is a Japanese artist, producer, and singer based in New York. She started her career as a professional musician by signing with Warner Bros. Records in New York in the mid-90s as Cibo Matto. After Cibo Matto, she expanded beyond the category of the music industry into a more multimedia format. She released her latest work, the album Between Isekai and Slice of Life, under her own name in 2021.

Miho Hatori

Hatori is a Japanese artist, producer, and singer based in New York. She started her career as a professional musician by signing with Warner Bros. Records in New York in the mid-90s as Cibo Matto. After Cibo Matto, she expanded beyond the category of the music industry into a more multimedia format. She released her latest work, the album Between Isekai and Slice of Life, under her own name in 2021.