SAT. SEP. 30, 2006. CENTRAL PARK, NYC.  DOOR OPENS  2PM  * FREE *

New York - Tokyo (NYT), Fujisankei Communications International (FCI) and Sharp Electronics Corporation team up to bring you the New York–Tokyo Music Festival 2006 on Saturday, September 30, 2006 at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park – a free, all-day, open-air music festival that will showcase the most inspired artistic talent from the East and the West.

This year’s festival focuses on artists that are currently breaking new ground in emerging musical subgenres, ranging from Turntablism to Dancehall, Hip-hop to Progressive Jazz.  It will establish a cultural and creative bridge between the U.S. and Japan, centered around the universal language of music provided by HIFANA (Break Beats – 21st century Japan’s most anticipated artist), PE’Z (Samurai Jazz – Japan’s No. 1 Instrumentalists), and MIGHTY CROWN (Dancehall Reggae – 4-time world champion) from Japan, as well as DJ A-TRAK (Turntablism – Kanye West’s live DJ) and TALIB KWELI (Hip-hop – Brooklyn-bred prodigy) from the United States.

Prior to an exciting evening of music, the afternoon will feature high-energy performances by worldly B-boy groups and traditional New Age Japanese instrumentalists.
 
In addition, The New York–Tokyo Music Festival will concurrently be showcasing the 2006 collection of the year’s best MUSIC, GAME, and ANIME. MUSIC – we will be introducing the top music videos from Japan, showing the uniqueness of the current scene in Japan. GAME – we will be presenting our own event of EA’s “Def Jam: Fight for NY,” featuring Def Jam artists in furious battle. ANIME – we will be holding a preview of Gonzo-produced “Afro Samurai,” an animation series aired on Spike TV, starring Samuel L. Jackson and the music of RZA.

Lastly, the Festival welcomes all attendees with our one-of-a-kind exhibition. Uniqlo will be showcasing its “from Tokyo to NY” fashion in a real-size container. And of course, we won’t forget to have our Game Pavilion, featuring the pre-releases and recently released titles from each publisher, as New York – Tokyo’s monthly game event GNG celebrates its 3rd year anniversary.

By combining two varying cultures in the greatest outdoor venue in New York City, the Festival aims to highlight the influences, fascination and respect both nations have and share with each other.  Festival-goers of all ages will experience first hand, a deeper appreciation of the music, dance, fine art, animation, fashion, and food of Japan and the Far East.

http://music.newyork-tokyo.com

MUSIC LIVE !

ARTISTS FROM THE U.S


BLACKSMITH MUSIC
www.talibkweli.com

TALIB KWELI

Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, TALIB KWELI has proved to be one of the most prominent rappers of the music world today. Early in his career, he soon began working with producer Hi-Tek and high school buddy Mos Def, establishing the trio Blackstar, a debut that helped make Rawkus Records one of the most distinguished labels of the late 90’s.

Released in 2000, Reflection Eternal (the RIAA-certified gold album with Hi-Tek) was one of the most acclaimed albums of the year. In 2002, smash single "Get By," the political commentary "The Proud," and America's gun culture thesis "Gun Music" made Quality a landmark recording and KWELI’s second gold album. Successive recordings in 2004 (The Beautiful Struggle) and 2005 (Right About Now) solidified his status as one of rap's most talented and important voices today.

AUDIO RESEARCH
www.djatrak.com

A-TRAK

As the youngest DJ ever to become the DMC World Champion at the age of 15, DJ A-TRAK is one of the most cultured disc jockeys of the contemporary turntablist scene. First inducted into DJ Q-bert and Mix Master Mike’s Invisibl Skratch Piklz, A-TRAK went on to win the ’99 and ’00 ITF World Championships, the ’99 Vestax World Extravaganza, and the ’00 DMC Team Championships (with DJ Craze), making him the first DJ to win five world championships, as well as all three major titles.

More recently, DJ A-TRAK has been making headlines as superstar producer/performer Kanye West’s live DJ. While performing at a London record store, West overheard A-TRAK’s set, quickly bringing him out on his 2 month-tour and making him his DJ, where they performed in front of millions.

ARTISTS FROM JAPAN


W+K TOKYO LAB
www.hifana.com

HIFANA

While many electronic acts today show artists glued to their turntables and laptops, electro-percussionists “KEIZOmachine!” and “Juicy”, hailing from Kichijoji, Tokyo, are seen hitting their synth pads and cutting beats using real-time samplers. No pre-programming with these guys.

In Nov. 2003, HIFANA released their first album "Fresh Push Breakin'.” The album made full use of the sequencer, a terrific mix of native instruments, Okinawan music, natural sounds, scratch and human beatbox, together with a remarkable sense of humor. “Fresh Push Breakin’” was selected by various media as one of the best CDs of 2004. The music video "FATBROS" by W+K Tokyo LAB won various awards including Space Shower Music Video Award 04, 2004 One Show Film (NYC), and D&AD 2004 (London).

MIGHTY CROWN ENT.
www.mightycrown.com

MIGHTY CROWN

MIGHTY CROWN aka “The Far East Ruler” have dominated the reggae dancehall scene for decades winning 4 World Clash Championships (’99 US, ’02 ’05 UK, ’05 Antigua). MIGHTY CROWN is the epitome of Japan’s challenge to reggae music. While the reggae boom had been declining in mid-90’s Japan, they single-handedly revitalized the nation with their success and far-reaching influence.

MIGHTY CROWN is celebrating their 15th Anniversary this year. In the Spring, they celebrated it in Japan with two concerts featuring international Reggae DJs Tony Matterhorn and Massive B as well as popular dancehall artist Busy Signal. MIGHTY CROWN then raised the bar in dancehall entertainment by holding their largest anniversary celebration of all time with 35,000 of their fans in Yokohama.

ROADRUNNER RECORDS
www.worldapart.co.jp/pez

PE’Z

They call their music – Samurai Jazz. While modestly making a living as back-up musicians, PE’Z slowly started to build their career under the streetlights of Tokyo. In only 3 years, PE’Z has caught the attention of music promoters worldwide – and more importantly, has established themselves as one of Japan’s biggest instrumental bands.

On October 2005 PE'Z performed at UK's “In The City.” They followed that with numerous performances in Europe. 2006 has been a busy year for the band as they participated in both Canadian Music Week (CMW) and South by Southwest (SXSW), managing to drop a live performance in Korea in between.  They were awarded the “New Artist of the Year” award at the 17th Annual Golden Disk Awards.



GAME

GAME_MAIN STAGE EVENT

Get your game up and come prove who’s truly King or Queen of NY as winner takes all in Def Jam: Fight for New York: The Takeover (EA)!

GAME PAVILION

*PRE-RELEASE TITLES
   Hot PXL (ATARI)
    Dragonball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (ATARI)
    More to come !!
 
* EXHIBIT
  NAMCO BANDAI
    The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,  Eureka Seven (Pre-Release!), Tales of Abyss (Pre-
     Release!),  IGPX, One Piece Grand Adventure,  One Piece Pirates Carnival, , Zatcha
     Bell Mamodo Fury , Zenosaga III
 D3P
    Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2. 
 
*LOUNGE
      King of Fighters 2006 (SNK),Cooking Mama (MAJESCO), Rule of Rose (ATLUS),
      Enchanted Arms (UBISOFT), 50 Cent: Bulletproof  The G-Unit Edition (VIVENDI
      UNIVERSAL) , and more.

& other playable titles will be there. There will be giveaways galore!


ANIMATION


(C) 2006 TAKASHI OKAZAKI, GONZO / SAMURAI PROJECT

ANIMATION _MAIN STAGE

 NYTMF2006 previews “Afro Samurai”, a true “East meets West”            production

*Produced by Gonzo
*Based on original manga and toy by newcomer Takashi Okazaki
*Features Samuel L. Jackson
*Music by RZA

*Airing on Spike TV this fall


SCHEDULE

SAT
SEP.30
2PM – 10PM

STAGE AREA

PERFORMING ARTS:
B Boys
Traditional Japan

MUSIC:
Tokyo Music Video Shower

GAME:
"Def Jam" Special Event

ANIME:
"Afro Samurai" preview screening

MUSIC LIVE:
Mighty Crown
Pe'z
A-Trak
Hifana
Talib Kweli

EXHIBIT AREA

GAME PAVILION

EXHIBITORS:
Sharp
Canon
JAL
Kyolic
Kitano
Uniqlo
Viz
Others

- Schedule subject to change depending on production process -


VENUE

SPONSORS

PRESENTING SPONSOR
SUPPORTING SPONSOR OFFICIAL AIR SPONSOR
EVENT SPONSOR    
HOTEL SPONSOR
ADDITIONAL THANKS : TOPPAN PRINTINGS CO.,AMERICA, SAPPORO USA and CUT&PASTE

CO-ORGANIZERS

Fujisankei Communications International (FCI), established in 1986, serves as the conduit between the Fujisankei Communications Group (FCG - Japan's largest media group) and the world. With seven offices around the world, FCI delivers information to Japan through Fuji Television, Japan's top-rated TV network, the Sankei Shimbun, one of Japan's leading national newspapers, Nippon Broadcasting System, one of Japan's most popular national radio networks, and others. FCI also introduces Japan's entertainment to the US and the world.
New York – Tokyo (NYT), established in 2001, is a New York-based media communications company whose mission is to provide exposure of inspiring youth culture and arts from Japan to the general public in the U.S., and to create productive interaction between New York and Tokyo, the world’s two biggest media capitals. NYT holds two monthly events: GNG (Gamers Nite Groove) and MDS (Monthly Director Series), and two annual events: NYT Festival (@ Central Park) and Tokyo Robotics, in addition to a number of client projects.
 

MEDIA CONTACT : TAEKO BABA
                                  NEWYORK-TOKYO LLC.
                                  BTAEKO@NEWYORK-TOKYO.COM

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