Edition 10

After launching the first-ever MUTEK festival in Japan in November 2016 in Tokyo, MUTEK.JP celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2025. This milestone 10th edition marked a defining moment: the festival’s identity as Japan’s only platform dedicated to pioneering audio-visual performance became firmly established, while simultaneously stepping into a new phase of expansion—accelerating experimentation and evolution upon that foundation.

This year’s curation reflected the vision crystallized over the past decade, the refined artistic perspective we have cultivated, and the relationships nurtured with artists, communities, and international networks. The result was a uniquely diverse lineup unlike any before. Local and international artists, emerging voices and established figures intersected across seven programs, presenting performances by 51 artists spanning audio-visual art, experimental music, dance music, bands, improvisation, avant-garde practices, academic inquiry, entertainment, and works engaging cultural identity and social context. Together, they expanded the very contours of the festival itself.

Over four days, in collaboration with eight venues across Tokyo—O-EAST, WWW, MIYASHITA PARK, WOMB, Shibuya Hikarie Hall B, Shibuya Scramble Crossing, Tunnel Tokyo, and Fil—we presented a multifaceted program including the festival, a conference, presentation events, and workshops.

The conference, featuring 50 speakers, opened the week. In partnership with the Government of Québec—the birthplace of MUTEK—we presented L’Effet Québec, a collaborative initiative introducing creative companies from Québec to Japan. We also hosted workshops with long-time collaborators TouchDesigner and Ableton, organized a public screening in partnership with DIG SHIBUYA 2026, and collaborated on the first-ever TouchDesigner presentation event in Asia, TouchDesigner Event Tokyo 2025. Through these partnerships with creative communities spanning local and global contexts, we were fortunate to present a wide range of programs as part of MUTEK.JP Edition 10. In total, we welcomed more than 6,000 attendees.

Over the past ten years, we have felt a growing sense of trust and connection with our audience. To those who have been with us since the very first edition, those who return year after year, and those who joined us for the first time this year—thank you sincerely.

This year’s edition was supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs under the Japan Expo 2.0 (FY2025) initiative. The festival was also made possible thanks to the generous support of 13 governmental and cultural institutions and 27 partner companies. We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who shares our vision and continues to walk alongside us.

As we enter our 11th year, we remain committed to continued challenge and evolution. We look forward to what lies ahead.

Edition 10 by the Numbers

4 days across 8 venues in Tokyo, featuring festivals, conferences, presentations, and workshops
7 music programs with performances by 51 artists
23 Japanese local artists and 28 international artists
11 conference sessions with 50 speakers from Japan and abroad
"L’Effet Québec" collaboration with the Québec government, hosting 12 creative companies from Québec
2-day free digital creative workshops with TouchDesigner and Ableton
Public screening of 8 works through the Shibuya Crossing Night Art project in collaboration with DIG SHIBUYA 2026
2-day linked presentation event: TouchDesigner Event Tokyo 2025
Supported by 13 governmental and cultural institutions and 27 partner companies
Total participants: 6,034
Held as part of the Japan Expo 2.0 FY2025 initiative, supported by the Japan Arts Council (Independent Administrative Institution) / Agency for Cultural Affairs

Tap the image to watch the Edition 10 aftermovie. ↓

watch

Program Recap

A/Visions - Opening Night

Thursday, 20 November 2025
at WWW

The opening program A/Visions took place at Shibuya WWW. Tickets sold out quickly, and a packed audience welcomed the start of the festival with a stunning performance by the trio Eiko Ishibashi + Jim O’Rourke + Joe Talia. Blending electronics and acoustic instruments, their experimental improvisation unfolded with organic shifts in sound that evoked humor, emotion, and intensity, all crafted with remarkable technical skill and expressive nuance. Line Katcho complemented the set with visuals that gently enveloped the music in an ambient atmosphere.

Next, making her first appearance in Japan, Noémi Büchi (Switzerland / France) presented her striking audiovisual work Does It Still Matter. Using contemporary classical harmonies, dissonance, and brutal noise, she created a powerful, immersive experience that built intense emotional highs.

Closing the program was Martin Messier, based in Montreal, who had opened the very first MUTEK.JP in 2016 with his unconventional experimental approach, leaving a lasting impression on the audience. Returning to WWW for the 10th anniversary to present his new work was a symbolic moment, reflecting on the festival’s history. His latest piece, 1 Drop 1000 Years, skillfully manipulates water droplets, light, sound, data, and physical processes through custom-built devices to explore the fragility of Earth’s ocean currents. Minimal yet monumental, the immersive experience left the audience utterly captivated.

Eiko Ishibashi + Jim O’Rourke + Joe Talia ^JP+US/JP+AU [VJ: Line Katcho ^CA/QC]
Noémi Büchi ^CH — Does It Still Matter
Martin Messier ^QC/CA — 1 drop 1000 years

Nocturne 1

Friday, 21 November 2025
at Spotify O-EAST

The three-night program Nocturne took place at Shibuya Spotify O-EAST, with the opening night drawing the largest audience of the series and kicking off in high energy.

The night began with goat, an experimental rhythm ensemble led by Koshiro Hino. Against a pitch-dark stage lit only with restrained lighting, they built trance-like intensity through meticulously crafted, repetitive minimal phrases, creating a soundscape that evoked distant, otherworldly realms. It was a pure, “less is more” experience, where the power of sound and rhythm expanded both body and mind.

Next up, Alva Noto returned to MUTEK.JP for the first time since the festival’s initial Raster showcase. His conceptual, minimal, and precise sound design—intertwined with tense glitch textures and beats—was perfectly synchronized with visuals that cut through the space with surgical precision, offering a high-purity AV experience that sharpened the audience’s perception. Simply outstanding.

∈Y∋ + C.O.L.O delivered a torrent of sound crossing drone, noise, shingeki, and gabba, fully fused with psychedelic, dangerous, and even humorous visuals. Their overwhelming audiovisual expression completely dominated the floor, leaving the audience breathless.

GEZAN, the Japanese band, took the stage with an experimental set crafted for MUTEK.JP. Beginning with ethereal drones that gradually intensified in tension and chaos, they built to a peak through thrilling improvisation before breaking into psychedelic rock, igniting the floor. Their performance revealed raw emotion and sharp conceptual questions, deeply resonating with the audience. Kiyotaka Sumiyoshi’s VJ added elegance and flair to GEZAN’s red-dominated stage with masterful technique and visual aesthetics, elevating the live experience even further.

Late in the night, MUTEK.JP regular machìna from South Korea appeared with her dance-focused live set Action. She instantly transformed the room into a club atmosphere, leading the floor deeper into the groove with hard-edged techno textures and driving momentum. The visuals by her collaborator Manami Sakamoto used a minimal palette of red, black, and white, translating delicate textures and patterns into sharp, rhythmically precise light effects.

Nicola Cruz followed with an immersive performance that enveloped the audience in a floating sensation. Centered on warm house grooves, he seamlessly connected strange and trippy tracks into a rich sound journey. VJ BunBun complemented the set with sophisticated visuals using vivid colors and holographic textures, dynamically syncing with the music to deliver an ideal audiovisual synergy.

Closing the night, PAURRO from Mexico commanded the floor with a powerful DJ set featuring bouncy, uplifting selections. Alex Vlair’s contrasting, colourful, and psychedelic visuals heightened the trippy atmosphere, ending the evening on a high note.

goat ^JP
Alva Noto ^DE — HYBR:ID UNI PARA
∈Y∋ + C.O.L.O ^JP
GEZAN ^JP [VJ: Kiyotaka Sumiyoshi ^JP]
machìna ^KR/JP [VJ: Manami Sakamoto ^JP]
Nicola Cruz ^EC [VJ: BunBun ^CA/QC]
PAURRO ^MX [VJ: Alex Vlair ^CA/QC]

Nocturne 2

Saturday, 22 November 2025
at Spotify O-EAST

The third day of the festival opened with MONOCOLOR from Vienna presenting their audiovisual work Sentient Ocean. Majestic soundscapes layered with deep bass and textured noise merged with real-time generated monochrome visuals, creating an immersive environment that seemed to lock the viewer’s sight and mind. Experiencing such a live art piece in the context of a music festival is truly unique to MUTEK.JP.

Next up, NONOTAK delivered an elegant monochrome AV performance, balancing meticulous detail with simplicity. Crystal-clear sound, precise lighting, and stage performance worked in harmony to transform the entire space into a singular, unforgettable artwork. Halina Rice combines tracks from her new album UNREALITY with unique visuals, creating immersive and spacious progressive house AV experiences.

Daito Manabe, a MUTEK.JP regular, presented an ever-evolving AV set, blending fast-paced, genre-crossing dance music with technically and aesthetically refined visuals. This year, his performance showed further evolution, exemplifying the cutting edge of contemporary audiovisual live performance.

As the night deepened, Verses GT featuring Jacques Greene & Nosaj Thing took the stage. Their set distinguished itself through clever use of darkness and vibrant lighting, combining melancholic, meditative soundscapes with grooves that moved the body. Following them, Martyn Bootyspoon kept the floor energized with percussive rhythms, dynamic beats, and undulating synths—a performance that consistently evoked the joy of dancing. VJ JACKSON kaki projected organic motifs blending biological and machine-like elements, evolving in a game-like manner that synced naturally with Martyn’s beats, creating a seamless audiovisual experience.

Closing the night, DJ SAMO led the floor with house and techno infused with soul, R&B, breaks, and tribal textures. His impeccable sense of groove brought the evening to a satisfying close. VJ MISOLA complemented the set with vibrant, chaotic visuals, combining shifting textures, moving patterns, and bold colors to dynamically animate the space.

Daito Manabe ^JP
Halina Rice ^UK
Martyn Bootyspoon ^CA/QC [VJ: JACKSON kaki ^JP]
MONOCOLOR ^AT — Sentient Ocean
NONOTAK ^FR/JP
SAMO ^JP [VJ: MISOLA^JP]
Verses GT: Jacques Greene + Nosaj Thing ^CA/QC+US

Nocturne 3

Sunday, 23 November 2025
at Spotify O-EAST

The final day of the festival, Nocturne 3, opened with a live performance by kyoka and Ami Kusakari of Sakanaction, titled Ukabu Oto: Superposition. Screens displayed visuals inspired by the observation of water flows and their perceptual effects, while layers of natural sounds, synths, and improvised bass merged into an experimental yet beautifully immersive ambient-electronica soundscape.

Next, Guillaume Coutu-Dumont & Line Katcho presented their AV work Les Empires, combining synth-driven music inspired by sci-fi and mythology with visuals depicting the rise, collapse, and regeneration of a fictional empire. Guillaume’s playful, improvisational performance interacted with striking yet slightly unsettling Western audiovisual motifs, drawing the audience into the narrative.

The internationally acclaimed Open Reel Ensemble followed, performing with three members each manipulating open reels to craft live sound. A roaming cameraman projected live images of the performers onto a screen, capturing the raw moments of creation and improvisation in real time. Coupled with their interactive approach—speaking to the audience via microphone—the performance was both immersive and highly engaging, exemplifying live entertainment at its finest.

Montreal-based artist Marie Davidson delivered a performance blending techno, electro, and post-punk with her signature presence, combining singing and spoken elements with expressive gestures. Her commanding stage presence pulled the audience in, eliciting enthusiastic responses from devoted fans.

The Japan-born, Germany-based duo WaqWaq Kingdom fused elements of diverse tribal music into their unique electronic sound, projecting edited visuals of festivals from across Japan. Kiki Hitomi, dressed as a “miko from nowhere,” performed ritualistic vocals and movement, creating a stage that reinterpreted Japanese culture through an international lens. This approach, seemingly a reverse import for Japanese audiences, resonated as a fresh and innovative experience for all spectators, regardless of background.

Berlin-based Makoto Inoue followed with an AV live set combining driving techno soundscapes and otherworldly fractal visuals, pushing the audience into a trance-like state.

Finally, just before 3 a.m., the festival closed with a performance by Satoshi Tomiie × Kuniyuki Takahashi × Manami Sakamoto. The musicians gradually built minimalistic grooves from refined tones, melodies, and rhythms, leading the audience into deep, danceable states. Improvised interactions between analog synths and live instruments created an organic and joyous energy, while Manami Sakamoto’s visuals—grounded in natural textures and shadow—breathed in sync with the music. The three performers together sculpted a shared temporal space, producing an exceptional live experience. Even after the final note, the lingering resonance left the audience wishing the performance could continue, marking a perfect close to MUTEK.JP’s 10th anniversary edition.

Guillaume Coutu-Dumont & Line Katcho ^CA/QC — Les Empires
kyoka + Ami Kusakari (Sakanaction) ^JP — ウカブオト: superposition
Makoto Inoue ^JP
Marie Davidson ^CA/QC
Open Reel Ensemble ^JP
Satoshi Tomiie × Kuniyuki Takahashi × Manami Sakamoto ^JP— Isor 168
WaqWaq Kingdom^JP/DE

Play

Friday, 21 November 2025
at or MIYASHITA PARK

The Play program took place at or, the cultural hub space inside MIYASHITA PARK, and was free to attend. The floor was surrounded by projections on three walls, creating an immersive audiovisual environment. The lineup featured a collaborative live performance by Kyoka and interaction designer Takuma Nakata, a live set by Atsushi Kobayashi combining sound, visuals, and robotic arms equipped with LEDs, and an audiovisual live performance by Intercity-Express × Shuhei Matsuyama.

Atsushi Kobayashi^JP
Intercity-Express & Shuhei Matsuyama ^JP
kyoka & Takuma Nakata ^JP

MUTEK.JP x WOMB 1

Friday, 21 November 2025
at WOMB

The two-night collaborative program at club WOMB kicked off on the first day with AOKI takamasa, whose powerful, driving DJ set wove a compelling groove. Next, the Montreal-based duo Flabbergast delivered a live set that combined eccentricity with dynamic energy, followed by Satoshi Otsuki, whose DJ performance gradually guided the crowd into deep, immersive zones.

AOKI takamasa ^JP
Flabbergast ^CA/QC(Live)
Satoshi Otsuki^JP

MUTEK.JP x WOMB 2

Saturday, 22 November 2025
at WOMB

On the second night, Sammy Dee from Perlon warmed up the floor with a minimal DJ set, while Melchior Productions Ltd presented a highly refined live set that epitomized the art of reduction. Over on the 4th-floor stage, Vincent Lemieux, NIGELTHREETIMES, and Koki took turns delivering sets that showcased their unique styles, steadily building the energy and excitement across the floor.

Sammy Dee ^DE
Melchior Productions Ltd ^DE (Live)
Vincent Lemieux ^CA/QC
NIGELTHREETIMES ^US
Koki ^JP

MUTEK.JP Pro Conference 2025

21-22 November 2025
at Shibuya Hikarie Hall B

Over two days at Hikarie Hall B in Shibuya, the free (pre-registration required) talk series MUTEK.JP Pro Conference 2025 took place, marking a significant milestone in the 10th anniversary edition of MUTEK.JP. Focusing on cutting-edge technologies such as Web3, XR, and AI, the conference featured 50 speakers, including artists, creators, researchers, and industry leaders from Japan and abroad.

Through interdisciplinary discussions, panels, and short presentations, participants explored emerging possibilities at the intersection of creativity, technology, and cultural production, examining how these tools are reshaping the creation, experience, and distribution of art. The conference also emphasized practical applications, from immersive installations to AI-generated performance, highlighting both experimentation and real-world deployment of new technologies.

The event introduced the AI simultaneous interpretation tool Pocketalk Conference, providing real-time multilingual translation and enabling global participation across linguistic barriers. A total of 11 sessions were held—4 in Japanese and 7 in English—with around 1,000 participants attending, showcasing the growing demand for cross-cultural knowledge exchange in the digital arts sector.

In parallel, the conference hosted L’Effet Québec, highlighting Québec’s leading digital creativity ecosystem. Twelve pioneering creative companies from Québec presented their work, including immersive installations, interactive media, and onchain experiments, providing concrete examples of international collaboration among artists, studios, and cultural institutions.

This program reinforced MUTEK.JP’s commitment to creating global partnerships, supporting both artistic innovation and professional networking in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Key Highlights:

Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai) delivered a special talk on his Xerrox series, exploring the intersection of perception, sound, and material processes.
Takashi Ikegami (University of Tokyo) discussed AI in creative practice, focusing on co-creation, material agency, and context-driven emergent performance.
The Ghost in the Shell: Across All Anime Series AR exhibition session offered insights into immersive AR storytelling.
Panels on onchain culture, metaverse cities, DePIN, and the evolving post-Trump Web3 economy examined technological, social, and economic shifts impacting creators today.
A keynote by Luis Oscar Ramirez, CEO of Mawari, showcased bridging blockchain, XR, and decentralized streaming for real-time immersive experiences.

TouchDesigner Event Tokyo 2025

23-24 November 2025
at Hikarie Hall B

In collaboration with MUTEK.JP, the TouchDesigner Event Tokyo—a community-led presentation series—was held over two days at Hikarie Hall B.

Digi Lab 1 & 2: TouchDesigner Workshop

19-20 November 2025
at Tunnel Tokyo

In collaboration with MUTEK.JP and Derivative, TouchDesigner workshops were held this year over two days at TUNNEL TOKYO, catering to both beginners and experienced users.

Digi Lab 3: Creative Lab by Ableton

Saturday, 22 November 2025
at Fil

MUTEK.JP, in collaboration with Ableton Japan, hosted the “Creative Lab by Ableton” event. The session featured Daito Manabe, Kuniyuki, and Kyoka + Ami Kusakari, all of whom performed at this year’s festival, sharing insights into their creative processes and how they use Ableton products in their work.

DIG SHIBUYA presents Shibuya Crossing Night Art

Friday, 21 November 2025
at Shibuya Scramble Crossing

As part of the MUTEK.JP Festival, DIG SHIBUYA hosted the nighttime public art screening event “Shibuya Crossing Night Art.” The festival participated as a curator under MUTEK.JP & ETERNAL Art Space, presenting works across the four large LED screens at the iconic Shibuya Scramble Crossing.

MUTEK.JP & ETERNAL Art Space:
Kohui ^KR
MONOCOLOR ^AT
RICH & MIYU ^JP+UK
Saeko Ehara & Shuta Yasukochi ^JP
Yuma Yanagisawa ^JP/DE

DIG SHIBUYA 2026:
Taeko Isu
SEOHYO
Koshi Miura