Seven of Japan’s most prominent musical acts will converge on Pasadena on May 16 for Zipangu, a one-day festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl that its promoters say will be the largest event devoted to Japanese music ever staged in the United States.
Presented by concert promoter Goldenvoice and Japanese talent agency Cloud Nine, the event aims to bring the breadth of contemporary Japanese pop, rock and rap to an American audience at the approximately 35,000-capacity outdoor venue — a scale that organizers say has not been attempted before with an all-Japanese lineup in the U.S., according to a press release from the event team.
Headlining is Ado, the 23-year-old singer whose face has never been publicly revealed. Ado, an utaite — a Japanese term for singers who post anonymous vocal covers online — topped Apple Music’s Global Top 100 chart in 2022 with “New Genesis,” the theme song for the animated film One Piece Film: Red. She completed her second world tour in 2025, which has been credited as the largest global tour by a Japanese artist. She is managed by Cloud Nine.
Joining Ado on the bill are Atarashii Gakko!, the four-member dance group that performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2024 and appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2023; MAN WITH A MISSION, a five-member rock band known for performing in wolf-head costumes and providing theme songs for anime series including Demon Slayer; rapper Yuki Chiba, who gained international attention through his feature on Megan Thee Stallion’s viral 2024 track “Mamushi”; rapper Chanmina; girl group Hana; and punk-rock band 10-FEET.
“Japanese music has a universe of creativity that the world is only beginning to discover,” a spokesperson for the Zipangu team said in a press statement. “Zipangu is the beginning of a new story, one that connects artists and fans through the power, vibrancy, and individuality of this scene.”
The event reflects the growing international footprint of Japanese music. Japan is the second-largest music market in the world, behind only the United States, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Yet Japanese artists have historically toured outside their home country far less frequently than their Korean counterparts in the K-pop industry. Several Zipangu artists have begun to change that pattern: Atarashii Gakko! debuted for U.S. audiences in 2021 through the label 88rising, and “Mamushi” peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Chiba’s first entry on the chart.
The festival’s name draws from Marco Polo’s The Travels of Marco Polo, in which Japan was called the “Land of Gold,” according to the event’s organizers. The organizers described the event as rooted in the Japanese concept of Dō — “the Way” — which they said values technical mastery alongside courtesy, respect and spiritual discipline, according to the press release.
Brookside at the Rose Bowl, the grass-covered grounds adjacent to the stadium at 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, has become a regular destination for large-scale music festivals since 2016. Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Presents and the producer of Coachella, holds an exclusive booking deal at the Pasadena venue and stages several annual festivals there, including Cruel World and Head in the Clouds.
Zipangu takes place Saturday, May 16, 2026, at Brookside at the Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena. Venue doors open at 3:30 p.m. Curfew is 11 p.m. The event is all ages, rain or shine, with no re-entry. Tickets start at $149 for general admission, with VIP packages starting at $399 and Super VIP at $599, available through axs.com. The event is cashless. Parking is available for advance purchase. For more information, visit zipangu-event.cloud.
Goldenvoice produces more than 1,600 concerts annually across the U.S. and Canada. Zipangu’s lineup represents the first wave of announced performers, with additional artists possible, according to the press release.
