TEDxTokyo

With less than 12 hours until the event, the speaker line-up for TEDxTokyo 2014 is complete! In this blog we’d like to share more information about our speakers from the field of entertainment.

Souryou Matsumura (Tea ceremony practitioner, Owner of Shuhally)

Souryou Matsuura started his exploration into tea ceremony after he travelled around Europe and realized just how little he knew about Japanese culture. He started the Shuhally project to make tea ceremony more enjoyable and accessible to contemporary audiences. He will be sharing his creative ways to integrate traditional tea ceremony into our modern world at TEDxTokyo 2014!

LJ Rich (Musician, BBC Click host)

When LJ Rich tastes food she hears music and when she hears sound she sees color—she has a ‘mingling of the senses’ called synesthesia. This remarkable condition allows her to find connections between seemingly unrelated fields—a very apt addition to this year’s lineup!

Rio Saito (Ukulele master)

A 13-year-old world-renowned ukulele virtuoso, Rio Saito is here to perform for you! Having graced the stage at both TEDxyouth 2014 and also at the 2014 TEDxTeacher conference, Rio is sure to captivate the audience yet again.

Kenji Williams (Founder and Director of Bella Gaia)

As as an award-winning filmmaker, music producer, theatrical show director, and classically trained violinist, Kenji Williams fuses music, visual arts, science and storytelling. Enjoy his performance, “Bella Gaia,” where he explores the connections between humanity and nature!

Bear Kittay (Musician)

Bear Kittay regards himself as a social alchemist. As an international ambassador for Burning Man, he has travelled around six different continents to compile stories for the Burning Man Global Genome Project. He also uses music to create cultural innovation, and his piece, Cosmic Kazoo, will be seen and heard for the first time at 2014’s TEDxTokyo!

Kohei Inoue (Musician)

Kohei Inoue explores the potential of Japanese traditional instruments and transmits their sound to the world. Enjoy the performance by AUN J Classic Orchestra, a project that integrates Japanese traditional music into contemporary world!

Leslie Kee (Photographer)

Leslie Lee started his career as a photographer in 1998. His work ranges from portraits of world-renowned musicians and supermodels to supporting tsunami survivors in Sumatra with photography. Feel the power of his photography at TEDxTokyo2014.

Yoichi Ochiai (Media Artist, Researcher)

Ochiai Yoichi integrates science and art. Enjoy his fascinating visual art, which fuses digital and analog media, at TEDxTokyo.

VERBAL (Music Producer, MC, Designer

Music producer VERBAL has collaborated with a variety of musicians, including m-flo. He has also worked as a designer and a DJ. He combines his diverse experiences to perform fascinating music at TEDxTokyo, in which he will employ motion capture suits for the first time at any such music show in the world!

Masaki Toraiwa (Founder, PrsnT)

Masaki Toraiwa is a rock guitarist and the founder of PrsnT, where he encourages the people to “get up on stage” and “play in the band” by sharing ideas with the people around them. He will invite you to participate in his “jam session” at TEDxTokyo!