Dates☞ October 4th (Sat) – October 26th (Sun) 2025 [23 days]

Venues:☞ ROHM Theatre Kyoto, KYOTO ART CENTER, Kyoto Art Theater Shunjuza, THEATRE E9 KYOTO, Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery, Library of Kyoto City University of Arts (ITO Memorial Library), Kyoto City Sakyo East Area Iki-Iki Citizen Activity Centre, CLUB METRO and other locations

Organized by
Kyoto International Performing Arts Festival Executive Committee [Kyoto City, ROHM Theatre Kyoto (Kyoto City Music Art Cultural Promoting Foundation), KYOTO ART CENTER (Kyoto Arts and Culture Foundation), Kyoto Performing Arts Center at Kyoto University of the Arts, THEATRE E9 KYOTO (Arts Seed Kyoto)]
General Incorporated Association Kyoto Experiment

Kyoto Experiment is a performing arts festival held in Kyoto since 2010. Dedicated to producing and presenting experimental performing arts—both from Japan and overseas— the festival aims to explore and create new dialogues and values in society. Featuring experimental works that move freely between genres such as theater, dance, music and fine art, the festival hopes to open up new possibilities through the creations, experiences, and ideas that emerge from such a diverse combination.

The festival consists of three programs: “Kansai Studies,” a program that researches the Kansai region, where the festival is rooted, and aims to cultivate a foundation for future creation; “Shows,” a lineup of experimental performing arts and exhibitions from around the world; and “Super Knowledge for the Future [SKF],” a series of talks and workshops that explore the relationship between experimental performing arts and all kinds of different topics beyond the world of art.

The key phrase for Kyoto Experiment 2025 is “nameless leaf clings to the matsutake mushroom”, and is taken from a haiku by Matsuo Basho. The festival aims to become a place for diverse people to encounter performing arts and engage in dialogue.

Basho’s haiku, in which a leaf from an unknown tree that is not matsu (pine) are stuck to a matsutake mushroom, provokes thoughts about encounters with the strange and unfamiliar and how to coexist with them; as well as the idea that, if we go further with this haiku, these encounters are born because there are places which allow us to recognize the strange and unfamiliar. The feeling of discomfort about things unfamiliar and the differences between ourselves and others could easily become the cause of divisions that tear the world apart. However, with this key phrase, we propose that it is precisely because we find ourselves in this present age that through experimental performing arts we can see the noise and the unfamiliar in a positive light and offer a small act of resistance to the divisions that surround us.

Organized by
Kyoto International Performing Arts Festival Executive Committee
Kyoto City
ROHM Theatre Kyoto (Kyoto City Music Art Cultural Promoting Foundation)
KYOTO ART CENTER (Kyoto Arts and Culture Foundation)
Kyoto Performing Arts Center at Kyoto University of the Arts
THEATRE E9 KYOTO (Arts Seed Kyoto)
General Incorporated Association Kyoto Experiment

Co-presented by
Kyoto City University of Arts
［Tania El Khoury & Ziad Abu-Rish、Adam Kinner & Christopher Willes］

The Japan Foundation
[Mark Teh / Five Arts Centre, Jang-Chi × Ming-Chen Lee × Ness Roque × Wen Yuju]

Kyoto City Sakyo East Area Iki-Iki Citizen Activity Centre（Designated Administrator: NPO GEKIKEN）
［Takuya Murakawa］

Supported by
The Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, through the Japan Arts Council
Japan Foundation for Regional Art Activities
Association for Corporate Support of the Arts, Japan:
Arts Fund for Creation of Society

Supported by (individual programs)
Japan Creator Support Fund
Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation

Sponsored by
Hase Building Co., Ltd.

With the stage equipment cooperation of
Lighting Equipment: RYU Co., Ltd.
Audio Equipment: KWAT Co., Ltd.
Video Equipment: Takenaka Co., Ltd.

With the cooperation of
BnA Alter Museum, HOTEL ANTEROOM KYOTO, KAGANHOTEL, THE REIGN HOTEL KYOTO, node hotel, MAGASINN KYOTO, Kyoto Okazaki Tsutaya Books, ENGEKI FRONT of Kyoto 2025, Toyooka Theater Festival 2025, Nuit Blanche KYOTO in Residence

ACA National Arts Festival 2025
80th Anniversary Performance

Chair:
Mayumi Yamamoto (Deputy Director, KYOTO ART CENTER)

Vice Chair:
Hiroya Ishida (Managing Director, Kyoto City Music Art Cultural Promoting Foundation)

Committee Members:
Yoshitaka Ando (Professor, Director of Kyoto Performing Arts Center)
Itsuki Umeyama (Theater Researcher / Associate Professor, Department of Arts, Kindai University)
Yukako Ogura (Program Director, ROHM Theatre Kyoto)
Tetsuya Ozaki (Journalist / Arts Producer)
Yota Kageyama (Director, Arts Seed Kyoto / Theatre Manager, THEATRE E9 KYOTO)
Toru Koyamada (​Artist / President, Kyoto City University of Arts)
Ken Makizawa (Director for Promotion,Arts and Culture General Affairs
section,City of Kyoto)
Morihiro Matsumoto (General Manager and Secretary-General, Kyoto Arts and Culture Foundation)
Hiroshi Yoshioka (Aesthetician / Director, Institute for Philosophy and Science of Art Kyoto University of the Arts)

Advisors:
Fumio Amano (Noh Researcher / Professor Emeritus, Osaka University)
Kojin Ota (Theater Critic / President, Kyoto University of Education)
Akira Shigeyama (Kyogen Artist / Board Member of NPO Kyoto Arts Meeting / Director, THEATRE E9 KYOTO)
Motoaki Shinohara (Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University)
Soshitsu Sen (Urasenke Grand Tea Master)
Akira Tatehata (Poet / Art critic / Director, KYOTO ART CENTER)
Ritsue Hata (Guest Editor, Mainichi Shimbun / Visiting Professor, Osaka University of Arts Junior College)
Oriza Hirata (Playwright, Theater Director / Director of Seinendan / President, Professional College of Arts and Tourism / Special Advisor to the City of Kyoto)

Names are listed in gojuon order (a system for ordering Japanese kana characters).

Co-Artistic Directors:
Yoko Kawasaki, Yuya Tsukahara

Office:
Junko Kakiwaki (Administrative Director)
Shunsuke Kadowaki (Accounting & Ticketing)
Miwako Inoue, Moe Nagasawa (Intern & Volunteer Coordinators)
Ruka Maeda, Momona Eguchi, Natsuki Kato (Public Relations)
Yoko Kawasaki (Executive Director)
Nagara Wada (Assistant Director)
Yoshimi Toyoyama (Director Team Management)
Hiroshi Watanabe (More Experiments & Meeting Points Coordinator)
Kyoko Ifuku
Risa Kimura, Buson Sugihara, Kotaro Muragawa (Interns)

Chief Production Coordinator:
Kanako Yamasaki (KANKARA Inc.)

Production Coordinators:
Satoko Shibata, Tsubasa Shimizu (KANKARA Inc.), Yichun Chen, Yoshimi Toyoyama, neco, Yukina Yagi, Hiroshi Watanabe
[ROHM Theatre Kyoto] Mizuki Kakita, Miho Kawahara, Rika Kihara, Takanori Goto, Kimiko Terada, Syunsuke Manabe
[KYOTO ART CENTER] Huang Yuxi, Ryuichi Tani, June Teraoka, Shoko Nishida, Honami Miyoshi, Jun Yukioka
[Kyoto Performing Arts Center] Ryo Ide, Keiko Nakama
[THEATRE E9 KYOTO] Mana Okuyama

Echoes Now Curators:
Maki Kawaguchi, Takuya tsutsumi, Nagara Wada

Kansai Studies Coordinator:
Takuya Tsutsumi

Overseas Curator Residency Coordinator:
Yukio Nitta

Technical:
Yuhi Kobayashi (Technical Director)
Kodachi Kitagata, Sota Kojima, Yohei Sogo, Shunsuke Watanaka (Technical Coordinators)
Mao Sakai (Technical Administration)

Text Coordination:
Noriko Yamaguchi

English translation from Japanese:
Art Translators Collective (Hibiki Mizuno, Yume Morimoto, Lillian Canright), William Andrews, Kei Saito
Interpreters:
Kei Saito, Mizuho Tsujii

Art Direction / Design:
Aiko Koike

Design Assistants:
Minami Wetli Tanaka, Sakura Tao

Archive Video and Photo Direction:
slide//show (Takuya Matsumi, Kim Song-Gi, Yoshitaka Shimada, Yuki Moriya)

Web Direction / Design / Development :
Yota Shiraishi

Advisory Board:
Torao Ohsawa (Institute for Culture Commons)
Kaori Togashi (Professor, Kyoto Seika University Media Faculty of Media Creation)