-SEEDS Conference 2024 Speaker&Performer-

Kaho Aso

Doctor of Music

Kaho Aso holds a doctoral degree in music from Tokyo University of the Arts. Kaho is the first person in the university’s history to earn a doctoral degree in the field of hogaku-bayashi, traditional Japanese orchestral music. While an undergraduate, she was awarded the Ataka Prize given to the best student in the university and made her stage debut in Rainbow 21 hosted by Suntory Hall. Working with various artists both in Japan and abroad, Kaho pushes the boundaries of Japanese classical music and dance by combining traditional Japanese art forms with Western music, art, and literature. She has recently staged a solo performance, "Giou" in the Tale of the Heike Monogatari and “Murasakinoue “ in the Tale of Genji Monogatari, which synthesizes traditional music, dance and acting.

She was selected by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, government of Japan as a rising artist and has performed in many places in Europe through the year.

She is a lecturer of Tokyo University of the Arts.

Concerts and recitals

She was selected to perform in the LOHAS Classic Concerts organized by Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Her performances have been broadcast on NHK educational channel in programs such as Kacho-fugetsu-dou, Irohani Hogaku (The ABCs of Traditional Japanese Music), Power of Music and NHK Radio Shinya-bin.

She has been sent by the Japan Foundation to perform in many counties including France, England, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg and the US. She has recently performed in Giou, a synthesis of western and Japanese music, in Tokyo, Paris, and Berlin.

And also she has performed at the Embassy of Japan in Switzerland and Spain to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and each country.

Theatre

She has played the role of the princess in L’Histoire du Soldat written by Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz and composed by Igor Fyodorovitch Stravinsky at the Saito Kinen Fesitival Matsumoto directed by Seiji Ozawa. She was a member of the original cast of Shun-kin (2008) directed by Simon McBurney which toured London, Paris, Taipei, Singapore, Tokyo, and Kobe. Shun-kin was invited to the New York Lincoln Festival and toured the US in 2013.

Dance

As a dancer of nihon buyo, Japanese classical dance, Kaho appeared on stage as Kochou with Kabuki actor Somegoro Ichikawa at the Young Kabuki Festival. She also performed nihon buyo at the 60th anniversary of the Japan-America Women’s Club in the presence of Her Majesty Empress Michiko. Kaho has performed on many other stages including the 100th Anniversary of Nitten (Japan Fine Arts Exhibition) and the Japanese Classical Dance Association.

Kaho studies hayashi under Rosen Tosha VI and works under the name of Kaho Tosha. She studies nihon buyo under Koshiro Matsumoto IX and works under the name of Kohi Matsumoto.

Hiroshi Ishiguro

Intelligent Robot Researcher and scholar

Professor, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University

Hiroshi Ishiguro received a Ph. D. from Osaka University, Japan in 1991. He is currently Professor of Department of Systems Innovation at Osaka University, Visiting Director of Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR), Project Manager of MOONSHOT R&D Project, Thematic Project Producer of EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, and CEO of AVITA, Inc. His research interests are interactive robotics, avatar, and android science. Geminoid is an avatar android that is a copy of himself. In 2011, he won the Osaka Cultural Award. In 2015, he received the Prize for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He was also awarded the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award in Dubai in 2015. Tateisi Award in 2020, and honorary doctorate of Aarhus university in 2021.

KOHKI

Musician

Born in 1985. Kohki is known as a guitar and multiple instrumental player and composer. Besides being a player, he also owns Studio-Kohki as Orchestrator and Yassassin Label as producer. He has been learning and producing music since he was a child. He composed, played and recorded by himself and his debut was when he was 15 years old. His works are highly evaluated, and he worked on some commercial music for Shiseido, Canon, Edwin, Toyota etc… He became a freelancer in 2004 and moved his base to his hometown, Nagano. In 2011, he went to Germany, Berlin to learn music even more and proactively held concerts and concerts. After he came home to Japan, he produced his own unit BaroQPunks, and besides that, he produced Shinobue (Japanese transverse bamboo flute) player Kazuya Sato and other famous artists. In 2016, we gladly announced his creation of concept music for the SEEDS Conference. His passion for music continues.

Kazuya Sato

Shinobue bamboo flute player and composer

Born in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture in 1981. Sato met the shinobue for the first time at a local festival (Karatsu Kunchi). After having immersed himself in music, he realized that the shinobue was the most suitable way for expressing his music when he was a university student. After training in a professional taiko group, the took the opportunity of performing with the shinobue for a special Buddhist ceremony at the Yakushi-ji Temple, Nara Prefecture, which is one of Japan’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, he began to walk the path of a Shinobue player. He also developed his activities as a composer. In 2013, his own composition "Sakurairo Waltz (Waltz of Cherry-Blossom Color)" was adopted as a motif song for the song "Ame nochi Hareruya (Hallelujah after the rain)" of YUZU, very famous Japanese music duo. This song was selected as the theme song for the NHK TV drama “Gochiso-san". This work was granted the Song of the Year Award at the 2014 Japan Record Awards. In 2016, he produced the city song "Furusato no Sorayo (Sky of hometown)" for Ureshino City, Saga Prefecture. In the same year, he made a major debut from Nippon Columbia. He also worked on the music for movies such as "Hanagatami" (directed by Yoshihiko Obayashi). He was commissioned as the Karatsu Tourism Ambassador and Ureshino Kokoro Ambassador. He also composed the school song "Wakaki Inochi yo (Young Life)" for Ureshino High School. In 2021, he composed "Ruri-iro no Hikari (The Azure Light)" to commemorate the celebration of the completion of the east tower of Yakushi-ji Temple, which was adopted in the Yakushi-ji Temple official website video.

Toshitaka Suzuki　　

Animal linguist. Associate Professor at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo / The University of Tokyo Excellent Young Researcher.

Animal linguist. Associate Professor at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo / The University of Tokyo Excellent Young Researcher. My groundbreaking work involves the discovery of linguistic capabilities in a wild bird species. Currently, I am establishing a new scientific discipline "Animal Linguistics" to explore the meanings and evolution of animal languages. My research has earned me many accolades, such as the World OMOSIROI Award from Knowledge Capital, Miyadi Award from the Ecological Society of Japan, the Japan Ethological Society Award, and the MEXT Young Scientists' Award. I have also made significant efforts in communicating my research findings to the public.

Shutaro Takeda

Prof. Shutaro J. Takeda is an Associate Professor, Division Director,

Fusion Energy Division at the Urban Institute, Kyushu University.

Knight of Magistral Grace of Malta Knight.

Prof. Shutaro J. Takeda is an Associate Professor, Division Director, Fusion Energy Division at the Urban Institute, Kyushu University. He is currently the youngest Associate Member of the Science Council of Japan, the national academy of Japan.

In 2022, Prof. Takeda was received into the Order of Malta as a Knight of Magistral Grace to be became the first Japanese knight in almost a century.

He was formerly a United Nations officer in Vienna and is now a Deputy Director of the Japanese government’s Council for Science and Technology Fusion Energy Task Force. Prof. Takeda obtained his Bachelor of Engineering at Kyoto University in 2014, his Ph.D. in energy science at Kyoto University in 2018, and his Master of Liberal Arts at Harvard University in 2019.

His expertise is in energy economics, sustainable development, and the environmental management. He has been awarded the International Young Energy Professional of the Year Award by Association of Energy Engineers in 2018, the Institute of Physics (IOP) NIG Early Career Award in 2021, among other national and international awards.

Outside of academia, Prof. Takeda’s public service includes two years in the Japanese military as a Sergeant First Class, and the Japanese government’s official Overseas Cooperation Volunteer in rural Bangladesh.

Haruka Nishikawa

Resercher, Research Institute for Value-Added-Information Generation

Center for Earth Information Science and Technology

Data Synthesis and Fusion Analysis Research Group

Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology（JAMSTEC）

Haruka Nishikawa earned her Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from the University of Tokyo in 2010. She later served as a postdoctoral researcher at Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, a Research Fellowship for Young Scientists at JSPS, a visiting scholar at Rutgers University, and as a PRESTO Researcher at JST. Since 2020, she has been with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, specializing in fisheries oceanography and fisheries informatics. The recent research themes include elucidating mechanisms of variation in fisheries resources and developing management techniques for aquaculture fish. Additionally, she is involved in science communication activities related to fisheries promotion and marine science. 

Tatsuki Hayama

Associate Professor, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University

Tatsuki Hayama was born in Nara in 1982. He graduated from the Faculty of Education at Osaka Kyoiku University and completed his doctoral studies in the Graduate School of Science at Osaka University. He holds a Ph.D. in Science. After serving as a postdoctoral researcher at Paris University, National Taiwan University, and Tsinghua University, and as an associate professor at Senshu University, he assumed his current position.

His specialties include mathematics (complex geometry) and its applications in art and design. He engages in creative work and design support through CG and digital fabrication based on mathematics. He has authored books such as "Generative Art with Mathematics" and "Mathematics for Real-Time Graphics" (published by Gijutsu-Hyoronsha) and has translated Steven Ornes' "Math Art" (Newton Press).

Hayama has participated in collaborative research and development with Hosoo, a Nishijin-ori textile company, and in design projects for the renovation of Ryufukuji Temple in Nagoya, which won the 31st Aichi Urban and Architectural Award. He also collaborates on artworks with painter Yuki Yamamoto and supports the creations of designer Kentaro Nagai and artist Goro Murayama.

The exhibition "Visualization of Prime Numbers" by Kentaro Nagai, for which Hayama supervised mathematics and programming, won the D&AD 2024 Wood Pencil award. Recent exhibitions include "Visionaries: Making Another Perspective" at the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art and "Fundamentalz" at the Komaba Museum, University of Tokyo.  

Hidenori Watanabe

Professor of Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, and Media Contents Research Initiative Director The University of Tokyo

Born in 1974. Professor of Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, The University of Tokyo. Media Contents Research Initiative Director. His research interests include information design and digital archives. He has been an Associate Professor at the Faculty of System Design, Tokyo Metropolitan University, a Visiting Scholar at the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University.

He has produced "Nagasaki Archive," "Hiroshima Archive," "Great East Japan Earthquake Archive," "Wasurenai: We Shall Never Forget - Last Movements of Tsunami Disaster Victims," "Satellite Image Map of Ukraine," "Noto Peninsula Earthquake Photogrammetry Map," etc. He has also published books, including "Spinning Data to Connect to Society" (sole author) and "Reviving Prewar and War with AI Colorized Photographs" (co-author).

He has received awards including the Japan Prize, Good Design Award, Ars Electronica, Japan Media Arts Festival, and others. The joint research with Iwate Nippo Newspaper received the Japan Newspaper Publishers Association Award.