J-POP Summit 2015 Kicks Off With Special Event At The Castro Theater

J-POP Summit 2015 kicked off in San Francisco on August 7th and promises to be the biggest event yet! Stretching all across San Francisco, J-POP Summit coincides with the Japan Film Festival (at New People Cinema in Japantown), Sake Summit (in Union Square, Downtown San Francisco), the event proper in Fort Mason, and the opening event held at the Castro Theater!

Kicking off this year's event was the VIP Party/Screening at the aforementioned Castro Theater. The VIP party was only open to invited guests and press, but it was a great way for all to mix and mingle and showcased the varied talent present! It was also rather surreal to see sights like JAM Project and idol group Festive take pictures with accomplished actor Tadanobu Asano or others take photos with the oversized Ichiko Shochu props!

Little Glee Monster w/ Tadanobu Asano

FESTIVE w/ The Event's Chefs

The event itself centered on the screening of the film Electric Dragon 80000V, a very unique, stylized film that left the audience in awe by the time it was finished largely due to its extreme imagery and harsh noise/punk rock soundtrack. Being a rather early film in Tadanobu Asano's career, it was interesting to hear him discuss it following the feature in a special Q&A Session that also covered his more recent works. It was a unique treat for those that attended this opening night event.

Not content to just deliver this once-in-a-lifetime experience, the night concluded with an amazing set by DJ Ken Ishii that was accompanied by animation by director Koji Morimoto. This surreal, otherworldly combination was just as much a treat as the film/Q&A session earlier and was a good way to get those who perhaps only knew about the music aspect of J-POP Summit to realize that the other events the weekend had to offer were worth considering as well.

Tadanobu Asano Q&A

Ken Ishii Closing Out The Night

If this is any indicator of what is in store for us at this year's J-POP Summit then we are definitely in for the biggest year yet!

-Manuel (alavic_222)

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For more information on J-POP Summit:
Website: http://www.j-pop.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JPOPSummit/?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JpopSummitFest