A day after J-pop fans gathered at Honolulu’s Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell for a one-night-only concert, Asobi Expo Hawaii 2026, the artists and executives of Asobi System congregated backstage to debate the event and the corporate’s global aspirations.
As J-pop continues to maneuver further into the U.S. market, Japanese entertainment firms and labels are in search of ways to attach artists with each longtime and potential fans in what was a previously untapped market. Bringing Asobi Expo, an event meant to assemble and showcase artists from the Asobi System family, to the U.S. is a technique some labels are introducing talent stateside. Other events much like it, like Japan Culture and Entertainment Industry Promotion Association’s Matsuri event held last 12 months in Los Angeles, are label agnostic.
“I assumed that was really vital to bring [the event] abroad, to actually spread the Japanese culture,” Asobi System CEO and founding father of Yusuke Nakagawa, tells The Hollywood Reporter. The entertainment company, which he founded in 2007, works to showcase and spread Japan’s famed harajuku culture, which is basically a set of eclectic and diverse subcultures.
That Harajuku culture is on display plenty, all the best way right down to the range of artists Nakagawa has picked for the Honolulu edition of Asobi Expo. There’s the high-energy, out-of-box Atarashii Gakko!, the lovable and endearing Kawaii Labs girl group Fruits Zipper and the veteran Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. The event’s audience featured a justifiable share of supporters for every act, a mixture of each local residents and diehard fans who flew in from Japan.
Asobi Expo Hawaii 2026.
Hisashi Uchida, Taku Miyazawa
Nakagawa says he felt that Hawaii was the proper location to expand Asobi Expo into the U.S. “I assumed it was a extremely good place, where the Japanese people could be completely satisfied to come back and the local people [would] have a whole lot of support,” he says.
“It was our first time in Hawaii,” says Suzuka of Atarashii Gakko! The four-member girl group is not any stranger to performing within the U.S., having previously performed at Coachella and headlining a North American tour of their very own.
“The audience was really having fun with [the] different artists, so I assumed possibly that’s the atmosphere of Hawaii, that you just get to be more relaxed. I assumed that was really good,” the singer continues. She says they put together a setlist that they knew the group would enjoy.
“Even the Japanese folks that traveled over here, they looked as if it would have more energy or were yelling in the next tone or [had] more body movement,” she continues. “We actually got hyped watching the audience. And, as a team, I used to be really grateful that all of us got to travel along with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Fruits Zipper, but in addition [with] the Asobi System staff.”
Fruits Zipper, hailing from Asobi System’s sublabel, Kawaii Labs, is admittedly a bit to newer the U.S. market, however the girl group — which operates on a system of every member being assigned a color — had a big fan presence on the Honolulu concert.
“It’s at all times nice to see that there are fans outside Japan because we never get to fulfill the person,” Noel, whose color within the group is yellow, explains. The 22-year-old is the group’s foremost fluent English-language speaker, having been born in Germany and raised in Japan.
The word “kawaii” means cute or lovable in Japanese, which is strictly the vibe that Fruits Zipper’s visual aesthetic and sound conveys. The label, very like its parent company, goals to bring Harajuku culture to the worldwide stage. Kawaii Labs, led by Misa Kimura, oversees several girl groups, including Cutie Street, who’ve been going viral internationally following music show promotions in Korea.
J-pop girl group Fruits Zipper.
Hisashi Uchida, Taku Miyazawa
“Certainly one of the foremost thing Kawaii Labs strives to do is to bring the Japanese idol culture to the world, so once we do anything abroad like in U.S. and elsewhere, we don’t attempt to customize it to that region,” Kimura explains. The 35-year-old serves because the project’s leader and producer for Fruits Zipper and Cutie Street, along Candy Tune and Sweet Regular.
“Within the case of the U.S., they think [this kind of group] is a breath of fresh air,” the producer says. “It’s just completely different than what they’re used to.”
Kimura was once within the J-pop scene herself, having previously been the leader of idol group Musubizm. The producer’s experience as each an executive and a former idol makes her uniquely qualified in conveying just how much J-pop has grown globally. “I’m very completely satisfied to see that the Japanese culture is definitely spreading in several countries, even in places that I didn’t think it was there,” she says. “I’m very completely satisfied to [be able] see that in person.”
Asobi System and Asobi Expo plan to proceed their global growth, says Nakagawa. “Watching the audience’s response really touched me. It was really very emotional and made me realize I actually need to [bring this to] L.A., Miami, London, Paris,” the chief explains.
“The music is so different once you experience it [in person], not only on the social media side [or] listening to it,” he continues. “It’s a challenge to bring [the show] over after which to seek out the fitting artists that can give you the option to speak to the audience, however it’s something we would like to take into consideration and challenge ourselves to make it occur.”