On January 22, I’m launching and carrying out a project that I’m staking my life on. It’s an event, a documentary film production, and also a club activity. The theme is “pursuing play with absolute seriousness.”
There are still many parts I won’t know until I actually do it, so I can’t explain it in a perfectly clear, straightforward way. In other words, by intentionally not deciding everything in advance, I want everyone to enjoy the “play” that emerges from that openness—together.
I believe this is what “ideal freedom,” grounded in the belief in people’s inherent goodness, is meant to look like. I’m really looking forward to the voluntary participation of all you wonderful people, and I’m excited to share the experience with you. Let’s entrust the outcome to the universe, at least once.
“Expected Time Table” 18:30~19:00 DJ×BAND SESSION 19:00~19:30 Dan Mitchel Band Set 1st Stage 19:30~19:45 Opening Talk 19:45~20:25 Acting×Band(Love Story with Romantic Band Music ) 20:25~20:45 Pantomime×Band 20:45~21:00 Break Time 21:00~21:05 Ukulele Live 21:05~21:20 Improvised New Song×Pantomime×Dance 21:20~21:40 Inteview×Band×Acting(Voice of the youth) 21:40~21:45 Ending Talk 21:45~22:15 Dan Mitchel Band Set 2nd Stage 22:15~22:45 Ending DJ
The lineup will continue to be updated as new performers are confirmed. If you believe in your talent and would like to appear in the program, please feel free to send your materials via DM or email at any time. I may not be able to reply to everyone, but I will review every submission.
A genre-crossing art event held 29 times in 2023 in collaboration with FRIENDSHIP. — “Freestyle Session Party (FSP)” — is being refined and rebooted, relaunching as an event, program, and community under the name “Dandy Asobi Club (DAC)”!!
We will hold the pilot edition on Thursday, January 22, at Shibuya 7th Floor.
Theme
“Master Serious Play!”
“Before you know it, it becomes a social phenomenon!”
“Bring Japan’s unique spirit of play to the world!”
Turning serious play beyond genres and generations into a “club activity”
Across music, film/video, dance, theater, philosophy, and more—beyond genre and generation—we aim to pursue “serious play” as a club-like activity, developing it into a 12-episode series.
Building on popular FSP projects such as:
Adding live improvised accompaniment to theater performances
Sessions between DJs and live instrumentalists
Collaborations between reading theater and dancers / pantomime performers
…we also plan to create highly original new formats, including:
A project where I draw out the thoughts of young people, and actors perform them as monologues
A project where we compose a song on the spot with participants present
We aim to deliver an array of creativity-rich projects that are rarely seen elsewhere.
Re-edit the event into a program and share it globally
This time, while keeping it a participatory event with an audience (as before), we want to leverage my track record—including selection at a Hollywood film festival and an award at an Italian film festival—to record, edit, and distribute it as a single program.
YouTube would be an option, but we also plan to explore whether distribution might be possible via Prime Video, Netflix, AbemaTV, and other platforms.
We also aim to add English subtitles throughout the entire program and export it overseas. I believe we must bring the talents hidden in Japan to the world. If we only consider the market within Japan—or only inbound tourists—the long-term potential seems limited, especially when we have the internet.
For the video production team, I hope to collaborate again with the people who supported me during my previous film production. I intend to take responsibility and lead the team, and I believe my countless past failures will support me this time.
Encouraging proactive independence while maintaining authority
Although this is a participatory event, I will carefully review portfolios and submitted materials in advance and give the go-ahead based on the best match for each project.
Therefore, the overall stage quality will not drop due to casual amateur participation. That said, I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated—rather, I want people with fewer achievements to actively challenge themselves. For the sake of discovering bold new concepts, I plan to review everything that is submitted, and within that, I want to design projects where many people can participate in the right roles at the right time.
Any club member can bring in a project idea
Under the banner “Perestroika = Democratization,” we will establish a committee via a LINE Open Chat and invite committee members to propose new projects.
A project will be implemented with the approval of “at least five committee members + me.” Those who vote in favor will also be expected to take responsibility and help operate the project.
LINE Open Chat: “Dandy Asobi Club Planning Committee” is here! (You can join anonymously without adding anyone as a LINE friend.)
Expanding serious play across Japan and aiming for global reach
By linking with the nationwide tour “Free” that I announced previously, we can invite new talents I meet across Japan to perform—energizing both the event and the program—while also making it a place where people from many industries can gather.
Ultimately—“birds of a feather flock together”—I hope to create a club-like space where, across all of Japan, diverse people beyond generations and genres who share my core philosophy can connect, thrive, and prosper.
You can also learn more about my guiding philosophy via my blog and the videos linked at the end.
Serious play can heal division in society
To resolve the countless binaries and divisions in society, I arrived—just yesterday (the memorable date of December 5, 2025) after years of thought experiments—at the conclusion that we need a strong leader with aesthetics and an essential spirit of playfulness.
More details will be shared here. (I will add additional notes later.)
Crowdfunding to raise production costs!!
For the production budget of this project, I would like to raise 1,000,000 yen through crowdfunding!
Primarily, we would be truly happy if you purchase advance tickets, and as an added bonus, you’ll also be able to try our existing services—or, if the project becomes a program, we may run commercial spots as well. (Of course, for corporate supporters, payment by invoice is also possible.)
Last time, we received support from 27 people and raised 1,280,000 yen.
Budget breakdown
Venue: ¥150,000
Performers: ¥150,000
Video: ¥200,000
Sound: ¥100,000
Rehearsals: ¥70,000
Editing: ¥150,000
Operations: ¥30,000
Advertising: ¥150,000
Please click the button below to visit the crowdfunding page, and check the support menus and return rewards there.
Pilot Edition “Dandy Asobi Club” Production Support Fund
I’ve been seriously considering bringing back the Freestyle Session Party. I realized that it was something really necessary. But I can’t do it the same way as before—so this time I’m thinking of democratizing it.
Kind of like a perestroika, you know? We’d set up a planning committee, discuss ideas there, and make decisions together. Responsibility would also be shared among the members. I think that’s the only way it can really be sustainable.
And I can already see how it might work: We’d open a group chat to form the committee, throw out ideas, and whenever more than five members approve, that idea gets carried out. But those who approved it also have to take responsibility for the project. The other members have no obligation to participate, and if they do show up on the day, they’d still have to pay for a ticket. Committee members’ pay would just come from the ticket sales of the guests they bring in.
The key would be to secure a venue that doesn’t charge us a fixed rental fee—someplace cooperative. If profits come in, we pool them in the committee fund. Eventually, maybe sponsors will get involved.
As a guiding principle, above all else, it’s got to be play. It has to be participatory. We want to pursue the kind of play that leads to the future. That means letting go of pride and all that, while still doing it with a sense of discipline—not just cozying up for the sake of it. We’re not after some prearranged harmony. I don’t even know if it’s a “performance” per se. It’s less about an audience and more about participants.
The genre doesn’t matter—it doesn’t have to be just music or theater. It could even be philosophy.
And why not stream it, too? Do you get what I mean?
