Born in Hyogo Prefecture, currently residing in Tokyo. Ayaka excelled in business planning and artist management at a creator agency specializing in representing manga artists, where she also led the launch of a school aimed at training manga artists and editors. Later, she was involved in customer success and operations roles at a business company. She joined BASSDRUM in February 2024.

Ayaka Fukui

FACILITATOR

Hiroki explores the significance of the social implementation of digital technology and pursues expression methods grounded in technology. He has a strong interest in the intersection of communication and art, focusing on the creation of media that emerges from this fusion. Additionally, he examines the changes in human relationships brought about by electronic connections and has developed installations and projects themed around "radio" and "television." Hiroki holds a Master's degree in Painting from the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts and currently teaches as a part-time lecturer at Musashi University and Kyoto University of the Arts.

Hiroki Kehara

TECH VISIONARY

Born in 1995 in Guangdong Province, China. Graduated from the Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University.
After graduating from a university in China, Zhao worked in music video production and video streaming at a record company. He moved to Japan in 2018 to study human-computer interaction at a graduate school.
Zhao joined BASSDRUM as an associate tech director in November 2022.

Zhao Zhang

ASSOCIATE TECH DIRECTOR

Luca is a 23-year-old virtual human created as a moderator at the BASSDRUM 4th Anniversary Talk "BD Session with XR SQUAD" held in April 2022. As BASSDRUM's first affiliated artist, she plans to establish her own personality through updates by the XR team XR SQUAD and by gaining experience within BASSDRUM. In addition, she will be actively involved in the promotion of events and social networking sites as an icon to promote XR-based production and expression in society.

Luca

ARTIST

Born in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Kousei started his career in mission-critical system development. After working for the IT departments of a business company and a digital production company, he went independent. Currently, he works as a freelance tech director and engineer for interactive exhibitions, space production for permanent installations and events and web content production.
Kousei also teaches part-time at Kyoto Seika University, in the Faculty of Design and Faculty of Media Expression. He is a founder of SPEKTRA, a collective for experimentation and expression and currently based in Kyoto.

Kousei Ikeda

TECH DIRECTOR

A specialist in back-end development, infrastructure design, and cloud computing architecture, Takanobu joined BASSDRUM in 2018 as both Systems Engineer and Tech Director.
In 2014, he joined dot by dot inc., working on fast-paced commercial projects. He thrives in high-pressure environments, capable of swiftly proposing, designing, and building optimal and innovative systems.

Takanobu Izukawa

Ryusuke developed firmware for optical drives and game controllers at a major manufacturing affiliate company. 
In 2013, he changed career and moved into the advertising industry, engaging in the software/hardware production of experiential content. He then went independent and established Manufacture Inc. in 2021. As "just the right consultant" for  experiential content and hardware prototyping, he provides attentive development and technical project management.
Ryusuke is now a member of BASSDRUM as well as Blue Paddle.

Ryusuke Izumida

Taku started his career as a design engineer at Japanese production company IMG SRC in 2008 when he was a MA student. He was in charge of front-end development on a wide range of projects such as websites, apps and digital signages. Later he gained experience of development direction and marketing consultancy at an advertising agency and also of the launch of e-commerce sites and service planning at the largest service provider in the industry. In February 2020, he joined BASSDRUM.

Taku Ichihara

Born in Fukuoka in 1996, Shumpei began his career at a major infrastructure company, where he worked in sales and promoted digital transformation initiatives. After a departmental transfer, he started teaching himself programming. Later, he joined Ango-ya LLC as an engineer, where he has worked on the development, design, and direction of various blockchain products across fields like IoT and finance, both for the company’s own projects and for external clients. In January 2024, he was appointed COO and is currently focused on expanding Ango-ya's business, based in Tokyo.

Shumpei Ito

Graduated from the University of Electro-Communications, Department of Quantum and Materials Engineering. Jun worked as a system engineer and has experience in telecommunication infrastructure, ship CAD, computational processing library, original CMS development, social game development and UI/art direction. Later, at Hakuhodo i-studio, he was involved in a wide range of projects including XR, IoT, hardware prototyping, video distribution, and beauty-related projects, with a focus on technical direction for mobile application development and operation. He also has a deep knowledge of science and chemistry.
Jun joined BASSDRUM as a tech director in September 2021.

Jun Ito

Born in Shizuoka Prefecture. Yota studied UI/UX design, perceptual psychology and engineering at Meiji University, and gained experience as a design engineer at a design firm. After graduation, he joined Hakuhodo i-studio, where he worked in the research and development department, design department, and then as a programmer and tech director, working on installations, online distribution, web production and AR application development. 
Currently based in Okinawa, he works as a freelance design engineer/technical director on various development projects regardless of platform. Yota joined BASSDRUM in December 2022.

Yota Odaka

Born in Kyoto prefecture in 1993. Graduated from the School of Culture, Media and Society at Waseda University. Has been involved in the entertainment industry since he was a student and worked as an engineer and editor at a creator agency focusing on manga.
After he taught himself 3DCG production, he moved to Shanghai, where he was in charge of stage and music video production and video distribution for China's number one virtual singer. In 2020, he joined BASSDRUM as associate tech director, and he has been involved in a wide range of projects from entertainment and AR/VR engineering, building websites and service to content creation.

Kyohei Ogawa

Born in Nagano Prefecture, Taichi began his career as a CG designer. After working in post-production for the TV commercial industry, he transitioned to technical direction, specializing in the fields of visual content and imagery. With a focus on AI and visualization, he continues to engage in R&D to explore new content production methods. His expertise lies in video signal, real-time compositing, and tracking systems. Outside of his professional work, he enjoys developing AI upscalers and waveform video scopes.
Taichi represents both STUD Co., Ltd., a post-production company, and sync.dev, a visual development team.

Taichi Okada

Born in Tokyo, a Leo, and an ISTP. After graduating from university with a degree in mechanical engineering, Ryota spent his early career as the drummer for the band "SEBASTIAN X," performing extensively. In 2015, he transitioned into the world of craftsmanship at TASKO, where he currently serves as head of the Design and Production Department. Throughout his work on projects of all sizes—bringing mechanisms to life and creating dynamic lighting effects—he encountered BASSDRUM. He excels in interdisciplinary craftsmanship, with a focus on electricity, mechanics, and DIY.

Ryota Okiyama

Formerly a strategic planner, director, and producer at Daiko Advertising Inc., Yoshiaki joined AID-DCC Inc. in February 2014 as a programmer to transition into production. He specializes in front-end programming and is an experienced back-end developer of experiential installations. In 2018, he established BASSDRUM. 
Yoshiaki is a gold prize receiver of Cannes Lions, One Show, Spikes Asia, CODE Awards, and more.

Yoshiaki Kajiyashiki

Born in Fukuoka prefecture in 1984. After obtaining his masters from the Keio Graduate School of Media Design, Yuto joined Hakuhodo i-studio in 2011 as a server side engineer, building websites for corporations, communities, and commercial clients. In 2014, he joined the R&D team as hardware engineer to work on product development and outdoor installations. Yuto joined BASSDRUM in 2018 and is a IPA-certified “Super Creator”.

Yuto Kumon

Keita started his programming career in São Paulo in 2004. His worldwide experience in São Paulo, New York, Tokyo and London includes top-level production companies such as IMG SRC Inc, Less Rain and unit9. 
Back in his hometown São Paulo, he founded Slikland, bringing fresh quality to digital production for ad agencies between 2012 to 2018. His flexibility with technology and unorthodox solutions resulted in him being awarded with numerous major advertising awards in his career. 
In November 2020 he joined BASSDRUM bringing his global flavor to the team.

Keita Kuroki

Born in 1999. Dropped out of the School of Law, Waseda University.
Mao began his career as a video creator mainly in the virtual character industry, having taught himself video production while in university.
Later, while working as a freelancer in distribution technology and video production, he started his own personal development of live systems.
In 2021, Mao began working on the development of live systems at a virtual character studio.
In November 2022, Mao joined BASSDRUM as an associate tech director.

Mao Komatsu

Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1986. Yuki started his career as an engineer at the Japanese online ad agency CyberAgent, developing games, frameworks, a video streaming website and much more. In 2017, he became a freelancer and later founded and managed a cryptocurrency exchange called "Mr.Exchange" as CTO in Fukuoka. Now he owns a LLC "Ango-ya" (meaning "Cipher Shop") and does technical direction and R&D for blockchain projects in fields including medical care, art and games. "GitHub textbook for web developers"(2014) is his first publication.

Yuki Shichiku

Born in Tokyo, Qanta dropped out of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo. After working in various roles including bartender, trombone player, DTP operator, and designer, he taught himself programming and became a programmer. 
In December 2005, he joined IMG SRC Inc./NON-GRID Inc. and delved into interactive production. Serving as a Creative/Tech Director, he was involved in content planning and production across various fields, from web services and system construction to hands-on exhibitions.
In April 2011, Qanta was appointed Chief Technology Officer of PARTY Co., Ltd., and in September 2013, he established PARTY NY. 
In 2018, he formed the tech director collective, BASSDRUM.

Qanta Shimizu

Shu was introduced to programming at the age of 10 and started making his own games. Since then, he has been hooked on programming and went on to study at a technical college. In 2005, he graduated and became a developer for one of the largest auction sites in Japan.
To write more programs, he joined S2 Factory in 2010, where he developed various systems. Shu is now able to handle almost anything that can be programmed.
In order to write better programs, he has gained a wide range of knowledge from front-end to infrastructure, IoT and much more and uses it to provide technical direction.

Shu Takano

Kazunari is a tech director specializing in the audio-visual field. 
He excels in on-site simulations utilizing 3D techniques in projection mapping, contributing to the elevation of project precision and standards. He has gained extensive experience in numerous high-difficulty projects both domestically and internationally, including Tokyo Station Vision in 2012. He is actively engaged in a wide range of projects, from permanent installations to concerts and their production.
Kazunari also serves as a director at Afterimage Inc., which specializes in photogrammetry 3D CG production, and as the CEO of Kizai Inc., which specializes in technical consulting.

Kazunari Takashima

Takuma grew up in Brazil, Senegal and Indonesia, and currently lives and works in Kyoto as a computational (visual | spatial ) artist. He is passionate about converting virtual phenomena into physical experiences. In May 2019, Takuma was selected as the first Japanese creator in Adobe's global career support program, Adobe Creative Residency, and focused on his creative work for a year. He joined BASSDRUM in July 2020.

Takuma Nakata

Born in 1990 in Sendai, Japan. After developing an interest in interactive content while studying in university, Ryuki joined Coconoe Inc. in 2013 as Creative Engineer, where he specializes in web, Flash, openFrameworks, and Unity programming as well as hardware and circuit design. He joined Bassdrum in February 2019 and is currently involved in a the end-to-end process of content creation; from ideation, design, production, to on-site installation.

Ryuki Nagahora

Graduated from Keio University Graduate school of Media Design. While conducting research on interaction, Shunki also worked on his own original artwork and won awards in student CG contests. After completing graduate school, he worked in the research and development department of a major system integrator and resumed creating art while travelling in Europe.
After returning to Japan, Shunki joined 1→10 drive Inc. As an engineer and technical director, he was involved in various projects working on product development, diversification, installation development and live stage direction.
In 2020, he joined BASSDRUM.

Shunki Hasegawa

Designer, Programmer, Tech Director. 
After working as a designer and programmer at a production company in Tokyo, Hisayoshi transitioned to freelancing in 2008. In 2014, he founded HYS Inc. and was also affiliated with PARTY Tokyo for three years from 2015. 
He specializes in interactive and dynamic programming using JavaScript and openFrameworks. Recently, leveraging his experience as a designer, he has also been active as a technical director, blending technology and design.

Hisayoshi Hayashi

Shinya is a programmer, interface designer, and artist adept at bringing the two languages of analog and digital technology together. He was an independent creator before establishing siro Inc. in 2015 and continues to explore the possibility of technology that excites rather than assists to this day.

Shinya Matsuyama

Koji started his career as a Flash engineer at 1-10 inc. in 2008. He was in charge of experience design, interaction design, and team management for immersive experience content and spatial presentation utilizing projection and VR/AR, amusement facility attractions and prototype development with manufacturers, with technology at the core. 
In April 2022, he joined BASSDRUM.

Koji Manabe

Born in Hokkaido prefecture. Yuma worked for a design company in Sapporo and IMG SRC Inc. in Tokyo before setting up Masumasu inc. in December 2010. 
As Tech Director, he was involved in the planning, designing, and producing of web content, services, and systems of numerous projects. 
In 2018, he co-founded the Tech Director collective BASSDRUM.

Yuma Murakami

In 2008, Ken founded undefined Inc., and in 2009, he co-founded DELTRO Inc. as a joint investor. He has been involved in cross-disciplinary development in various fields such as shows, live performances, retail, exhibitions, broadcasting, technology development, digital signage, installations, apps, systems, and the web. 
Ken has won numerous domestic and international advertising awards, including the Clio Awards Grand Prix, Tokyo ADC Grand Prix, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and the One Show. 
In 2018, Ken joined the tech director collective BASSDRUM.

Ken Murayama

Born in 1981. Studied Master of Engineering Tokyo Polytechnic University Doctoral Course. After working at a manufacturer, Toyoshi joined 1-10, Inc. in 2014 and was involved in IoT device development, SDK development for smartphone apps and installation development. The following year, he founded 1-10 Drive, Inc., which specializes in prototyping. As CTO, he developed new products with manufacturers and entertainment projects employing technology. In 2018, he became a chief manager at 1-10, Inc. and started freelancing and joined BASSDRUM in 2020. Toyoshi is also a part-time lecturer at Osaka University of Arts.

Toyoshi Morioka

Yeh began his career as a web designer in 2001. Later, he shifted his focus on creative coding. He has diverse skills in various fields such as interaction design, front/back-end developments, game networking development, computer vision and machine learning. He co-founded Hybridmind Inc. in Taiwan and he is also CTO of a fashion start-up company Kollectin in L.A.

Yeh Mao Shen

Masanori worked as a manager of both the client-facing development and in-house R&D departments at IMGSRC inc. before going freelance. He specializes in general technical direction and software development. He is also involved in the production of experiences at events and facilities, prototypes for client R&D, AR/VR/MR applications, video production and distribution, mainly utilizing game engines. He joined BASSDRUM in July 2022.

Masanori Yoshii

Technical director and programmer, specializing in everything from UI to backend.
In 2006, after dropping out of college, Takuho joined IMGSRC while pursuing his music career. After working as a backend engineer for web advertising and services, he joined S2 Factory when it was established and has been an executive officer since 2012.
Takuho has also been involved in various iOS app development projects, starting with the planning and development of Ambient Music Generator, a generative music app.

Takuho Yoshizu

Born in Fukuoka. Kenta engaged in research on haptic technology at the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design. He worked as a programmer at PARTY Inc. from 2014, where he was involved mainly in the interactive domain including numerous advertising campaigns and product and service development. After working as a freelance programmer and tech director, he founded Achrome in 2020.

Kenta Watashima

Born in Hokkaido, Toshihide worked for Tetsuya Komuro, one of the pioneers of the Japanese music industry, from 1994 to 2017. As a manipulator, recording engineer and production director, he produced over 3,000 songs and participated in numerous live productions. In August 2017, he joined Synclive Japan Inc. where he is in charge of developing entertainment technology for next generation and new content.

In April 2021, Toshihide joined BASSDRUM as a tech producer to create new experiences through entertainment and technology.

Toshihide Iwasa

PRODUCER

Joined a production company in 2006. After working as a designer, engineer, and production manager, Atsuko is now engaged in producing integrated promotions and large-scale system development as a producer. In addition to web and mobile app production, she produces, directs and manages projects in all aspects of digital content production, including events and video. In 2021, she founded Fabrica.

Atsuko Okada

Kyoto-based producer, Taeko moved from Tokyo to Kyoto after working in planning and development in the toy industry. She is now involved in the development of product prototypes and planning and production of interactive content, with a focus on entertainment content for amusement facilities. She currently works at interactive companies such as BUTTON inc and 1-10 and also joined BASSDRUM in 2020. On weekends, she runs a penny candy store, Kitahara Shoten from her home. So she spends her time observing people in both technological and more traditional ways.

Taeko Kitahara

After graduating with a master's degree in engineering, Yoto joined Sonicjam, Inc. As a producer and technical director, he led advertising production and internal product development, and also was in charge of strategy planning, execution and team management. Afterwards, he worked in business development at an operational company and became a freelancer. He is now mainly responsible for new business development and advertising production, as well as technical direction. 
In June 2020, Yuto joined BASSDRUM. He is also a member of Goodpatch Anywhere, a fully remote design team.

Yuto Nara

Born in Aichi Prefecture and currently living in Fukuoka Prefecture. After graduating from IAMAS, Megumi worked as a freelance filmmaker while also working as an assistant and facilitator for industry–academia collaborative projects in universities.
While trying to facilitate communication from the perspective of the people involved in making things, she is thinking about creating a place where new creativity can be born.
Megumi has been a member of Fukuoka-based creative lab "anno lab" since 2006, and joined BASSDRUM in November 2022.

Megumi Yoshida

After studying in the U.K. and working as a graphic designer in Tokyo, Chiemi joined IMG SRC in 2006 to run the bilingual online culture magazine PingMag and also contributed to various magazines and books such as Dazed & Confused, Numero Tokyo and 100 Filmmakers. From 2013 to 2019, she promoted Shime-Parfait culture (eating “parfait” at the end of the day) in her native Hokkaido at Crypton Future Media, known for the virtual singer Hatsune Miku.

MEMBERS

TECH DIRECTORS