Kobayashi Takeshi is one of the most influential figures in Japan’s contemporary music scene. He has produced numerous artists, including Mr.Children, and has composed music for films and other media. In 2003 he founded the non-profit organization ap bank, which initially provided financial support for environmental projects and later expanded its activities to include disaster relief, such as support for areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Since 2005 he has organized the outdoor music event ap bank fes, which held its first concert at Tokyo Dome in 2023. As part of his ongoing efforts toward a sustainable society, he launched the kurkku project, and in 2010 established the agricultural production company Kousu Co., Ltd., expanding into the primary industry sector. In 2019 he opened KURKKU FIELDS, a farm and park that embodies the circulation of food and energy. Through these initiatives, Kobayashi has played a pioneering role in connecting music, culture, and environmental practice in the pursuit of a sustainable society.

Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1946, Kitagawa Fram graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1971 he founded the Yuria-Pem-Pem Workshop with students and alumni of the university, and began organizing and producing exhibitions, concerts, and theatrical productions. In 1982 he established Art Front Gallery Co., Ltd. As a leading figure in art-based regional revitalization, he has served as General Director of numerous international art festivals, including the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (since 2000) and the Setouchi Triennale (since 2010). He has also directed the Ichihara Art × Mix (2014, 2021), the Northern Alps Art Festival (2017, 2021), the Oku-Noto Triennale (2017, 2021), and the 100 Years Later Art Festival – Environment and Desire – Uchiboso Art Festival (2024). Kitagawa has received many honors, including the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (France), the Polish Order of Merit for Culture, the Asahi Prize, and the Ihatov Award. In 2018 he was designated a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government.

Born in Tokyo in 1976 and based in Chiba Prefecture, Toyofuku Ryo creates projects that translate his experiences of the external world into artistic expressions through visual, experiential, and interactive frameworks. His works often function as spaces that invite people to gather and engage with one another. Drawing on elements unique to each location—such as history, landscape, and local culture—he develops site-specific artworks. Workshops are frequently conducted during the creation process or around the completed works, making interaction with others through art a central aspect of his practice. Toyofuku also serves as principal of Chiba Art Preparatory School, supporting young people pursuing careers in the arts. In addition to his artistic practice, he served as Art Director for Ichihara Art × Mix 2020+ (2021) and the Uchiboso Hyakunengo Art Festival: Environment and Desire (2024).

Born in 1980, Nagashima Rikako graduated from the Department of Visual Communication Design at Musashino Art University in 2003. She is the founder and creative director of village®. Centered on visual language, her practice spans visual identity design, signage planning, and book design. She mediates the concepts and ideas behind her projects, translating them into visual form. Her major projects include work for the Tohoku Youth Orchestra, Anish Kapoor: Outline of Collapse, the new visual identity for the Pola Museum of Art, the Japan Pavilion exhibition Trail of Elements at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Playing the Piano 12122020, Dance Floor as Study Room by Wendelien van Oldenborgh, and Irreversible Scale by Kvadrat. She is also the author of the book Before Color and Form.