YPAM

Katsuhiro Ohira
Secretary General, Yokohama International Performing Arts Meeting Executive Committee Secretariat 

With the continued support of all those involved, the Yokohama International Performing Arts Meeting (YPAM) will once again take place in 2027.

YPAM is a platform that brings together professionals engaged in the creation, dissemination and international exchange of the performing arts, including theater, dance and other performance disciplines. This year marks the 31st edition since the inaugural TPAM and the sixth edition under the name YPAM.

Following the departure of YPAM Director Hiromi Maruoka in March 2026, I began serving as Secretary General. My career began at venues supporting Yokohama’s performing arts scene, including ST Spot and Steep Slope Studio, which provide emerging artists with opportunities to present and develop their work. From 2012 to 2014, I also served as a guest director in TPAM Direction. After spending several years away from Japan to raise my daughter, I returned in 2024 and rejoined the YPAM Secretariat. YPAM now operates under a new organizational structure, with its activities led collectively by a team.

The vision for YPAM that Hiromi Maruoka developed over her 20 years as Director, shaped by international perspective, contemporary relevance and collaboration across Asia, has been deeply embraced by our new team. Building on this legacy, we are committed to further developing YPAM while looking towards new opportunities for the future.

In addition, YPAM Fringe, which takes place across Kanagawa Prefecture, continues to set new records for the number of participating artists each year. We hope you will come and experience first-hand the energy and potential of YPAM Fringe.

Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has contributed to YPAM2027, as well as to everyone participating in and registering for this year’s meeting. We look forward to welcoming you to YPAM2027.

Yoshinori Isozaki
Chairman, Kanagawa Arts Foundation

Now in its sixth edition under the name YPAM, the Yokohama International Performing Arts Meeting has firmly established itself as a recurring event. This year, it returns in February, as it did under the name TPAM, marking another step forward. We are deeply grateful to everyone whose understanding and dedicated efforts make YPAM possible.

As one of YPAM’s main venues, KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre, operated by the Kanagawa Arts Foundation, will host a wide range of events, including performances of outstanding works from Japan and abroad, experimental forums and a reception. We are honored to welcome so many visitors from Japan and abroad to our theater. YPAM Fringe, which features arts organizations from Japan and overseas at venues throughout Yokohama, has also seen registrations increase year by year, with performances taking place both inside and outside theaters.

We sincerely hope that these arts and cultural events will contribute to the local community by bringing vibrancy to the city, and provide a space for participants to engage with diverse perspectives and deepen their connections with one another.

Seiichi Kondo
President, Yokohama Arts Foundation

As opposing views and divisions deepen around the world, the difficulties of understanding people with different perspectives and values have become apparent. It is precisely in times like these that we must reexamine our own in order to better understand others.

Art, at times questioning its very own nature and value, has continued to give rise to new forms of expression. In doing so, it offers us opportunities to break free from familiar ways of seeing the world and from invisible political and social constraints, allowing us to see the world from different perspectives. The performing arts, in particular, are an art form through which people from diverse backgrounds come together to share a common time and space. Yet even when witnessing the same performance, people may experience it differently and find different meanings in it. Recognizing these differences and listening to one another’s feelings and perspectives can, I believe, be a step towards deepening our understanding of others.

Bringing together performing arts professionals from across the world, with a particular focus on Asia, YPAM is a platform where diverse forms of expression meet and new forms of creativity and collaboration emerge through dialogue. I hope that the connections forged through YPAM will continue to grow beyond national and regional boundaries, bringing new discoveries to the people who work and live in Yokohama.

Shinya Kurosawa
President, The Japan Foundation

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and heartfelt appreciation to all those who have worked tirelessly to make YPAM2027 possible.

The Japan Foundation (JF) has been implementing the “Partnership to Co-create a Future with the Next Generation: WA Project 2.0,” a comprehensive people-to-people exchange program since 2024, with the aim of promoting exchange activities and human-resource development for the next generation of people between Japan and the ASEAN countries.

During YPAM2025 last year, we invited 15 performing arts professionals from ASEAN and other parts of the world, creating many opportunities for valuable exchanges and connections. 

As remarkable artists and compelling initiatives continue to emerge across the ASEAN performing arts scene, the importance of strengthening ties between the performing arts communities of ASEAN and Japan—and sharing with the world the practices and insights that emerge from dialogue and exchange—is growing day by day. 

At this year’s YPAM, JF will continue to support a wide range of initiatives that enable professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds to connect, learn from one another, and engage in meaningful exchange based on mutual respect. We sincerely hope that YPAM will serve as a catalyst for bringing people together, fostering the exchange of diverse ideas and building relationships of trust—thereby further accelerating people-to-people exchange in the performing arts between Japan and the rest of the world.