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Guests

at-home cafe — Japanese Guest - Akihabara Maids

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The at-home cafe was established in 2004 and is the longest-running food and entertainment maid cafe in Akihabara.

Led by world-famous maid Hitomi, one of the cafe’s original members and now its Chief Branding Officer, at-home cafe welcomes masters and princesses of all ages and nationalities to its 6 “mansions” in the center of Akihabara and to their newest location in Osaka, which opened in 2019.

The at-home cafe provides guests with happy, family-friendly entertainment and delicious “kawaii”-themed food and drinks as 400 of the world’s top-level maids cast a spell to make everything magical!

“Moe moe kyun” – the original “maid spell” created by Hitomi – has become famous to fans of maid cafes and Akihabara culture across the world.

Starting in 2015, at-home cafe has collaborated with Sanrio characters Hello Kitty, Gudetama, Cinnamoroll, My Melody, and Pompompurin, where guests at at-home cafe’s mansions can enjoy special collaboration dishes and cute, character-matching maid uniforms.

Every year, the “at-home cafe maids of the year” ranking is held, where the year’s top premium maids are selected and awarded additional duties as maid culture ambassadors. at-home cafe premium maids have made special appearances at international events in the United States, Chile, Mexico, Russia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, delighting masters and princesses with authentic Japanese maid culture and “moe”.

The at-home cafe’s goal is to serve maid culture all over the world, moving further forward each year to more countries! They will be doing a concert and a panel at Otakuthon 2022 so please come visit the cutest maids from Japan!

*Masks will be mandatory in their panel and autograph session.


blank paper — Japanese Guest

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blank paper is a band established in Japan in 2021, with the concept of producing music alongside fans, listeners and professionals. They start with a piece of blank paper and see where the collective journey goes. The result of this creative process is known as “bpm” (blank paper medicine). Each dose contains high concentrations of energy and emotions from varying sources, which can lead to side effects of a transcendental nature upon the listener.

The identity of blank paper’s core members has yet to be disclosed beyond code names “C45P3R” and “T3R354”. Their debut song “enemy” became a hot topic when it was used as the opening theme song for the anime “AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline” (“Kyokai Senki”) from the animation studio Sunrise Beyond (Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Code Geass), and as the entrance song for Muay Thai boxer Nadaka Yoshinari. Both achievements are extremely rare for a brand-new artist.

blank paper will be appearing in a concert at 7:00 PM on Friday, August 5, 2022, at Otakuthon. Premium ticket holders' autograph sessions will follow. This performance has been organized in association with J-Rock North Promotions Inc. and AVEX ENTERTAINMENT INC.


Hirokatsu Kihara - Japanese Guest - Author and Anime Production Coordinator

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Hirokatsu Kihara joined "Top Craft" which produced "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind". He later joined the newly established "Studio Ghibli" and worked as a Chief Production Officer in the production department of Hayao Miyazaki's "Laputa: Castle in the Sky," "My Neighbor Totoro," and "Kiki’s Delivery Service”. After leaving Ghibli, he debuted as an author.

Hirokatsu Kihara calls himself “Kaii-shushu-ka” or “Mystery collector”. He is not just one of the most popular ghost story writers in Japan, he also takes on roles such as acting as a host at events and talk shows and as a multimedia planner who creates new Japanese culture. “Just because it’s a ghost story doesn’t mean it’s scary,” he says.

He has worked on the Japanese ghost story "Kaidan" works and original comic books. His best-known work, "Shin Mimibukuro" has sold over 1.5 million copies and has been made into a television drama and a movie.

He is currently working on a new comic book, "Mimi-no-kaidan 《Complete edition》” (manga: Junji Ito), which will be published in Taiwanese, Thai, Korean, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and English.

Kihara-sensei will be doing a Ghibli and Ghost stories panel at Otakuthon 2022. Please don’t miss the fantastic talks of a first-generation OTAKU that helped lead the culture into mainstream awareness!

*Masks will be mandatory in his panels and autographs sessions.


Inoue Suguru — Japanese Guest - Actor and Seiyuu

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He is a Japanese Actor and Voice Actor. 

His main credits are for Hitman Reborn as Yamamoto Takeshi, Prince of Tennis as Shiranui Tomoya, and The Garden of Words as Matsumoto. 

He got into VTubers in August of 2020 and was attracted by the endless possibilities of the genre. 

As of February 2022, he has debuted as the VTuber Runpa.

He wishes to be the bridge that links the real world and the virtual world. 

*Masks will be mandatory in his panel and autograph session.


Taichiro Miyazaki — Industry Guest - CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd. Vice President -

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After working at a trading firm for CG software and game development hardware and then a CG production company, Miyazaki joined CyberConnect2 in 2010.

Miyazaki is in charge of managing personnel, accounts, and contracts both domestically and abroad, as well as the selection of outsourcing companies. In addition, he manages the business department of the company.

 


Abby Trott — North American Guest - Voice Actor

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Abby Trott is an actor/singer from Attleboro, Massachusetts. She has lived and worked in Tokyo and New York City, and is currently based in Los Angeles.

Abby is perhaps best known for portraying Nezuko in Demon Slayer, Annette in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Ivy in Netflix's Carmen Sandiego, and singing the English version of "Lifelight," the theme for Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Some of her roles in anime include Yoh Asakura in Shaman King 2021, Kasey Anne in Supercrooks, Mezato Ichi in Mob Psycho 100, Machi in Hunter X Hunter, and Veronica Liones in Seven Deadly Sins.

When she isn't talking, singing, or screaming into a microphone, Abby likes to spend her time playing shakuhachi (Japanese flute) and serenading her cats. They love it, trust me.

*Masks will be mandatory in her panels and autographs sessions.


Animaple — North American Guest - DJ

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AniMaple is an anime event collective based out of Toronto, Canada. Our motto is "Anime Events for Anime People", and as that suggests, we're here to have a little bit of fun, as we specialize in DJ and other music events. We've appeared at many cons and festivals, like Japan Festival, IFF Toronto, and Kimikon, and now we're ready for a fantastic time at Otakuthon!


BurlesGeek — North American Guest - Performers

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BurlesGeek Montréal, Montreal’s first geek-themed burlesque troupe, has been presenting geek-themed strip shows since 2013. The troupe joins Otakuthon once again in 2022 for another fiery evening when your favourite pop-culture characters will take life on the stage for a crazy geek-tease evening.

Zyra Lee Vanity, Celesta O’Lee, DeeDee Dynasty, Sucre à la crème, Golden Thunderpants & Lulu les belles mirettes will share the stage, led by our bubbly hosts Uma & Selma Gahd…

Join us for a colourful evening on Friday, August 5!


CyberConnect 2 MTL — North American Guest

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CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd. is a video game development company with its studios in Fukuoka, Tokyo, and Montreal. They have developed Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Hinokami Chronicles, the .hack series, the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series, Dragonball Z: Kakarot, and others.

They are well-known for their finely created cinematics and action and have expanded their entertainment productions to anime as well as a manga in recent years. They released their first self-published title, Fuga: Melodies of Steel, on July 29, 2021.


David Vincent - North American Guest - Voice Actor

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David Vincent is an award-winning professional voice actor and TV producer based in Los Angeles. He has lent his voice to hundreds of animations including series, movies, and video games, as well as guest star appearances on hit TV shows such as The Mentalist and NCIS.

His recent roles include Kento Nanami in Jujutsu Kaisen, Estarossa and Mael in Seven Deadly Sins and Iruma in Welcome to Demon School. He’s also well-known for the talking sailor uniform Senketsu on Kill la Kill, and the mega-hit video game Super Smash Bros. as the character Robin, whom he also plays in Fire Emblem: Awakening.

David is a lead talent behind the virtual signing platform Streamily.

David’s other credits include:

  • Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez in Bleach
  • Gilgamesh in Fate/Zero
  • Gilgamesh in Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works
  • Li Xingke in Code Geass
  • Gaia in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin II
  • Narrator in JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure
  • Van in Gun X Sword
  • Seiji in Durarara!!
  • Arthur Auguste Angel in Blue Exorcist
  • Duval in One Piece
  • Rebel Alliance voices in Star Wars: Battlefront
  • Jin Kisaragi and Hakumen in the hit video game and Anime series BlazBlue
  • Marshall Law and Forest Law in the hit video game franchise Tekken
  • T-Hawk in the Street Fighter video game franchise
  • Raymond Vester in Resident Evil: Revelations
  • Richter Belmont in Castlevania
  • Keiss in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

East2West — North American Guest - Performers

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East2West is a Montreal-based K-pop cover performance crew which consists of the collaborative effort of more than 60 active, talented performers. With a common passion for performing, they strive to reach the same goal: to dance and sing while having fun!

Based in Montreal, East2West brings Eastern culture to the West by combining the ever-growing Korean pop music culture with Western hip-hop. They aim to offer high-quality performances for all audiences to enjoy, regardless of age, cultural background, and gender. Through their online creative content that has accumulated over 100 million views and over one million YouTube subscribers, their unique entertainment experience and team chemistry have launched their success in the past twelve years.


Ice Qream — North American Guest - Performers

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Inspired by Japanese idols, Ice Qream, a singing and dancing girl group, has been striving to bring this immensely popular cultural phenomenon to North America by exposing people to it the best way possible: through the real deal! Founded 7 years ago, Ice Qream has no intention of melting. Its members have been performing in more and more events, sharing their passion and spreading their knowledge along with a big scoop of pure happiness. Their show follows the vibes of Akihabara's underground idol culture by making people around North America feel the thrills of watching one of their favourite groups perform, surrounded by penlights! But they also want to become the idols that Quebecers can easily meet, follow and support because that's the best part of becoming an idol fan!


Joel McDonald — North American Guest - Voice Actor and Voice Director

Joel McDonald

Joel McDonald has been acting for over thirty years and directing VO for twelve. Most of his directing career has been spent at Funimation, where he directed shows like One Piece, Space Dandy, Sgt. Frog, Big Windup, and many more. He’s also appeared as Aoyama in My Hero Academia, Phichit Chulanont in Yuri!!! on Ice, Ronald Knox in Black Butler, Takumi in Initial D, Zeref in Fairy Tail, Meow in Space Dandy, and others. Joel made the move to video games in February of 2018 and is now working as Gearbox Software’s very first VOverlord, where he runs auditions, oversees casting, and directs VO for all in-house Gearbox properties. 


John Stocker — North American Guest - Voice Actor and Voice Director

John Stocker

John Stocker has been a recognized force in the acting industry for over 5 decades. He began his career as an on-camera performer, working with the likes of John Candy, Dan Ackroyd, Rick Moranis, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Martin Short and William Shatner, before settling solely, but comfortably, into the off-camera world, where he has voiced many thousands of commercials and hundreds of animated characters. A lot of you will recognize some of his classic roles – Beastly in Care Bears, Longarm in COPS, Toad in Super Mario Brothers, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in The Real Ghostbusters, Newton Gimmick in Teddy Ruxpin, Creed in X-Men, Basil in Babar, Bugsy in Dog City, Ultron in The Avengers and Mr. Owl in Franklin amongst countless others. Over the years, John diversified his career to include voice casting, voice coaching (both commercial & animation), demo production, and the discipline that keeps him busiest, voice directing. He’s been at the helm of dozens of productions, including Totally Spies, Caillou, Fugget About It, Redakai, Mike the Knight, Martin Mystery, Beyblade, Medabots, Ella the Elephant, The Magic Hockey Skates, Rob the Robot and of course, the one that started his voice directing career, the original English language dub of Sailor Moon.


KADE - North American Guest - DJ

KADE

With over 9 million total views on his TikTok videos remixing Anime Openings into EDM, paired with Anime-TikTok sensations OJtheDJ and Anime Nightclub (550k followers, over 20 million views), KADE from Alex Kade effortlessly fuses emotion, hype, rock, and EDM with Anime to tug on the heartstrings of Anime lovers everywhere.

From debuting in the middle of a pandemic in 2020, KADE and Alex Kade moved quickly to headlining the Anime Rave at Otafest 2022 (Canada’s biggest Anime convention in the midwest), performing at Anime Expo Los Angeles, and being featured in TD Bank’s Music at Union Station (alongside JUNO winner Elijah Woods) in under a year and a half.

As they bring their rave-reviewed Anime Dance Parties across the globe, it’ll just be a matter of “when not if” before the Alex Kade and Anime Nightclub brands become regular names in the Anime world.

OJTHEDJ et ANIMENIGHTCLUB3 will perform with KADE at Otakuthon 2022 to deliver an unforgettable experience!


L'Orchestre d'Anime de Montréal — North American Guest - Orchestra

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L’Orchestre d’Anime de Montréal is a mixed ensemble founded in 2019 by Melissa Tardif. Best known for performing a wide selection of OPs, EDs and general OSTs arranged by their very own musicians, L’OAM aims to bring to life the music from your favourite anime!  

L’OAM had its debut at Otakuthon 2019 performing for a crowd of over 2000 people and has gone on to produce two full-length albums: Volume I (recorded at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall in 2019) and Volume II (recorded at Alchemist Studios in 2021).

The group is composed of 18 local musicians with a passion for Japanese pop culture and all things otaku. For their concert this year, they will be joined by a 15-piece choir to bring you an all-new set list of nostalgic classics and modern bops alike. Come and experience L’OAM as you’ve never seen it before as they put on a show that will bring down the house!

Interested in supporting the orchestra? Check them out on their social media!


L'Orchestre de Jeux Vidéo — North American Guest - Orchestra

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L'Orchestre de jeux vidéo (OJV) is a musical ensemble composed of 50 musicians and conducted by Jonthan Dagenais that produces video game music concerts. Its unique instrumental composition brings an original orchestral experience that proposes new colours and textures to orchestral video game soundtracks.


Lost Pause (aka Noble) — North American Guest - YouTuber and Streamer

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What's crackin', guys! Lost Pause (aka Noble) is a Youtuber/Streamer with over 1.4 million subscribers that focuses on anime and video game content. He has been making content for over 8 years with content ranging from Visual Novels, JRPGs, and VR games, all the way down to original skits, memes, and even anime news. His goal is to bring the fun of anime culture to more people and simply just make everyone's day just a little bit better.


Montréal Host Club — North American Guests - Host Club

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The Montreal Host Club (MHC) has been bringing husbandos to life since 2014!

In our humble beginnings, we were an innovative group of friends seeking to liven up Quebec’s otaku community. Eventually, the blueprint for a new activity was drafted up: how about organizing a charming and elegant cosplay evening, loosely inspired by Japanese host clubs? The first event was a hit beyond all our expectations! Over the years, we returned with more improvements and new ideas until our concept and methods were solidified into what they are today. 

Thus, the MHC was born. Today, this same group is the core of this non-profit organization, its mission still unchanged: to entertain and host across conventions and bars all around Quebec and Ontario. (And make no mistake; our future sights are certainly set even further!) The secret to our success is our strong sense of community. Through our presence on social media and the energy we bring to each unique event in our lineup, we've managed to create bonds with our guests and the community around us, and these bonds are the fuel to our fire. Needless to say, each of our events is custom-made from scratch, adapting our themes and methods to each venue or client, and catering to the trends of the moment. With flexibility like that, one thing is guaranteed: Expect the MHC to welcome you to a never-before-seen, brand-new soirée each and every time!

*Masks will be mandatory to participate in both their events.


NIJISANJI EN - North American Guest - VTubers

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NIJISANJI project is a VTuber program where a variety of talented influencers participate. The objective of this project is to accelerate the beginning of the next generation of entertainment through services such as events, sale of goods and digital content, production of music, etc. As of November 2020, more than 100 VTubers were actively performing unique activities on video streaming platforms such as YouTube.

*Masks will be mandatory in his panels and autographs sessions.

Read our 5 NIJISANJI EN guests' descriptions below!

 

Elira Pendora The Solar Sky Dragon - VTuber

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A sky dragon who came from the heavens closest to the sun. She has the kindness and receptiveness that make the light of a sunny day fall equally on all.


Enna Alouette The Blue Bird (Bird of Heaven) - VTuber

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A blue bird fluttering in the heavens. She sings a love song for the souls of the living.


Millie Parfait The Witch (Witch of Calamity) - VTuber

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A monster cat creeping through hell. A bit aggressive, but maybe she just needs some attention.


Nina Kosaka The Nine-tailed Fox (Fox of Heaven) - VTuber

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A nine-tailed fox that presides over the heavens. She wishes for the joy of all souls on the long journey.


Rosemi Lovelock The Rose Maiden - VTuber

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A rose maiden raised in a beautiful garden. Pretty as a rose in a vase, but a little sharp to the touch.


OPENWORLD — North American Guest

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Video Game Music Live in Concert

AWR Music Productions is proud to present a new video game music concert experience: OPENWORLD. Featuring exciting new arrangements of video game music for a chamber ensemble of world-class musicians, OPENWORLD performs music from series and titles such as Halo, Super Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid, DuckTales, The Legend of Zelda, and many others. Selections range from ‘90s classics to your favourite recent releases. The name of the production comes from a term that connotes freedom of movement within a video game, and OPENWORLD embraces that spirit of freedom, movement, and adventure under the direction of Eric Roth - music director and producer of A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the exhilaration of inspired live performances of beloved video game music!


OTAKU COMEDY SHOW — North American Guest - Performers

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Back by popular demand! The OTAKU COMEDY SHOW is Montreal’s anime-themed stand-up comedy show! This show is made BY otakus FOR otakus, featuring comedians whose Virginity Level is OVER 9000!!! Come hear what these funny people have to say about anime, manga, video games, and other Japanese-related things, such as the worst fathers in anime, their favourite waifus, or which live-action anime was the worst! These hilarious acts are guaranteed to have you laughing and begging for more!


TurboQuest — North American Guest - Music Band

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TurboQuest is a Live Video Game Rock Music band from Montréal, Canada. The band was formed in 2016 from a collection of video game nerd musicians who met at a video game orchestra rehearsal and who all just couldn't get enough video game awesomeness. Their unique style of music fuses heavy rock and metal riffs with nostalgic melodies and a bit of general awesomeness that will make you want to headbang all night long. Playing their awesome music all over the province, TurboQuest had more recently the opportunity to start playing in the USA as a headliner at PAX East 2022 in Boston. If you love music, video games, or even better, BOTH, you have to see them live!


Voonic2 - North American Guest - Performers

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Voonic2 is a Canadian chiptunes rock band from Montreal-Quebec, formed in 2019. The band consists of NazoNo (bass guitar, chiptunes, and drums programming) and aRtPG (vocals and lead guitar). Inspired by bands like Anamanaguchi and Yellow Magic Orchestra, Voonic2 fuses beautiful chiptunes with powerful guitar riffs and melodic bass lines to create a mix of modern and nostalgic tunes.

What started as a solo project by NazoNo around the year 2011, is nowadays one of the best chiptunes rock bands from Quebec. Each of their concerts presents a story from beginning to end and their energetic songs will make you want to jump and dance while feeling like you’re inside an old-school video game.

Voonic2 has been part of several Video Game Music festivals like Vancouver’s BonusStage where they had the pleasure to share the stage with iconic artists like Lacey Johnson and The Megas. The band has also been involved in other artistic activities like the creation of the full soundtrack of the mobile game King Cashing.

The band released their debut EP called "D.T.U." in March 2021, which Bandcamp Reviews described as “A product with good old video game vibes on a smooth rock foundation. Enjoyable entertaining for the lighthearted moments”. Currently, the band is working on a new album called "The Legend of Voonic" that they plan to release at the beginning of 2023.

For updates, you can follow the band on social media!


C&F Cosplay Factory — European Guest - Cosplay Guests

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(photo credit: Iris‘ Lens)

Cita and Feder, also known as C&F Cosplay Factory, are a Cosplayer Duo from Germany cosplaying together since 2011. Since 2014 they have been competing in national and international Cosplay Competitions. With their detailed costumes and performances, they won the Brother Award and represented Germany at the World Cosplay Summit 2019 in Japan. Cita and Feder are also winners of the German Cosplay Championship 2019.


Damien Laquet — European Guest - Voice Actor and Comedian

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On the mic: he is the ONE and only international voice of ALL the Rabbids from Ubisoft, for the TV series broadcasted in 105 countries around the world, as well as for the Futuroscope attraction. In dubbing… More than 60 anime, including a dozen main characters: SAO (Kirito), Black Lagoon (Rock), Rosario+Vampire (Tsukune), Kingdom (Ouki)…

More than 20 dubbed series: Power Rangers (Chase and Sledge), Black Mirror, Dark Matter, etc. In voiceover: many TV ads, France TV and NRJ 12 billboards, video games, toys…

On stage: he distinguished himself in more than 15 comedies, some of which held more than 600 performances, including his one-man show "I'm not sick!", with more than 250 performances to this day. Currently, he is accompanied by four musicians for his new one “DanSing”, playing on the prestigious stage of the Auditorium de Lyon, in “Ciné Concert Taupek” and “Le composer est mort”, alongside the National Orchestra of Lyon.

On-screen: he is often in demand as an actor in TV movies, feature films, TV and web commercials. You may find him on Cartoon Network presenting two shows: “Draw a toon” and “The Super Leo Show”.


Stéphane Ferrandez — European Guest - Rakugo Performer

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Stéphane Ferrandez is an ethnologist and storyteller. For the last 20 years, he has travelled across the world, sharing stories and rhythms he’s gathered from his voyages across five continents. He is the 2009 Laureate of the Kujoyama Villa and he is the first French person trained by Japanese lyrical masters in their craft. He is currently working with his partner, the author Sandrine Garbuglia, with whom he co-founded the Compagnie Balabolka in 2006. He will tell stories adapted by the author Sandrine Garbuglia.