From Friday, November 20 through Monday, November 23 (a national holiday), MUTEK.JP 2026 — a festival of electronic music and digital creativity — takes place at MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives, its new home as of this year. Born in Montréal and staged here at its only Asian edition, the festival reaches its 11th outing. From the 20th to the 22nd, two programs, "A/Visions" and "Play," run in parallel, with 20 acts from Japan and abroad. The final day, the 23rd, brings the world premiere of "PLASTIKMAN | POLYPHONIC FERMENTATION" by Richie Hawtin and Ali Demirel — the first performance in Japan under the PLASTIKMAN name in 16 years.
From Montréal to Tokyo. The only Asian edition, now in its 11th year.
MUTEK is an international festival of electronic music and digital creativity that began in Montréal, Canada in 2000. Its home edition draws more than 30,000 people each year, and the network has since expanded to Mexico City, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Santiago and Tokyo.
MUTEK.JP, the only edition in Asia, was founded in 2016 and reaches its 11th edition this year. Built around audiovisual showcases, it connects artists, creators and researchers from Japan and around the world through conferences and workshops.
Directly connected to Takanawa Gateway Station, with two halls running side by side.
MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives
The venue is MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives, located in TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY, the district directly connected to Takanawa Gateway Station. It's a cultural facility operated by the JR East Culture Creation Foundation, and this year's MUTEK.JP is co-presented with JR East, with four days built around this space.
Two halls are in play. Box1000, a theater space, hosts "A/Visions," a showcase of audiovisual works from around the world. Box300, a standing room, hosts "Play," experimental AV live sets exploring the relationship between sound, image and technology. From the 20th to the 22nd, the two run in parallel within the same time slots, and passport holders can move freely between floors subject to capacity.
The final day, the 23rd, takes place in Box1000 only. The 22nd is fully seated; on all other days the 1F is standing and the 2F seated.
Three days with a theme each, plus a standalone show on the final day.
DAY 1 ｜ 11.20 (Fri)
A/Visions 1 ｜ Box1000 ｜ Doors 19:00 / Start 20:00 / End 22:00
Play 1 ｜ Box300 ｜ Doors 18:00 / Start 19:00 / End 22:30
The opening day's theme is "3D, Structure, Real-Time." A/Visions 1 features Max Cooper, the British electronic musician who holds a PhD in computational biology. Centered on his latest album Feeling Is Structure, he presents an immersive audiovisual live set combining 3D imagery and spatial sound.
Play 1 features four acts: AVB2BVA, a sound-and-image B2B between former To Rococo Rot member Robert Lippok and visual artist Lucas Gutierrez; Grand River's new work Temporary; and Bricolage Architecture, a stop-motion-and-modular piece by Montréal's Seulement. From Japan, Masayuki Azegami & Seiichi Sega hand out 3D glasses to every attendee for a 3D/AV live set.
DAY 2 ｜ 11.21 (Sat)
A/Visions 2 ｜ Box1000 ｜ Doors 17:30 / Start 18:30 / End 22:00
Play 2 ｜ Box300 ｜ Doors 17:00 / Start 18:00 / End 22:00
Day two's theme is "Perception, Time, Space." A/Visions 2 welcomes Polish pianist Hania Rani in her Prophet-synth-driven alter ego Chilling Bambino. mouse on the keys, marking their 20th anniversary, appear in a special lineup joined by violinist Shuntaro Tokida and VJ rokapenis, expanding ambient and techno minimalism into image and space. Ryoichi Kurokawa presents nD, his latest work for dual screens.
Play 2 brings Italy's Riccardo Giovinetto, Argentina-born Nicolás Melmann, and the Finnish-Danish duo Johanna Elina Sulkunen & Tapani Toivanen. NEUROSCAN by Canblaster and Neurotypique, born out of research at IRCAM, makes its Japan debut.
DAY 3 ｜ 11.22 (Sun)
A/Visions 3 ｜ Box1000 (fully seated) ｜ Doors 18:00 / Start 19:00 / End 22:00
Play 3 ｜ Box300 ｜ Doors 17:00 / Start 18:00 / End 22:00
Day three's theme is "Body, Stage, Music, AI." In the fully seated A/Visions 3, media artist Daito Manabe and ELEVENPLAY, the dance company led by MIKIKO, present the dance installation ＋1＋1＋1＋. Taking time and structure as its themes, it repeatedly synchronizes and dislocates the dancers' bodies, video and light. Next comes the Japan premiere of Film Scores for No One, the latest project from Canada's Patrick Watson, where modular synth improvisation crosses paths with neo-classical resonance.
In Play 3, Japan's tamanaramen presents DANCE IS BREATHING. Taiwanese new media art collective Dimension Plus makes its Japan debut with MOVING PLUS: The World as Prompt, joined by a novelist and a collage artist.
DAY 4 ｜ 11.23 (Mon/Holiday)
PLASTIKMAN | POLYPHONIC FERMENTATION ｜ Box1000 ｜ Doors 17:00 / Start 18:00 / End 20:00
The final day brings the world premiere of "PLASTIKMAN | POLYPHONIC FERMENTATION," a new project by Richie Hawtin and Ali Demirel. It's the first time in 16 years that a performance under the PLASTIKMAN name has taken place in Japan.
The concept originates in sake "fermentation." Modeled on heikō fukuhakkō — multiple parallel fermentation, in which koji and yeast work simultaneously within a single vessel — sound and image act upon one another as they coalesce into a single work. In April 2026, the pair visited Gekkeikan in Kyoto, Aramasa Shuzo in Akita and Yoshida Shuzoten in Ishikawa, incorporating footage and field recordings captured at the breweries into the work. Electronic music, which Hawtin has pursued for over 30 years, and sake, with which he has been involved for roughly 20 — two worlds essential to him intersect here.
The Japanese notion of "utsuroi," running through the project.
One concept that runs through the project is the Japanese word "utsuroi" — a sensibility attuned to subtle, ceaseless change, resonant with fermentation, a process that advances by accumulating changes invisible to the eye. This sensation has long been alive in the pair's work; here they explore it more deeply still.
"With 'POLYPHONIC FERMENTATION,' Ali Demirel and I are pushing that process further, drawing inspiration from the organic process of sake brewing for both the sonic and visual layers of this new work," Hawtin says.
Richie Hawtin / Ali Demirel
An electronic music artist raised in Canada. He heads Plus 8 and MINUS and has released seven albums as PLASTIKMAN. One of the figures who drove DJing's shift from the physical to the digital, he is also a certified sake sommelier. Through sake projects such as ENTER. and OSC, he works to bring the cultures of music and sake closer together in Japan.
Ali Demirel
A Berlin-based audiovisual artist. He studied nuclear engineering and architecture and has been producing visual works since the early '90s. Known for his long-running collaboration with Hawtin, in recent years he has created imagery built around rocks as a motif, weaving in ecosystems, landscapes and mythology.
After the performance, through December 27.
"PLASTIKMAN | POLYPHONIC FERMENTATION" continues beyond the performance as an installation. It will be on view at MoN Takanawa's "Tatami" from November 23 through December 27. Full details to be announced soon.
INFORMATION
Event Details
- Dates: 2026.11.20 (Fri) - 11.23 (Mon/Holiday)
- Venue: MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives, TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY, Tokyo
- Official: tokyo.mutek.org / Instagram @mutek.jp
Tickets
The four-day Passport is ¥30,000, on sale from October 21 to November 19. A version including "2F Seating Access" — granting entry to the 2F free-seating area of Box1000 in addition to the 1F standing area — is ¥40,000. The 1Day Ticket is ¥10,000 (¥15,000 with 2F Seating Access; ¥5,000 for U25) and is sold until the day before each performance date. Door tickets are ¥13,000 (¥18,000 with 2F Seating Access; ¥5,000 for U25). All sales end once the allotted quantity is reached, and no door tickets will be sold on days where one-day tickets have sold out.
- All seated areas are free seating. No reserved seats will be sold.
- Photo ID checks will be carried out at entry.
- Entry is 18 and over (including U25 ticket holders).
- Purchase: mutekjp.zaiko.io
Credits
- Organizer: MUTEK Japan
- Co-presenter: East Japan Railway Company (JR East)
- In cooperation with: MoN Takanawa: The Museum of Narratives (JR East Culture Creation Foundation), Panasonic Projector & Display Co., Ltd., Yamaha Corporation, Derivative (TouchDesigner), IRCAM
- Supported by: Arts Council Tokyo, Grant Program for Creating Arts and Culture Appeal
- Official Program: Official Partner Program of ARTE TOKYO (Tokyo International Festival of Arts and Culture)
Mutek
MoN Takanawa, Tokyo
LINEUPDimension Plus · Daito Manabe x ELEVENPLAY · Film Scores for No One - a Patrick Watson project · Grand River · Hania Rani presents Chilling Bambino · Johanna Elina Sulkunen & Tapani Toivanen · Masayuki Azegami & Seiichi Sega · Max Cooper · mouse on the keys · NEUROSCAN (Canblaster & Neurotypique)+6 more
FESTIVAL PAGE →OFFICIAL ↗
Sound and image, acting upon one another as they change. The 11th MUTEK.JP puts that "utsuroi" on display across four days.
