Masayoshi Takanaka and Himiko Kikuchi announced for UK’s first city pop outdoor festival

UPDATE – March 1st: Junko Yagami added to City Pop Waves line-up

Masayoshi Takanaka and Himiko Kikuchi have been announced for London’s first large-scale Japanese outdoor music festival this summer, Palace Bowl Presents City Pop Waves. Taking place on August 7th at Crystal Palace Bowl, the festival will be a celebration of city pop and its international resurgence.

Takanaka returns to the capital following the rapid sell-out of his two O2 Academy Brixton shows on March 31st and April 1st as part of his SUPER TAKANAKA WORLD LIVE 2026 tour. Active since the 1970s, he remains one of Japan’s most recognisable fusion guitarists, with his back catalogue finding a second wind internationally during the city pop streaming-era revival. His Crystal Palace set will run as an extended two-hour performance.

Kikuchi will present a full recreation of her 1987 album ‘FLYING BEAGLE’, widely regarded as one of the defining records of Japan’s 1980s jazz fusion scene. A DJ set from Ginger Root, the project of US multi-instrumentalist Cameron Lew, also features on the line-up, with additional artists expected.

The festival forms part of Live Nation’s City Pop Waves series and sits within Palace Bowl Presents, a new summer programme at Crystal Palace Bowl running from July 31st to August 16th. Other headliners across the programme include Grace Jones, Gary Numan, Bastille, and The Wombats.

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Crystal Palace Bowl opened in 1961 as a classical venue before becoming a major site for rock and pop in the 1970s. Pink Floyd drew a reported 15,000 people there in May 1971, while Bob Marley played his final UK concert at the venue on June 7th 1980, commemorated today with a blue plaque. The open-air amphitheatre in South London will now host the UK’s first outdoor festival dedicated to Japanese music.

Pre-sale tickets for City Pop Waves are available from 10am on February 26th, with general sale beginning at 10am on February 27th, via the official festival website.