On October 12th, WOWOW will exclusively broadcast and stream the event "Pears Grow on Trees: Midsummer Harvest Festival 2024 - Everyone's Art Music," which was organized in July with Kinashi Noritake of the comedy duo "Tunnels" at the helm. Ahead of the program, a report on the two-day event was released, where Kinashi created art while singing, dancing, and playing with a variety of guests.
This event was held on both July 14th and 15th at TOKYO DOME CITY HALL (Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo) in connection with Kinashi's art program "Pears Grow on Trees: Everyone's Art" (WOWOW). Kinashi, a "multi-talented artist" who is also active as a musician and painter, was the host, and guests active in various fields, such as comedians, athletes, artists, and performers, became the "brushes" to create art on the spot. The MC was Kanningu Takeyama.
The event starts the moment you enter the venue. Along the aisle, the audience was greeted by a variety of artworks, including those from Yamanami Kobo (Koga City, Shiga Prefecture), an art center and welfare facility with which Kinashi continues to have contact. As the opening video began to play, Kinashi declared the opening of the event, saying, "If you back down, you lose (laughs). Please look at this with a kind heart." Then, drums rang out throughout the venue, and the performance of the drum troupe "SPLASH FIVE," dressed in pure white outfits, began. When the drums were beaten, the splashes of water were illuminated by the lights, creating a fantastic sight that captivated the audience.
Next was a collaboration with Miyu, a world champion title holder and world-famous dancer. Miyu, known for her high-speed steps, had her feet covered in paint, and her "world's best feet" were used instead of paintbrushes to create art. Yoko Oginome also took to the stage, riding the glamorous EDM. Oginome sang "Let's Shake," produced by Kinashi and written by Tokoro George, and Miyu did a dance painting to accompany the song.
On the second day, young enka singer Leon Shinhama, who Kinashi and Tokoro George are big fans of, joined in and sang "Catch Me, Tonight." Next, Shinhama and Kinashi performed a duet of "Subete Ageyou feat. Kinashi Noritake." They also tried an experiment in which Shinhama's costume was covered in paint and he used his signature "knee sliding" technique to create art, and the audience was thrilled by his impressive sliding.
The event also featured a collaborative art piece between comedy and soccer. Following the comedians' "Sketch x Art," former Japanese national soccer team members Shoji Jo, Masahiro Fukuda, and Yoshito Okubo kicked a painted ball and tried their hand at creating art on a board on stage.
In the "Art x Music" section, artists from "Ai no Koubou" created works to accompany live music performances. On the first day, Shigeru Matsuzaki, a longtime friend of Kinashi, performed the classic "Ai no Memory," while on the second day, Ryudo Uzaki, who has connections with "Ai no Koubou," performed "Ikiteru Uchi ga Hana Nandaze." Next to them, ink-wash artist Toshio Okamoto lay down and drew powerful yet beautiful pictures of roses and portraits of Uzaki, while Masami Yamagiwa, known for his original Jizo statues, continued to create Jizo statues out of clay.
Tokoro George and Hiromi appeared on stage as secret guests at the event. ISSA and KIMI from "DA PUMP" joined them and performed "Sunrise Moon - Let's Go to Space," which Tokoro and Kinashi created for DA PUMP. In the following song, "U.S.A.", Tokoro and others joined the dance circle, surprising the audience.
The guest on the second day was Riki Choshu. Choshu, who said he's bad at drawing, created a collaborative art piece by improvising a picture to the tune of Kinashi's song "Days of No Return." The artist was the late Antonio Inoki. He painted his arm with paint and hit a lariat on the picture he had drawn, which elicited cheers and applause from the audience.
On the second day, as a surprise, Nao, who played Kinashi's son in the drama "When Spring Comes," Mitsuishi Ken, and Tsutsui Mariko appeared on stage from the audience. When Nao revealed that Mitsuishi had been emotionally unstable (because of nervousness) next to her, Kinashi called Mitsuishi "an old man of the same age," helping to ease Mitsuishi's tension.
Tsutsui sang Tokoro's "No Answer Yet" with a cute, shy smile. Mitsuishi also gave a passionate rendition of Tokoro's "Mitsuken Samba." Next, Nao and Kinashi sang the duet song "Futari de" that was performed in the drama. Nao smiled and said, "I wasn't good at singing, but I was taught a lot of things and I started to think that singing is fun."
"Pears on the Tree: Midsummer Harvest Festival 2024 ~Everyone's Art Music~" will be broadcast and streamed on WOWOW Prime and WOWOW On Demand from 7 pm on October 12th.
The guests who will be appearing are the following (titles omitted, in order of appearance at the event).
