Cloud Nine’s Takuya Chigira Talks Ado’s WME Deal, J-Pop Event Zipangu & Paving the Way to the World for Japan’s Artists

In 2025, over half a million fans attended Ado's second world tour, Ado WORLD TOUR 2025 "Hibana" Powered by Crunchyroll. In May of this year, Cloud Nine held Zipangu in Los Angeles, the largest festival of Japanese artists outside Japan. Cloud Nine's president, Takuya Chigira, explained the motivation behind Zipangu to Billboard Japan.

The purpose was not profit but to give Japanese artists a chance to perform abroad and test themselves in international markets. Chigira shared that while they could have organized a more expensive show with headlining acts, the limited attendance at CEIPA's matsuri '25 demonstrated the caution surrounding foreign performances. He emphasized the need to prove the potential of Japanese talent.

Ado's recent representation deal with WME was announced, and Chigira discussed how the company plans to leverage this partnership to expand their reach. He expressed his desire for Japanese artists to achieve higher rankings on Billboard's annual touring revenue list and for Japanese music to be recognized in the Grammy Awards. Chigira acknowledged the challenges faced by Japan's music industry, including outdated business practices and a tendency to rely on intuition rather than data.

He believed that creating opportunities for staff to gain international experience would help bridge the gap between Japanese and global music markets.