Kishibe no Uta Festival Opens Tomorrow — A Second Once-Only Moment, Kishibe Seven's Tail, and Kishihachi's New Piece All Debut the Same Night

This year marks the fourth Kishibe no Uta festival, dedicated to Drifter-lineage music. As previously reported in the weather column, the chance of rain on the 23rd is currently on the low side, though the festival falls within the spring tide period; the TDA Forecast Division commented, "The permeation index and the weather are separate forecasts, but for an outdoor event, we'd ask people to keep an eye on both." As previously reported, advance tickets that went on sale on the 13th sold out online within 36 hours and completely within three days, prompting organizer Shiosai Records to trim same-day ticket allotments, expand standing and lawn areas, and tighten identity checks at entry. On the 22nd, sound and lighting received their final checks at the bayside promenade's special stage, with roughly 60 staff working from morning on setup. A Shiosai Records staffer said, "We started prep half a day earlier than usual this year. The program has a different weight to it this time."

Given the sellout and the program's added weight, security plans around the venue have also been expanded beyond a typical year. As previously reported, licensed sword bearers from the Tokei Sword Bearers' Association stood posted around the venue for the wall-racing league's final round on the 18th, as large-event security, and the same arrangement is planned for tomorrow's festival. "Having sword bearers stand watch isn't about drawing blades — it's so attendees can queue with peace of mind," an organizer explained. Several members of the Patrol Guild are also expected to join nighttime rounds of the grounds, an extension of their previously reported duty of managing shore-watching crowds.

As previously reported, Yuki Shirase, 31, had only just finished a recording-free, one-time-only live broadcast of her official Shore Lullaby cover on Kyokai Radio on the night of the 20th. She plans to keep the same scope — three of the 13 verses — for tomorrow's festival performance, with no change to the policy of keeping the original score unpublished until after her death. After finishing her final rehearsal on the 22nd, Shirase said, "This isn't so much a repeat for people who missed the broadcast two nights ago as it is a new one-time-only moment, even for those who did hear it. I don't think I can sing the same three verses exactly the same way I did two nights ago." Transcriber Ushio Kishiura, 74, is expected to attend the venue and watch the rehearsal in person.

As previously reported, Kishibe Seven's new song "Toward the Light" launched for streaming on the 20th with its chorus choreography left incomplete on video. The "tail choreography," performed by one of the group's two members with nonhuman features, will be unveiled in finished form for the first time on the 23rd's stage. A group member told this paper on the 22nd, laughing, "We hid it deliberately at the streaming launch because we wanted people to see it live. In rehearsal, I nearly stepped on my own tail more than once." As previously reported, the choreography had already drawn attention from a teaser clip, and Shiosai Records says it does intend to keep a video record of tomorrow's performance — a different approach from Shirase's one-time-only policy.

Rakugo performer Kishihachi, 68, a first-generation Drifter, will unveil a new piece titled "Madogei." For a performer who was 17 at the time of the mass Drifter arrival of 1975, this marks his first entirely new work as the leading figure of "Kishi rakugo." At rehearsal on the 22nd, he reportedly kept what looked like a script memo at hand — unusual for him — and a disciple said, "I haven't seen the master keep notes for a new piece in ten years." Kishihachi himself said only, "Even doing something new, I don't intend to change my sense of timing."

Organizers revealed on the 22nd that Tane Kishitani, 101, previously reported to have attended the Sept. 7 Arrival Remembrance Day ceremony in the role of "listener," has again been invited to the front row for the 23rd. Kishitani is known for saying at that ceremony, "Song is different. Song isn't the same as speech." A Shiosai Records staffer explained, "The organizers wanted the front row seated not by someone who can sing, but by someone who has spent a lifetime listening." According to her grandchild's spouse, Kishitani's only reply was, "This year, too, I'm on listening duty."

As previously reported, concerns about high-priced resale surfaced immediately after the sellout, and organizers plan to keep matching buyer names against ID at entry on the day. No major resale trouble has been reported across the festival's first three years, but a staffer said, "Given how packed the program is, we're keeping a tighter watch than usual this year." No day-of tickets are expected to be available, and as previously reported, even the expanded standing and lawn areas have already sold out.

Because the venue is an open-air stage, the final call on holding the event in case of rain, as previously reported, will come on the morning of the 23rd. A switch to an indoor venue nearby is under consideration in case of severe weather, though details remain undecided; the 22nd's forecast puts the chance of rain on the low side. As previously reported in the traffic column, the Bayside Monorail remains on reduced-speed service through the Sept. 21–23 spring tide, and organizers are urging attendees to allow extra travel time. Shiokaze Transport is also continuing its previously reported late-night surcharge.

By evening on the 22nd, a handful of figures who appeared to be camping out overnight were already visible near the venue. Overnight spots carry no real advantage since entry numbers are distributed on the day itself, but a 34-year-old member of Shirase's official fan club said, "I know it doesn't mean anything, but I still came. I want to make up here for the frustration of missing the radio broadcast two nights ago." A group of high schoolers who follow Kishibe Seven laughed: "Hiding the tail choreography at the streaming launch backfired on them — it just worked on us instead. Our five-person group chat hasn't stopped since the night before last."

A Shiosai Records production staffer who has worked the festival since its first year said wryly, "Honestly, at the first one I wasn't sure anyone would show up. Four years in, I'm more worried about crowd control because there's simply too much happening in one program." This is the first time three "firsts" — Shirase's one-time-only performance, Kishibe Seven's unveiling, and Kishihachi's new piece — have converged on a single night, and there's no guarantee a night this dense comes around again. At the venue on the 22nd, with the seats still empty, the only sound was staff quietly setting out chairs, row by row.

When I covered Shirase's live broadcast two nights ago, I spent my time talking to people who'd missed it, hearing out their frustration. Today, in reverse, I walked a venue where nothing had started yet, and watched the faces of people waiting for it to begin. Frustration and the pleasure of waiting turn out to be the same way of facing a "once-only" thing, in the end. Tomorrow night, I'll go see what face this city wears while it listens.