Japan Concerts Cancelled Amongst Earthquake-Related Worries

Japan’s live-music culture has recently been hindered by outside forces about the New Year’s Day earthquake causing those responsible for the live-music scene to cancel and postpone shows for safety concerns. The ACPC addresses concerns in a statement detailing how shows in Japan will proceed to move into the new year.

Japan was rocked by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the early evening of New Year’s Day, January 1, 2024. Centering in the Ishikawa Prefecture at 16:10 spreading throughout the island. The epicenter of the earthquake was observed to be rather shallow but still caused large tremors felt throughout Japan. In response to the aftershocks, Japan issued a tsunami warning. The earthquake also caused a large fire and created a fear of landslides falling due to the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

Japan’s ACPC (All Japan Concert & Live Entertainment Promoters Conference) has released a statement about near-future events in the country. In an interview with IQ, ACPC Executive Director Nobuhiro Nagai had this to say:

“So far, there appears to be no life-threatening damage to the managers, employees, stage staff, artists, etc. of our association member companies,” says Nagai. “All of these events were canceled or postponed due to concerns about aftershocks from the earthquake and to ensure the safety of the halls,” adds Nagai. “In Kanazawa City, the core city of Ishikawa Prefecture near the disaster area and surrounding cities, concerts and other events have been canceled to take into account the effects of aftershocks and to conduct maintenance checks on venue facilities.”

Though many events have been canceled or postponed due to the earthquake, some shows went on. A K-pop concert with headliners Aespa, BOYNEXTDOOR, ENHYPEN, and &Team went on January 2 regardless of the earthquake despite the worry of fans concerning the safety of the event. The concert was held at the Vantelin Dome in Nagoya, just 250km from the epicenter of the earthquake.