In November 2025, I had the honor of participating in the 20th anniversary live performance of the “Asian Meeting Festival,” hosted by Otomo Yoshihide, held at PIT INN. Creative musicians from across Asia—Singapore, South Korea, Kuala Lumpur, and China—gathered to deliver an outstanding performance. Playing together brought many discoveries, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am filled with astonishment and profound respect for Mr. Otomo, who has been pursuing such endeavors for the past 20 years.
Over the past few weeks, Japanese musicians’ performances in China have been canceled one after another. Sometimes, music may be powerless in the face of something greater. Building deep connections and trust across national borders requires a long time and immense passion. We have overcome the pandemic. We know firsthand the importance and preciousness of never stopping our activities, and also that what has been broken down does not easily return to its former state. Music and entertainment are the first to be eliminated when unprecedented events occur. That is precisely why we feel strongly that we must protect the culture and connections we have carefully nurtured so they are not lost. We also know well that music can effortlessly cross the artificial boundaries humans set, like national borders. We pray for the situation to improve as soon as possible.
This time, we’ll be performing at PIT INN for two consecutive nights. The first night will be a duo performance with Yoshihide Otomo, and the second night will feature my own band, RS5pb. The duo with Mr. Otomo stems from a concert we held at the cafe “kakululu” in Ikebukuro in 2024, where we also did a live recording. The audio from that session will likely be ready in time for release on this very day. Please look forward to both the live show and the recording! Above all, I’m personally very excited to make music with Mr. Otomo in this duo format.
RS5pb has been together for so many years I can’t even remember how long. I fondly recall performing with this band in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China, where we were so warmly welcomed. I feel truly blessed to make music with these members who consistently elevate my compositions to a dramatically richer level.
We sincerely look forward to welcoming you to both performances.
Shinpei Ruike
2/26(thu) 27(fri)
open19:00 start19:30
3,850 yen (one drink included)
*Reservations (priority entrance at the time of opening) will be accepted from 15:00 on January 2 (fri) by phone (03-3354-2024), at the reception desk of Pit Inn Shinjuku, or through the online ticket reservation form for each performance date on our website.
Reservations will be accepted until the day before the event.
26th Shinpei Ruike×Otomo Yoshihide Duo
Shinpei Ruike (tp), Otomo Yoshihide (g)
27th RS5pb (RUIKE SHINPEI 5piece band)
Shinpei Ruike (tp), George Nakajima (p, key), Tak Tanaka (g), Koji Tetsui (b), Daisuke Yoshioka (ds)
