New York, Los Angeles, and now Italy. Yoko Kanno's global live initiative, the "Chikyu Shutsubotsu? (Earth Appearances?) Project," which got fully underway in fiscal 2026, is entering its third phase: she will appear at Lucca Comics & Games 2026 on October 31 and November 1, then perform her solo project "PIANO ME" at Milan's Teatro Nazionale Italiana Assicurazioni on November 3. It will be her first visit to Italy and her first concert in the country. With Lucca a little over three weeks away, it is a good moment to look back at how the project has unfolded.

New York, LA, and on to Europe: the story so far

The project launched in fiscal 2026 with the support of TOKYO MX. Here is what official announcements and press releases confirm.

  • Phase 1 (April, New York): "YOKO KANNO SEATBELTS" at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn on April 10, and "PIANO ME" at The Town Hall on April 11, drawing more than 5,000 fans across the two shows.
  • Phase 2 (July, Los Angeles): A roughly 30-minute opening set on July 2 at "J-POP SOUND CAPSULE," the music event held during Anime Expo 2026 at Crypto.com Arena.
  • Phase 3 (October-November, Italy): An appearance at Lucca Comics & Games 2026 (October 31-November 1) and "PIANO ME" in Milan on November 3.

What makes it fascinating is that the line-up changes completely each time. In Brooklyn, original SEATBELTS members Masato Honda (sax), Tsuneo Imahori (guitar) and Yasuo Sano (drums) reunited, joined by vocalists including Steve Conte and Scott Matthew, for more than 20 songs such as "TANK! Extended," "Rain," "Call Me Call Me" and "Inner Universe." In LA, by contrast, she played music from Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. at the piano, and teamed up with Yoko Takahashi to debut her own piano arrangement of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis." Some nights it is a full band, some nights a single piano, and both are unmistakably Yoko Kanno. That is the bottomless part of her artistry.

Why "PIANO ME" coming to Europe matters

Milan gets the latter: "PIANO ME," a solo project that combines live piano with visuals. Lucca's official site describes it as a European premiere, produced by Let Me See and Yellow Echoes.

When we think of a soundtrack composer in concert, we tend to imagine an orchestra grandly recreating the greatest hits. But Kanno's scores start from a kind of omnivorous genre-crossing: Bebop's jazz, S.A.C.'s electronica, Macross Frontier's pop, Aquarion's hymn-like choirs. Strip all of that down to one piano and only the skeleton of melody and harmony is left exposed. The fewer instruments, the more clearly you can hear the composer's own hand, and that, to me, is the real thrill of PIANO ME.

In an interview Anime Corner published on September 9, she said of Italy: "I have long been captivated by the musical expression of Italian composers such as Puccini and Ennio Morricone. The thought of performing there makes my heart dance." Anime scores played on piano in the land of opera and film music: it is hard to imagine a more fitting stage.

"Yoko Kanno Celebration" at Lucca's 60th edition

Lucca Comics & Games 2026 (running October 28 to November 1) marks the 60th anniversary of one of Europe's leading comics and games festivals. According to the guest page on the official site, Kanno will appear at "Yoko Kanno Celebration" on November 1 from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., billed as a musical meeting with an artist known worldwide for anime soundtracks; advance registration is required.

In the same interview she explained that travel is essential for a composer, citing trips to New Orleans, Iceland and Brazil, and said she would next like to go to Africa to "feel where rhythm began, in my own body." In that sense, "Chikyu Shutsubotsu?" may be less a simple overseas tour than a series of concerts that double as a composer's research trips. How what she absorbs in Lucca and Milan will seep into her next scores is part of what makes this project worth following.