What is Sax Samurai?

A samurai with a saxophone standing on a night-time street corner

Nagoya Tourism Ambassador / Human Tourist Attraction of NagoyaNot with a sword,
Saxophone.A samurai wearing a woven straw hat is standing on a Nagoya street corner again today. Without fighting,Cutting through mental illness with soundIt is a story that began in 2020, from a city in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

SERIESDiscovering the Saxophone Samurai: All 8 Chapters0102 03 04 05 06 07 08CHAPTER 01Chapter 1: What is the Saxophone Samurai?

2020.7Activity started1,320回Total number of live performances
On average, once every 1.7 days40万Total social media followers5public eyeAppointed as Nagoya Tourism Goodwill Ambassador200 to 2,000人Estimated audience size per performance
▶ Watch the customer attraction process on video24.8%Attendees from outside the prefecture for the live concert in the city124,000,000ten thousand timesTotal view count of social media videos (combined total across 6 platforms)

TITLESthe title I holdNagoya Tourism Goodwill AmbassadorAssumed office in October 2025 as the fifth in history. The role is to communicate the appeal of Nagoya outside the city.Tsuruma Park Official ArtistAs the first official artists in the history of Tsuruma Park, a nationally registered monument with a history of over 100 years.Nagoya Pop-Up ArtistSince 2022, I have been performing in public spaces in Nagoya.Part-time Lecturer, Aichi Prefectural University of the ArtsI have been given the opportunity to stand at the lectern as a self-taught musician who can barely read sheet music.

What is 'Sax Samurai'?WHO IS SAX SAMURAI

The "Sax Samurai", a unique street artist from Nagoya who plays the saxophone while wearing a woven straw hat. Holding a saxophone instead of a sword, and without fighting“Slaying mental illness with sound”has healed many people with that unique style.

Playing a well-known J-POP ballad. With every note lacking lyrics, everyone's individual memories quietly overlap. Not a few people listen with their eyes closed and tears falling.

Hundreds to a thousand people gather for the weekend live performances. Even tourists just passing by stop in their tracks, and before you know it, a large circle has formed—that has become the usual scene on the street corners of Nagoya.

01Nagoya's moving power spotJust pausing to listen somehow fills you with strength. That tone is how it came to be known, before anyone realised.02Nagoya's human tourist spotsPeople gather from all over the country to hear this sound. The nickname was born from that phenomenon. It is even officially introduced at the city's tourist information centre.03Tourism ambassador for soundFrom Nagoya to the rest of the country, we are connecting with people through sound at large commercial facilities and tourist spots wherever we go.

Watch the videoMOVIE

Activities featured on Fuji TV's "Sun! Shine"

HOW MANY PEOPLE GATHERActually, just how many people are gathered there?In each town we visited, the atmosphere of the venue that dayVideoYou can view it on. Centred around Aichi, Gifu and MieArea 36Clicking the image opens the video.

Performance at Toyohashi Apita Mukaiyama store

1,500 peopleToyohashi

Performance at Gamagori / Apita Gamagori store

1,800 peopleGamagori

Performance at Okazaki APITA Okazaki North store

1,000 peopleOkazaki

Performance at Peony Walk Higashimatsuyama, Saitama

1,200 peopleSaitamaView customer acquisition results by area

Performance StyleSTYLE

The songs chosen will primarily be classic J-POP ballads that span generations and that everyone can hum along to. Rather than trying to impress with difficult songs,Something that goes straight to the hearts of the people who are thereI am only thinking about that.

Six years after starting their activities, the live performances held wereA total of 1,320 times. From a corner of a shopping street to the grounds of a shrine, large retail centres and even concert halls. However different the venues may be, what we wish to convey remains the same. Creating new sights and stories in the city—trulyTones created by the streets of Nagoya.is.

The Saxophone Samurai with a saxophone in hand

Two titlesTITLES

01'Nagoya's Human Tourist Attraction'.

In an era where soaring material costs make it difficult to build new tourist facilities.Then we should just turn humanity itself into a tourist attraction.It all started with that unconventional way of thinking.

Now they are even officially introduced as "human tourist spots" at tourist information centres within Nagoya City, and through collaborations with existing tourist spots, they are further enhancing the charm of the city.

02Appointed as the 5th ever Nagoya Tourism Goodwill Ambassador

In October 2025, in recognition of its track record and influence in regional revitalisation and tourism initiatives,Becoming the fifth person in history to be appointed a Nagoya Tourism Ambassadorhas assumed office.

This means it has been officially recognised as a symbol of the city of Nagoya's brand.

History of activitiesHistory

2020.7standing on a street cornerI started these activities with the sole desire to soothe people wearied by the COVID-19 pandemic. The surrealism of the samurai attire combined with the soothing tones quickly made it a local landmark. Around this time, I came to be known as "Nagoya's moving power spot".2023"Then, I shall become a tourist attraction."Motivated by the survey results declaring Nagoya the "least appealing city", I made a firm decision. I set regional revitalization as my theme and greatly expanded my performance opportunities.2025Make Tsuruma Park an official baseAt Tsuruma Park, a national registered monument with a history of over 100 years, I was appointed as the very first "official artist". I even came to be introduced at the tourist information centre as a "human tourist attraction". In October of the same year, I was appointed as a Nagoya Tourism Goodwill Ambassador.2026As a culture originating from Nagoya, spreading nationwidePerformance requests have started coming in from all over the country, and their active area is expanding beyond the Tokai region. As a culture originating in Nagoya, they are currently one of the most talked-about entities.

Feedback from everyone who listenedVOICES

I was given strength during my battle with illness.It saved me when I was about to break at work.The purpose of this trip was to meet the Saxophone Samurai.

We receive many such messages every day, and they are the greatest driving force behind our continued activities.

MEDIA REPORTSMEDIA

We have been featured in various media outlets, including television, newspapers, and radio.

TVTBS 'Information 7days Newscaster'Fuji TV "Sun! Shine"NHK E-television, 'Swamped and Asked'.Me-Tele "Dodesca".Tokai TV 'News One'.Chukyo TV 'Catch'.CBC Television, 'Chant!Other

Newspapers and newsYomiuri Shimbun (including the national edition)Chunichi ShimbunAsahi (newspaper)Yahoo! NewsLINE NewsOther

RadioZIP-FM 'SUPER CAST'.FM AICHI "Akari Suda × Asunaru Treasure"CBC Radio 'Makoto Kitano's Zubari Saturday'.Tokai Radio 'one Style'.Other

View media appearances and press coverage

Initiatives to boost tourismTourism

Leveraging my drawing power and influence, I am also focusing on attracting tourists to Nagoya. At my concerts in Nagoya, nowadays24.8%: Customers from outside the prefectureThere is a steady increase in the number of people saying, "I came to Nagoya to listen to Sax Samurai."

The concept of the "human tourist attraction" is beginning to take shape as concrete achievements.

See efforts to boost tourism

Identity.PROFILE

I gained over 20 years of experience as a marketer during my time as a corporate employee.How far can you go if you market and brand yourself as a product?As a grand experiment in that regard, I launched the Saxophone Samurai, and as a result, I succeeded in becoming a “human tourist attraction”.

Following that result, they became independent and are currentlyOperating a marketing and branding company while focusing on activities as the Saxophone SamuraiI am doing it.'Brand strategy creators'.As well as this, I continue my activities sharing my personal journey and strategic know-how.

Saxophone samurai standing in a Japanese garden

FUTURESpeaking of Nagoya,
Chicken wings, miso katsu, saxophonist samuraiAiming for the day we are told that, we will continue to take on challenges as a bridge between the town and tourism.
Where shall we meet next? Please look forward to it.

Please also follow us on social networks.FOLLOW

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Continue readingREAD NEXTNext chapter →Chapter 2: The Saxophone Samurai’s StoryFrom a boy who had nothing, to becoming a samurai. This is the story of my life that I share in my talks.Discovering the Saxophone Samurai: All 8 Chapters01What is Sax Samurai?The page you are currently reading02The story of Saxophone Samurai 03Passion for sound 04Initiatives to boost tourism 05What is Nagoya? Its appeal 06The marketing of the Saxophone Samurai 07Media appearances and coverage 08Saxophone Samurai data

Please also seeRELATED PAGESINTROSaxophone Samurai in 3 minutesWho they are, and why a samurai. Through 7 questions, the full picture of their activities in 3 minutes.PROFILESaxophone Samurai profileThe start of the activity, age and hometown, things made public and things kept private.HistorySaxophone Samurai timelineFrom its birth in 2020 to becoming a Nagoya Tourism Ambassador, the journey so far.VIDEOSPopular video and social media achievementsYou can view the frequently seen performances here.

The story of Saxophone Samurai so farRECORD & VOICESThe list of venues visited and the feedback received from everyone who stopped by have been put together on their respective pages.VOICES7,100That particular feedbackFeedback from everyone who listenedWe are collecting the genuine words sent to us from everyone who stopped by at the venue.Reading your feedback RECORD1,300performances exceeding the showPerformance historyYou can view a list of the venues and regions we have visited, including large commercial facilities, hotels, halls, and tourist spots.View past performances

Would you like to come and meet the Saxophone Samurai?You can check our live schedule to see where we are performing next.
We also accept requests for performances at events.View live schedule Requests for performances