Ken Hidaka

Tokyo based Ken Hidaka has been a key figure and the "go-to-guy" for connecting the Japanese music industry to the west and vice versa for the last 15+ years. He spent his formative years living in the US and studied in London in the early 90s where he discovered his passion for dance music and beyond. After working for one of the biggest independent labels in Japan, P-Vine Records as A&R, he's been expanding his skills as a music coordinator,  reissue supervisor, writer and DJ to nurture and support the frontline of both Japanese and global music communities ranging from ambient to disco and everything in between.

Among his accomplishments, he worked as an overseas liaison for Flower Records, helped launch Wax Poetics Japan, supervised the reissues of Tony Allen’s solo works and supervised many reissues of iconic dance labels such as Salsoul, West End, P&P Records, Streetwise, etc. in Japan. Notably, Ken has also A&Red several mix CDs by DJ Nori, Dimitri From Paris', DJ Spinna and Idjut Boys. Recently, he has also been working for a number of European labels such as WRWTFWW / Mental Groove, BBE, Mr. Bongo, Music For Dreams and Archeo Recordings to secure licensing for each label’s Japanese music reissues. He also worked as an agent and tour manager for Midori Takada in recent years.

Alongside Max Essa, Dr. Rob of banbantonton, DJ Gordy & Guy Bassett, Ken runs a monthly resident party called Lone Star at the world renowned Bar Bonobo in Tokyo. Going on for over 8 years, Lone Star just celebrated its 100th party in March 2019.