atmoscon 2026 Organizer Interview: Encounters Beyond What You Came For
How do you make a space where someone who came for sneakers discovers music, and someone who came for a live show finds something else? Ahead of atmoscon 2026, HIPHOPCs asked its organizer about the thinking behind the event, the connections between its two floors and what it hoped visitors would take home.
The event was scheduled for October 31 and November 1, 2026, at Sankaku Hiroba and the basement hall of the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building in Tokyo. Under the theme “PLAYGROUND for Next Generations,” the plans brought together live music from artists including CYBER RUI, brand booths and hands-on activities such as customization.
Written interview: HIPHOPCs. Responses: Foot Locker atmos Japan合同会社.
Original text and structure: Rei Kamiya.
The organizer’s written responses were received on October 27, 2026. This English edition preserves all five questions and answers from the Japanese interview published October 31, 2026. The answers describe plans and intentions before the event. The introduction, closing reflection and event information have been edited for this edition; admission details are retained as historical context, not current ticket advice.
A first encounter with culture
HIPHOPCs: What kind of space do you want to pass on to the next generation through the theme “PLAYGROUND for Next Generations”? Were there changes in the scene or particular experiences that prompted the idea for this event?
Foot Locker atmos Japan合同会社: With “PLAYGROUND for Next Generations,” we wanted to create a playground where the next generation could encounter sneakers, music, fashion and art, find their own ways to enjoy those cultures and make new connections. We believe culture is not created by companies alone. It also emerges naturally from the streets and the interactions between the people who gather there.
In recent years, the boundaries between genres have become more fluid, and younger people have come to enjoy moving between different cultures. That was one reason for developing the event into a place for participation, beyond simply looking and shopping. Making admission to the first floor free for high school students and younger visitors came from the same wish: to make that first encounter with culture more accessible.
Connecting sneakers and music across two floors
HIPHOPCs: What have you paid particular attention to in the layout and programming so that visitors who come for sneakers can discover music, and those who come for music can discover sneakers? Could you give us a concrete example?
Foot Locker atmos Japan合同会社: This time, the layout lets visitors move between two floors: Sankaku Hiroba on the first floor of the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building and the basement hall. The first floor will have booths from 26 brands, limited-edition products, hands-on activities such as customization, and a food area. Live music will take place in the basement. We thought about how people might naturally find their way to experiences beyond what they came for. Someone looking at sneakers could encounter the energy of a live performance as they make their way around the venue. Someone who came for a show could discover the brands’ craftsmanship or a different culture on the first floor.
We want people to enjoy the whole venue as one cultural scene, rather than keeping the experience within a single genre.
Editor’s note on the original admission rules: Free admission for high school students and younger visitors applied only to the first-floor Sankaku Hiroba area. The basement music performances required paid admission for visitors aged four through high school age as well; children aged three and under were not admitted.
To attend a performance, visitors needed either:
- A “Live Stage + 1-Day Admission” ticket for that performance; or
- An admission ticket for the relevant day together with a “Live Stage Additional Ticket” for that performance.
An additional live-stage ticket alone did not grant entry. On October 31, the first-floor area was scheduled to close at 6:00 p.m.; doors for the basement performance were scheduled to open at 6:00 p.m., with the show starting at 6:30 p.m. These were the conditions in the official ticket and admission guide cited by the Japanese edition.
Choosing artists, including CYBER RUI
HIPHOPCs: The lineup includes CYBER RUI and artists with a wide range of musical styles. When choosing performers, what mattered to you in terms of their connection to atmos’s view of culture and the experience you wanted to offer visitors?
Foot Locker atmos Japan合同会社: We look beyond genre and name recognition. What matters is whether artists are continuing to reshape culture through their own expression, and whether they can create new encounters and inspiration at atmoscon. By bringing together artists with different backgrounds and musical styles, including CYBER RUI, we hope visitors will discover something beyond the music they would usually gravitate toward.
Like sneakers and fashion, music has the power to express who you are and connect you with other people. We hope people will experience the live shows as part of the meeting of cultures across the whole venue, rather than as a separate attraction.
A place for longtime participants and newcomers
HIPHOPCs: What was difficult about making a place that people who have long been part of the scene and people encountering it for the first time could both enjoy? Was there anything you deliberately chose to keep unchanged?
Foot Locker atmos Japan合同会社: One thing we paid particular attention to was making the event approachable for newcomers while retaining the authenticity and energy that matter to people who have been part of the scene for years. We wanted to preserve the appeal of the brands and sneakers that have supported the culture for a long time, and the pleasure of discovering limited-edition products. At the same time, we included a broad range of things to experience: customization, food, esports and cars.
We also made the first floor free for high school students and younger visitors, creating an environment where a new generation could take part regardless of age or experience. Meanwhile, respect for different cultures and the value of people meeting in the same physical space remain as important to us as ever.
What visitors might take home
HIPHOPCs: After the two-day event ends, what changes or connections would you like to remain in visitors’ everyday lives? In your own words as the organizer, what would you like people to take home with them?
Foot Locker atmos Japan合同会社: We hope the experience won’t end with those two days. We’d like the people, music, brands and forms of expression visitors encounter there to lead them to do something new in their everyday lives. That might mean continuing to listen to an artist they discovered, trying a style of dress that feels like their own, or developing new ideas and activities through a connection made at the event.
We want visitors to take home something that helps them feel, “I’m also one of the people creating culture,” rather than simply receiving what’s presented to them. We’d be happy if those small changes and encounters became a force behind the next movement or the culture of the future.
Small actions beyond the venue
Keep listening to music you have just discovered. Try dressing a little differently. The organizer’s final answer comes back to small actions that can continue outside the venue. The hope is that a day of shopping or live music can lead to further encounters. That intention runs through all five answers.
Event and admission information from the Japanese edition
The following is a record of the official information checked for the Japanese edition on October 31, 2026, Japan time. The dates have passed. These details describe the announced arrangements, not a report on how the event unfolded.
- Dates: Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1, 2026.
- Venue: Shinjuku Sumitomo Building Sankaku Hiroba and Shinjuku Sumitomo basement hall, 2-6-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo.
- Organizer: Foot Locker atmos Japan合同会社.
- First-floor main area: General admission from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.; early entry from 10:00 a.m. required an eligible ticket. High school students and younger visitors could enter this floor free of charge. The official rules required age-verification documents, such as an original photo ID.
- Basement music performances: October 31: doors at 6:00 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. November 1: afternoon doors at noon, show at 12:30 p.m.; evening doors at 6:00 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. Each performance required the relevant tickets. Children aged three and under were not admitted.
The Japanese edition noted that schedules, performers and ticket availability were subject to change, and that the November 1 afternoon performance was shown as sold out when checked. Its advice to consult the official pages before buying tickets or visiting applied to that opening-day publication.
Official atmoscon 2026 event page · Official event page in English · Official ticket and admission guide
Hear from one of the artists
The organizer’s account of choosing performers offers one perspective; the artists’ own words offer another. In HIPHOPCs’ interview with CYBER RUI about “I AM NOT HUMAN?!”, she discusses the project and the questions behind it.
Interview and image sources
The interview is based on written responses from Foot Locker atmos Japan合同会社 to five questions submitted by HIPHOPCs, received October 27, 2026. The Japanese edition preserved the wording of those responses and divided them into paragraphs for readability. All five questions and answers are translated here; the surrounding editorial material has been adapted as described above. Event information comes from the official atmoscon 2026 website and official admission guide.
The key visual and performance announcement were supplied by the organizer for publication. They are promotional materials, not photographs documenting the event. Publication credit, as given in the supplied materials: atmos▲customer / アトモス▲カスタマー. Tel: 050-2030-4719.
Read the original Japanese interview · Explore more original HIPHOPCs interviews in English