New England’s largest anime convention, Anime Boston 2019 has just revealed its fifth Japanese guest for this year. It is MIYAVI, a musician, actor, and philanthropist, who is bridging cultures with his message and his music. He has a unique guitar style that has led to him going on seven world tours, and visiting over 30 countries along the way. His fans have dubbed him the “Samurai Guitarist”.
In December of 2018, MIYAVI released the groundbreaking collaboration album known as Samurai Sessions Vol. 3: Worlds Collide via Universal Music Group. Each track featured a different artist providing vocals over his unique guitar playing. The collaborators from the United States include:
- Oscar-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson
- Grammy nominated R&B artist Gallant
- Grammy nominated Pop artist Mikky Ekko
- Grammy winning producer RAC
- Malaysian born R&B songstress Yuna
- South Central LA rapper DUCKWRTH
- “Hood EDM” rapper Bok Nero
- “laptop punk” artist NVDES
- And Australian born Pop artist Betty Who.
MIYAVI made his big screen debut in Unbroken, an Oscar nominated film. Since then, he has also made appearances in the 2017 blockbuster Kong: Skull Island and in a live action adaptation of the Bleach manga. He is also involved with the more recent Stray and Maleficent 2 in 2019. Anime Boston’s Convention Chair, Kristen Leiding, commented on MIYAVI being a part of the convention this year:
“MIYAVI is a huge talent. From his acting, to his charity work, and of course his music, we’re so excited to have MIYAVI join us for Anime Boston 2019. We can’t wait to experience his electrifying guitar skills in person!”
According to the press release, the previously announced guests for Anime Boston 2019 so far are:
- Billy Kametz
- Ellyn Stern
- Greg Ayres
- Michelle Ruff
- Johnny Yong Bosch
- Kenji Kodama
- Naohiro Ogata
- Richard Epcar
- Tara Sands
- Yoichi Kato
- And Yoko Shimomura
Anime Boston 2019 will be taking place at the Hynes Convention Center and Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts from April 19th through April 21st. Last year, the Japanese animation convention saw over 25,000 attendees over its three days of activity. You can find out more about Anime Boston’s 2019 anime convention at the official Anime Boston website. Its parent organization, the New England Anime Society, dedicates itself to public education in the areas of Japanese language and culture.
