After previous stops in Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo and Saitama, the Filipino rock band returns to Japan for a three-city run in Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe.
Japan is becoming familiar territory for The Itchyworms.
The Filipino rock band is back in the country for a three-city tour of the Kansai region, taking their music to Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe this October. The run follows their Osaka tour in 2023 and continues a pattern of regular visits to Japan in recent years.
But this trip is not simply a return to a familiar market. It also puts the band in different settings—from representing the Philippines at an international music gathering to sharing the stage with fellow Filipino artist Reese Lansangan.
The tour opened October 4 at Panhead Groove in Osaka, where The Itchyworms represented the Philippines at the Kansai Music Conference, an international event bringing together artists and audiences from different parts of the world.
From Osaka, the band heads to Kyoto MUSE on October 5, where they will perform alongside Filipino singer-songwriter Reese Lansangan and Ariel from Los Angeles in a show produced by Pintig Productions.
The following night, October 6, brings another first: The Itchyworms will make their Kobe debut at Live Music Padoma, again sharing the bill with Lansangan.
Japan becomes a regular stop
The Kansai dates are part of a growing relationship between The Itchyworms and audiences in Japan.
The band tries to visit the country at least once a year. They performed in Nagoya in 2025, after playing Tokyo and Saitama in 2024. Future trips could expand that footprint further, with the group hoping to eventually bring their live show to Okinawa, Fukuoka and possibly Hokkaido.
Taken together, those stops show a band gradually reaching beyond the usual major-city destination of Tokyo and bringing its music to different parts of Japan.
This time, however, the Itchyworms are also changing the way they present themselves onstage.
Rather than mounting an elaborate production, the Kansai shows are being performed in a semi-stripped-down format—the band, their instruments and the songs, without the usual bells and whistles.
For a group whose catalog has endured through its songwriting, the format puts the emphasis squarely on the music.
The remaining dates are October 5 at Kyoto MUSE and October 6 at Live Music Padoma in Kobe, completing three shows in three cities over three consecutive nights.
The Kansai tour may be compact, but it adds another chapter to The Itchyworms’ increasingly regular presence in Japan—one city, and one audience, at a time.