Yokohama Reggae Sai
Reggae · Red Brick Warehouse (Akarenga), Yokohama, Japan
Reggae — Japan
Yokohama Reggae Sai (横浜レゲエ祭) was born in 1995 out of Mighty Crown, the sound system founded in 1991 in Yokohama by brothers Masta Simon and Sami-T — future winners of New York's World Clash in 1999, the first Japanese sound to take the title. From a first club edition before 150 people, the festival became Japan's largest reggae-dancehall event: at Yokohama Stadium from 2006, it drew 30,000 to 40,000 people and often sold out.
After a pandemic pause, the festival returned for a final edition — « Yokohama Reggae Sai – The Final – » — on June 24 and 25, 2023 at Akarenga Park, between the red-brick warehouses of Yokohama's port. Mighty Crown, entering its « Final Season » before suspending its sound-system activities, played both days, alongside Pushim, DOZAN11, Han-Kun, Ryo the Skywalker and Mighty Jam Rock; the event was streamed live on ABEMA.
The festival is over: no later edition has taken place or been announced, and its official website is no longer maintained. Festival TV keeps this page as the record of Japan's founding reggae gathering.
Watch
Mighty Crown at Yokohama Reggae Sai 2023 — a digest of the founders' performance (via the Dozan Music channel):
Mighty Crown digest — Yokohama Reggae Sai 2023 (Dozan Music)