Rickey Shannon's INTER Marks Four Years in Tokyo With DJ EMMA's Rare Techno Set

DJ EMMA has been at the forefront of Japan's dance music scene for more than 40 years, billed as the country's King of House. For INTER's fourth anniversary at WOMB in Shibuya, he was billed to step away from his usual house selections and deliver a rare techno set instead.

Dates / Venue / Tickets

Friday, October 23, 11pm GMT+9, at WOMB, 2-16 Maruyamacho, Shibuya, Tokyo. Door ¥3,500, ¥2,500 for under-24s and anyone in before midnight; advance tickets ¥3,000 plus handling fee.

A Pairing With Range

INTER bills itself as a driving force in Tokyo's next-generation techno scene, and for the Inter 4th Anniversary Edition it paired EMMA with Shinichi Osawa, described on the event listing as a longtime architect of Japan's electronic music scene who has produced and remixed for some of the world's leading artists under various aliases.

Osawa has been active since 1989. He was the bassist and producer behind Mondo Grosso, the group that formed in Kyoto in 1991. He later put out his electro house album The One under his own name rather than the Mondo Grosso moniker, and he's the one who scored the techno music for Lumines, the 2004 PlayStation Portable game.

EMMA's own credentials run just as deep: he's a former resident of the legendary club GOLD and the artist behind the EMMA HOUSE series. He closed ageHa in 2022 and has toured under a 40th-anniversary banner since 2025.

Three Floors, One Night

WOMB split the night across three rooms, spanning techno, house and psytrance. The venue's long-running Session techno night turned 25 on October 17. On 2F, INTER residents Shannon Brothers, named by US outlet LA Weekly as one of 15 next-generation creators to watch, share the floor with opener Anne Futagami, whose own résumé includes appearances with Mondo Grosso and Fuji Rock Festival and a current gig as guitarist for the multinational band ALI.

4F marks INTER's first-ever collaboration with SONDER, the house party led by Captain 25 and Akira Arasawa, with HannaH, AMAPINIGHT organizer Sakura and LIN, a DJ, model and actress, rounding out the floor. On 1F, hard techno B2B unit Muscle ∞ Brothers, who played the outdoor festival Re:birth earlier in 2026, lead the floor. VJ Big Baby and lighting by Moriya bring sound, visuals and light together, transforming the entire WOMB into one immersive experience.

Who's Behind It

INTER's representative is Rickey Shannon. His own artist bio describes the party's home, WOMB, as having been "ranked 2nd in the world club ranking" and credits INTER with shows at other clubs across Tokyo, regional Japan and elsewhere in Asia. Getting a 40-year house veteran to swap genres for one night, even just once, is the kind of booking a flyer alone doesn't explain.